We took off from Ciampino airport on a Ryanair flight on the afternoon of the 17th. It was a little bit of a hassle getting there- the Roman bus system isn't necessarily the most reliable, and when the bus we had been waiting for finally came, it was way too full for us to hop on. So we waited for the second H bus and then hitched a ride out to Ciampino on a shuttle bus from Termini, the central train station. We had a nice flight and landed at the tiny Fez airport...
...where we were greeted by a taxi driver (who seemed to know absolutely everyone...) who took us to our riad, which turned out to be absolutely beautiful inside.
It was a definite challenge language-wise, as the staff really only spoke Arabic, French, and Spanish, none of which we speak very well, so there was a lot of miming and fumbling over our feeble high school Spanish. Yikes. At least they gave us some wonderful fresh-squeezed orange juice and cookies when we arrived...
It all worked out for the very best, however, when we got to go out to dinner with a Spanish couple who were staying at the same riad. They were maybe a little older than us and spoke a little English, so we all bonded over the fact that we had no idea what was going on in Fez. Thankfully they had been there for a few days already, so they knew how to get back to the riad when we were finished! The restaurant we went to was really fantastic. The buildings in Morocco all look very plain from the outside, but, inside, they have beautiful mosaics and carvings, which helped make the restaurant's atmosphere really amazing. There were also two musicians singing and playing drums and some sort of stringed instrument (maybe a sitar? It was that kind of sound, at least...), and it was really amazing when some of the Moroccan diners started singing along with them. For dinner we tried Moroccan bread, soup (kind of like the one at the Kabul restaurant in Madison...which I really miss, by the way), chicken with lemon, some sort of sesame sweet, and fruit for dessert- bananas and oranges with cinnamon! That's definitely a combination I would never have thought of, but oranges and cinnamon together are actually pretty amazing.
When we got back to the riad, we tried to mime our way through obtaining a guide to take us to the mountains the next day, but we ended up having to call the owner of the riad, who actually spoke English and was quite helpful. We finally hit the hay, full of Moroccan food and excited to be in Fez. The room was very nice- although the bathroom didn't actually have a door (just a curtain...) and there wasn't a shower curtain either. Guess it's just something different!
The next morning we had breakfast at the riad- it was glorious! Fresh-squeezed orange juice, French bread, crepes, yogurt, fresh butter and jam, and more fruit- yum!
We found our way up to the rooftop terrace and took in the amazing view...
...before heading out to the Middle Atlas mountains with a guide/taxi driver. This was his lovely Mercedes-Benz!
First we stopped to change some money (1 Euro = about 11 Moroccan dirhams) and then headed out of Fez. The scenery was gorgeous, and our first stop was at a waterfall, which was really beautiful too!
Then we got to see a panoramic view of the area...
...walked through part of an old city center, where we convinced a Moroccan man that we were Italians who didn't speak any English (something that I'm still kind of strangely proud of, haha)...
...and then went into an adorable village, where we met an old woman who lived in a cave, wore orange Crocs, balanced a huge bucket of water on her head, and gave us wonderful Moroccan tea, which involves a lot of mint. Yum!
We stopped by a lake....
...and then a Swiss village with a stone lion!
Next we went up into a Berber village, where we had lunch: chicken, rice, and French fries.
We met a shopkeeper who spoke English and helped us order at the restaurant (and showed us the bathroom, which was literally nothing more than a hole in the ground....yikes....). We ended up buying a couple of things (I got a scarf, a wooden box, and some sort of cushion that I'll probably just use as a table centerpiece or something) and headed out to a forest where there was snow on the ground! First time we had seen it since leaving Chicago in January. In the forest were a bunch of monkeys. Kind of random, but definitely cool!
We finally headed back to the riad, where we ate leftover chips and cookies from the airport in Rome for dinner and chatted until it was time for bed. Very nutritious. ;)
The next day (our last in Fez), we finally got the chance to go into the medina- the city center and marketplace. We had breakfast at the riad again and met our guide for the day, who first took us to the Museum Dar Bartha, where we saw artifacts from the various cultures of Morocco. There were also beautiful gardens!
Next we saw the Blue Gate, which is the entrance into the medina....
....a madras, which is a Koranic school...
...some mosques which we couldn't go into since we aren't Muslim, and a bunch of shops- most of which are just stalls in the marketplace. It was an incredibly lively atmosphere, full of people and animals and sounds and smells. Completely unlike anything I've ever seen before!
We also went to see the tanneries, which was another completely new thing for me. I was incredibly glad that we weren't there in the heat of summer, because even in February all of those hides absolutely reek- even WITH the mint they give you to sniff instead. The process is really interesting, though, and it was definitely an experience. I can't even imagine having these jobs!
We also went into a weaver's shop, where we bought scarves made from cactus fibers and got wrapped up like Berber ladies...
...and into a Berber pharmacy, which was pretty interesting- lots of holistic/natural medicines. We stopped in a wood museum and got some beautiful pictures from the rooftop terrace...
...and then ended our tour with lunch. We tried traditional Moroccan pastilla (pigeon pie!), which was absolutely wonderful. Again, nothing I ever thought I'd eat in my life! But it was great, and I'm glad we tried it.
We finally paid at the riad (which was an ordeal in itself, as their credit card reader didn't work and we had to pay in cash- thank God I had brought extra Euros along!) and got a taxi (driven by the same guide who took us to the mountains) to the airport. The flight home was fine, as were the two buses we took back into the center of Rome and then into Trastevere. What a trip!
Morocco was someplace to which I never expected to travel. Being in an African and a Muslim country was really interesting. As much as we stick out in Europe as Americans, it's nothing compared to how much we stood out there- both as non-Moroccans and as women without our heads covered and wearing pants. We dressed modestly, but that still doesn't change how we look and even walk- and that's just totally different from the Moroccan culture. All in all, everyone was very friendly and helpful, and I was really glad we went. I think the way we did it, though, with tour guides hired through the riad, was very helpful- I know we would have gotten incredibly lost in the medina if we had gone in on our own, and it was nice to get some history and other information about the city. The food was wonderful, the scenery was beautiful, and the culture was incredible. If you ever get the chance to travel to Morocco, it's definitely worth it!!!
Next up, a short blog on our trip to Venice! Unfortunately I think it might have to wait till early next week....we're headed to Istanbul tomorrow, and it's getting kind of late! Blame it on my slow internet and lots of pictures......but ciao for now!
