Morocco Day 4

Late Start to the day, we finished our breakfast at the hotel then piled into the van by 9 to head to the royal palace and Jewish quarters. 

The palace is not the kings main residence, he stays in Casablanca. This place is just here for when he wants to come to Fez. People taking care of the place are ancestors of slaves, and the recent king (1999) was first to give them the option to leave instead of keeping it. It seems like a lot of younger people left, while the older people taking care of it have remainded, and still not seen much of the outside world. A new door for the palace was made in 86 to give respect to all local artisans. 

We then walked around Jewish quarter build in 14th century. This has left a heavy Jewish influence on Morocco even though most left with the creation of the Israel. Some still remain, but lots of renovations are needed and the government doesn’t put money or time into it. They leave it up to families. However this area is heavy with poverty due to low government support, so they are unable to put time or effort into revisions. It seems like a cycle that wot end, but there is hope that the government will start putting in effort with, as Morocco will be hosting some of the 2030 world football cup.

narrow streets

An example of an abandon house that will problby never be repaired.

Road sign, Square means there is an exit, and hexagon means its a dead end

 A short drive later and we arrived to a veiwpoint of the fez Medina. From above it doesn’t look like much. Our guide Sayyid pointed out the new French town where our hotel is, as well as the palace we had just come from. The Fez Medina was built in the late 8th century by Idris I and is home to the oldest continuous center of learning, stated in 859. Other universities are older, but this one still operates, mainly as a religious and theology school now. 

The green triangle on the left is the center of learning

Then we went to a Moroccan tile shop to see how the mosaics are made. A guide walked us through the different steps of designing the cookware and then also the designing of mosaics. 

They make thier own clay. This man is showing how to make a Tagine.

First he makes the base bowl

Then he makes the lid. All in under a minute! 

These are painted and ready to fire

This man paints the outlines

She fills them in with color. It looks purple, but once fired it will turn indigo.

These are some of the pigments in power form

For the mosaic, slabs of color are made then trased into shapes for coloring. One mane makes a rough cut out of the shape

The next person refines the shape so that it will make a better fit

Some pots are fully glazed, then the pattern is drawn on. Then someone will chizle out the pattern. 

TThe following are all items for sale in the shop

There are lots of mosics around the facilites as well

Next we piled back in the van for a quick drive to enter the Medina with our guide. He grew up in the Medina, so he will help us not to get lost. We entered in a market area, and it did feel like going back in time. Some technology and clothes of course gave away the true time period of our exploration, but so much of the Medina has been preserved. We passed by markets and artisan’s shops, over some bridges and by second hand shops. All the store are small, and the some alleyways just large enough for one person. Some large enough for two ways of foot traffic and hand carts. Not motorized vehicles are allowed, nor can they fit. Sayyid said it is a nightmare if there is ever a fire or medical emergency in the Medina labyrinth. The alleyways twisted and turned, and it was very hard to keep track of where we had come from. 

So many shop keepers! 

Street sign that means dead end

Very narrow streets

Dates

Olives and more

Sells camel meat with a head on display

butcher

more olives

fish

a river runs through, its being repaired for the world cup

ducks in the dying section. They could dye anything for you

so many lamps

This man had been metal working for over 50 years

This is a through street

We took some time looking at the oldest continuous center for learning. We were able to peak into some of its mosque areas and got to see the dorms where students lived. In both these buildings and in the place we sat at the start of the day are 3 main artisan techniques. Mosaics, probably the most famous, wood work, and plaster carving. This knowledge from the guide won me a coin purse during a pop quiz at the end. Also, up until recently in Islamic history, it was not allowed to have depictions of people or animals. It was said that those things were god’s creations, so to paint people or animals was blasphemy. More recently, in the last 100 years or so with the increased access to education, Muslims never found anything in the Karan that backed the rule of art. So it seems like someone thousands of years ago intruperted it and spread the word and the general followers could not read to know any different. Because of all of this, we didn’t see any portraits, statues, or carvings that depicted people or animals. Instead the mosaics, wood work and plaster cravings show flowers, geometric shapes, or scriptures. Instead my photos you can easily spot the different types of art. 

This is where the founder of the Fez Medina is buried

Soon we took a break for lunch. We stopped by a beautiful restaurant that was very unassuming from the outside. Something I would have never thought to consider as a place to eat. The inside opened up into a beautiful open are eating space. The atmosphere was very nice and we enjoyed our food. 

Lunch, a spiced chicken mixture with cinnamon wrapped in filo and topped with powered suger 

starters

dessert

After lunch we braved the streets again with our guide Sayyid. There was a lot more people now gathering groceries after their 1:00 prayer. It was hard to stay together with the handcarts yelling ‘move’ in Arabic and people stopping right in front of you for photos or for purchases. As I rounded the corner of one of the busy streets I came knee to knee with long metal rods pushed by a man with a handcart. The rods extended about 3 yards. Brendan had gotten there just before me and missed it, but I was trapped with 3 others from our group. I pressed myself up against the wall for him to try and pass but other people didn’t seem to care. A woman making a purchase at the corner store was blocking me from continuing up to the group, but her eyes widened when she turned to leave and was also met knee to knee with the long metal rods. We exchanged glances, giving each other a sort of worried panicked ‘how are we gonna get out of here’ look. My head still swiveling, the shop owner who had just made his sale kindly reached his arm out of the shop, gently placing it on her shoulder and gesturing towards a way out. She shuffled her self in that direction, and the shopkeeper gave me a smile and nod, also pointing in that direction. I followed after her making sure to indicate to the rest of the group that we could escape. Keep in mind, while this is all happening there are men in charge of the handcart yelling and pushing for people to move, their only goal in mind being to get to their destination. Once we were out of the way they made more forward progress, before hearing them stop again because of someone blocking their path. 

The metal rods

We linked back up with the group, and after making sure we’re had everyone, continued on our way to the leather tannery. Our last stop for the Medina, we arrived at the leather shop. Up a narrow and steep flight of stairs lead us to a man with mint leaves passing out bundles as we walked by. Soon I understood why, as the smell hit very strong. A mixture of leather, chemical and bird poop hit the nostrils. The leather smell wouldn’t be so bad on its own. The first step in the process is soaking the skin in water, some chemicals and pigeon poop, which contains strong amounts of ammonia, to help dissolve and break down the fur on the animal. Next is it dyed and stretched and soaked even longer. Finally it is hung out to dry. We learned that Moroccan culture values eating and utilizing every part of the animal. Also the word morocco means leather made from goat skin in English, so the history of leather also runs very deep.

Tannery

They are placed in the white cells for bleaching, then the cirlces for color

finally they are strechted than hung to dry

inside the shop

 After taking some photos we were invited into the leather shop. It seemed to have endless floors of bags, purses and clothes. It was very overwhelming, especially without any prices. I got to watch Stacy haggle down the price of a purse from 60 euros to 45. The whole interaction was very entertaining, as they both smiled and laughed, trying to get the price they wanted. In the end Stacy still paid more than she would have liked, but she was happy with her purchase. Brendan and I both got a light jacket, and he was eager to haggle. He got the price down but was also dissatisfied that it wasn’t more. Haggling was a bit intimidating to me, so I was ok to step back and let him take the reins. After our purchases we made our was to the van, had a quick stop at the grocery store then to the hotel for an evening of free time. 

The four of us had signed up for a hamam spa experience the night before that was scheduled for 7. Hamam spa is similar to a Turkish bath where men and women are in separate areas. We started in the steam room as the lady took us out one by one for a douse in hot water. She washed out hair, rubbed our bodies in black soap and added a mud face mask that looked a little like crushed red berries. Then it was back to the steam room where she again took us one by one for the scrub. She scrubbed our bodies and feet, did a rinse and added more black soap while we waited. Then one final rinse before sitting in a jacuzzi pool for a little bit. The was not super warm like a hot tub but it still felt nice. After the soak she took us out to rinse off in the hot shower. The showers in our rooms were not super hot, we later joked that we paid 20 Euros of a hot shower. Overall the experience was very fun, and I feel a bit lighter after all the dead skin she rubbed off. We went to bed pretty quickly after to prepare for an early start the next day. 

Selfie post hamam

Wishing for the best on your adventures, 

Cienna