Trip to Fes
It’s the night before school starts and I’m so excited to finally begin. Tomorrow morning, the school is hosting a breakfast for us which will be good I hope. I’ll talk about this more after school begins. I want to update y'all on my first tour in Morocco
We left last Sunday from Rabat, amidst huge soccer protests and pouring rain, to the city of Fes in the Middle Atlas. After the train was delayed for a couple hours, we finally arrived that evening in Fes.
We checked into our (very nice) hotel with a swimming pool then went to wander around the city and have dinner.
The next day we went wandering around the medina. The Fes medina is the largest car-free zone in the world and is stunningly beautiful. Titus Burckhardt describes Fes when he says
“Nothing stirs the memory more than smells; nothing so effectively brings back the past. Here indeed was Fez: the scent of cedar wood and fresh olives, the dry, dusty smell of heaped-up corn, the pungent smell of freshly tanned leather, and finally, in the Sûq al-Attârîn, the medley of all the perfumes of the Orient for here are on sale all the spices that once were brought by merchants from India to Europe as the most precious of merchandise. And every now and again one would suddenly become aware of the sweet smell of sandalwood incense, wafted from the inside of one of the mosques.” (Fez, City of Islam)
His quote describes so well the medina. Every stall had different things on sale, but people were not pushing you to buy their goods; people were very nice in that regard. There were lots of great cafes with refreshing mint tea where we sat and people- watched. You can sit in a cafe in Fes for hours and still marvel at how diverse the medina is.
Wandering through the medina, it’s so unbelievably easy to get lost and stumble upon hidden gems. We got totally lost in the middle somewheres and ended up at this beautiful museum of Moroccan history with a wicked rooftop tea shop. The only way you can (sorta) tell what century this is, is by the number of satellite dishes on the roofs!
We also managed to stumble on an old Madrassa, a Muslim religious school, which is easily one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.
After a long day of walking we managed to find our way out of the medina and back to our hotel for a relaxing night.
The next day we did a tour of the region surrounding Fes. We started off by visiting Azrou, home to the famous Moroccan cedar trees and the cutest monkeys!
We then went on to see Ifrane, which is a ski resort which looks like it was moved directly from Switzerland. It also has a giant rock lion at the entrance, which I obviously took a selfie with
We then went back to Fes to see the famous Jnan Sbil Gardens which were amazing. With huge palm trees, prickly cacti, an abundance of fruit trees, and a massive lake, it was an amazing place. I could sit there for hours and not want to leave (or leaf HA)
The next morning we hopped on the train back home to Rabat. Air France was still on strike so my dad needed to get back early to get his flights sorted out. However it was an amazing trip! I’m definitely planning another trip back to Fes.