On this past Winter break I explored more of Morocco! This time I went with Megan and her mom who was visiting for the week. We went to Fez first; according to a man on the train it is the "heart and blood of Morocco."
Another kind man on the train set us up with his guide (a man trained
and licensed by Morocco to guide tourists through the craziness that is
the Fez!). He called him and our guide, Mohamed, met us right at the
train station to take us to our riad and around the city. Fez is in the
Middle Atlas mountains so the views outside looking in and inside
looking out were all amazing! The first place he took us was a panoramic
viewpoint. Fez is absolutely huge.
This was one lookout. There was another on the opposite side of the city. It's very common and easy to get lost in Fez...standing here looking down left no doubt as to why that it is!
After seeing the big picture of the city, we went to a ceramics place and saw them creating their hand-painted wonders! Fez is famous for blue and white ceramics...I may have gotten a few souvenirs for friends and family back home! We also went to the King's Palace and walked through the Jewish quarter. For dinner, we ate camel burgers...and they were delicious!
The next day, Mohamed returned and showed us more of the Medina. He took us around to various co-ops from pushy carpet men to Berber herbs and cosmetics. The first stop was a carpet shop. When he offered us a seat and Moroccan tea, I knew escaping would be tough! We were able to see the looms and the views from the roof of the building! And we eventually made it out...without a carpet!
We saw all of the major trades and crafts of Morocco and were able to learn a little bit about how those things are made. I think that was my favorite part! We went to tanneries, Berber blanket shops, a shop for Moroccan clothes, lunch a fancy and overpriced place (but Megan's mom loved it and we decided to indulge her). It started to rain, so we started taking refuge inside the various places we stopped at! We saw many mosques, a few schools, public bakeries, we toured an old Koranic university, went into a shop that did metal/bronze work and met the son of the guy who made the seven doors outside the King's Palace, we ventured in to another old home full of antiques and weird statues, a Berber/Argon oil co-op where I bought some green lipstick ;) and my favorite was the scarf shop, which I walked out of without purchasing a single scarf (personal victory!), but I did receive a marriage proposal...I said no. After a long day of being totally lost and wandering down countless alleys we had yet another 'traditional' Moroccan dinner and headed back for some rest!
We left the next morning for Moulay Idriss. Like the people on the train told us, we were not in Fez for enough time!
Another kind man on the train set us up with his guide (a man trained
and licensed by Morocco to guide tourists through the craziness that is
the Fez!). He called him and our guide, Mohamed, met us right at the
train station to take us to our riad and around the city. Fez is in the
Middle Atlas mountains so the views outside looking in and inside
looking out were all amazing! The first place he took us was a panoramic
viewpoint. Fez is absolutely huge. 
This was one lookout. There was another on the opposite side of the city. It's very common and easy to get lost in Fez...standing here looking down left no doubt as to why that it is! 
After seeing the big picture of the city, we went to a ceramics place and saw them creating their hand-painted wonders! Fez is famous for blue and white ceramics...I may have gotten a few souvenirs for friends and family back home! We also went to the King's Palace and walked through the Jewish quarter. For dinner, we ate camel burgers...and they were delicious! 
The next day, Mohamed returned and showed us more of the Medina. He took us around to various co-ops from pushy carpet men to Berber herbs and cosmetics. The first stop was a carpet shop. When he offered us a seat and Moroccan tea, I knew escaping would be tough! We were able to see the looms and the views from the roof of the building! And we eventually made it out...without a carpet! 
We saw all of the major trades and crafts of Morocco and were able to learn a little bit about how those things are made. I think that was my favorite part! We went to tanneries, Berber blanket shops, a shop for Moroccan clothes, lunch a fancy and overpriced place (but Megan's mom loved it and we decided to indulge her). It started to rain, so we started taking refuge inside the various places we stopped at! We saw many mosques, a few schools, public bakeries, we toured an old Koranic university, went into a shop that did metal/bronze work and met the son of the guy who made the seven doors outside the King's Palace, we ventured in to another old home full of antiques and weird statues, a Berber/Argon oil co-op where I bought some green lipstick ;) and my favorite was the scarf shop, which I walked out of without purchasing a single scarf (personal victory!), but I did receive a marriage proposal...I said no. After a long day of being totally lost and wandering down countless alleys we had yet another 'traditional' Moroccan dinner and headed back for some rest! We left the next morning for Moulay Idriss. Like the people on the train told us, we were not in Fez for enough time!
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