LYNN’S SPAIN/MOROCCO
JOURNAL
Day 7, Wednesday, May 15
Fes
Big money day—we cashed $300. It basically all went: shopping, guide, trip out to Volubilis. In the morning we had a guided tour of the medina. Since we had had already a similar experience in Tetouan, it was not so novel. Plus we got the usual obligatory hard sells, even from a rug merchant after we told him right off the bat that we had already bought a rug. But I had indicated that I wanted babouches (leather slippers) and a hand of Fatima necklace (we saw hand of Fatima decorations on doors—the guide pointed them out). They are to ward off evil. For the slippers, we went to a leather shop, where we were shown upstairs to view the tannery. This tannery was much larger than the one at Tatouan, but rather than walking amongst the vats, we only could observe it from the roof of the shop. Red was the color of the day—from the red poppies we saw everywhere in the countryside. We negotiated down somewhat the price of two pairs of babouches (Marisa and myself) for $50—very soft, made from goat.
The Tannery
The jewelry shop also had pottery—short hard sell here. But I wanted to buy two silver pendants with the hand of Fatima—turquoise and coral little stones set in silver. Bargained down a little to $100—still way too much—should have been less than $50 probably. Our mistake was indicating interest in something too soon. Once the shopkeepers knew you wanted to buy something, they would not bargain very much. I bought saffron and musk for Corinna at a spice and herb shop. I also bought dried fruit (figs and dates) and some round bread. The guide helped me—the dates were very good, sweet and soft.
The spice Shop
A
Souk (Market) Area
Outside
the Mosque
Bringing Bread to the Ovens
According to the guide, there were 65 neighborhoods (arrondissements) in the medina, each with 5 elements: fountain (to get water), public bath/hammam (houses don’t have bathing facilities), oven (women make the bread at home, children deliver them to the oven), mosque, Koran school. We got a petit taxi back to the hotel.
In the afternoon, we had hired a taxi guide to take us to Meknes. We should have taken a train—would have been a lot cheaper! Having a taxi guide is not as good as a regular guide—but hiring a taxi driver and a guide is too expensive. He knew the places to drop us off—we tried to follow along with our guidebook. We skipped the medina, not wanting any more hard sells. We did get a view of the city, the big gate to the Imperial City (Bab el Mansour), the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail (made Meknes the capital in the 17th century), and the Heri es-Souani (former granary and horse stables of the king). The latter were immense and cool inside—the site for many movie sets apparently. The stables were a series of arches in which horses were quartered—open air today although originally with a roof.
Inside the Stable Ruins at Meknes
Getting to Meknes was 400 DH—to Volubilis was 400 more—per the hotel tariff schedule. The taxi driver had said he could take us for a good price (un bon prix, madame). We settled on 600 DH—although I tried to bargain him down. We went by Moulay Idriss, named after the founder of Morocco’s first dynasty—no time to stop to see this town nestled in the hills. We spent an hour or so rambling around Volubilis—the Romans were master builders. Most of the town is in ruins—the marble was carted away in the 18th century for building Moulay Ismail’s palaces in Meknes. This was the last outpost of the Roman Empire in North Africa.
Volubilis
Aside from the ruins, there were many beautiful mosaics. One particularly nice one was in the House of Venus—Diana Bathing. Amazing how you can get such realistic images from little chips of stone/tile. We were there in the late afternoon in May—can you imagine how unbelievably hot it would be at mid-day in the summer! As it was, I felt like I was going to have heat stroke—sun shining on me even with a hat, not enough hydration. Still, I loved exploring the Roman ruins, imaging how life was for Roman citizens in that far-flung outpost.
Diana Bathing
On the way out, I remember passing by a whole series of orange vendors—wish we could have stopped for pictures. Since we went back another way, there wasn’t another chance. And our guide was not one to offer to stop for pictures. He just wanted to get us out there and back—and collect his money. He also came by to take us to the train the next morning—and charged us a lot more than a petit taxi! He also tried to talk us into letting him drive up to Marrakesh, but the train was a lot cheaper and a lot more comfortable.
We got back around 6 pm—time enough to take a shower rest, have dinner. That kind of became our pattern—nice to eat dinner clean and refreshed. We ate at the hotel again—so much for actually being in the old city. We asked to split one dinner of couscous—wasn’t on the menu but the waiter was informed they could make it up again—alas, no harissa! It was preceded by a bowl of vegetable soup (orange in color) and followed by fresh oranges, sliced up and covered with cinnamon and powdered sugar (a dessert we were to have again). We returned relatively early to our room, but I had to take a nap before repacking/turning in—was exhausted from another long day, the heat, being overwhelmed by so many sights/smells/experiences. Felt bad for having spent so much money and losing my black drawstring bag from Canon (disappeared from my room). We talked several times with the hotel staff—but they claimed it never turned up, was not taken home by the maid. I missed my little bag later—but it was one less thing to carry.