Fes

After visiting the Roman ruins we drove on to Fes, checked into our hotel then went out for dinner in the Medina.  Our tour leader led us through a maze of streets to the restaurant.  Like all buildings in the Medina from the outside it looked plain with its mud coloured adobe walls but inside it was beautiful with mosaics and tile decoration.  We dined in a dar, a house that has a central room that is open to the sky.  I only had my phone with me so the photo doesn't do it justice

                      Our tour leader at the restaurant

We had a delicious meal of cooked spiced vegetables followed by pastilla (chicken in filo topped with cinnamon and icing sugar) and to finish melon, sorbet & yoghurt topped with cinnamon. After we had dined we climbed to the terrace for a view over the Medina.  It was quite surreal being up there as the 'Allah akbars' call to prayer rang out.  

The next day we had a guided tour of Fes.  The palace was built in the 14th century and covers 210 acres, we had to settle for a photo by the gate. The Medina in Fes was built in the 9th century and has 350,000 inhabitants.  It covers 740 acres and has 10 miles of wall, 14 gates and 200 mosques.  Some of its streets are very narrow, barely more than shoulder width wide.  Many of the streets were roofed which made it relatively cool.  While we were walking around we had to move out of the way of donkeys carrying loads and men with handcarts. 

           Donkey loaded with leather.

                       A typical narrow street

After walking past a variety of stalls ( you need it, you'll find it there) we visited a pottery where they make pots and mosaic panels.  We watched a bowl being made, it took less than 2 minutes to go from a lump of clay to a bowl ready for drying.  To make the mosaics they start with a flat tile and mark out the shape then using pliers they break away the unwanted pieces.  The mosaic is assembled upside down as concrete, or resin if it's being shipped, is used to hold it all together.  

The tannery was being restored so there was no colourful display for us. Also in the Medina we saw copper pots being made and visited a place where they weave fabrics using the silk from the agave plant.

The other side of this is multi coloured.  It's an art to put the pieces in the right places.

     The tannery.  Normally these dye baths would be full and multi coloured .

              A little bit of the Medina

               One of the many dried fruit stalls in the Medina.

Meknes and Volubilis

Our Morocco trip is terrific and as days are full my blog is a bit behind.

Our journey from Casablanca started with a train ride to Rabat where we were given a map and we were free to wander.  After walking through the Medina we visited the Kasbah of the Oudayas, a city within a city. About 2000 people live within its walls.  Some of the ramparts are 1000 years old while the original fortress was built in the 12th century.  In times past the city was at risk from pirates and invading forces so walls were needed to keep the people safe.  It was very pretty inside the Kasbah as  the walls were painted with the top half white and bottom half blue.  Winding cobbled streets lead us past doorways decorated with pot plants.

View of the Kasbah from the river

We caught another train to take us to Meknes.  As we neared the city we saw many olive groves and vineyards.

The next day we had a guided tour of the Meknes. One of the places we visited was the Heri es Souani Granary, a huge clay building with internal walls 3 metres thick.  The granary was built to store enough food so the place could withstand a 10 year siege.  Below is a small part of the granary.

Next to it was a stable that once housed over 12000 horses.  The roof of this collapsed in 1755 after an earthquake but from the walls you get an impression of its size - photo below

For lunch we taken to a place we the locals go to grab a quick bite to eat. Eight of us crowded around 3 sides of a table to have camel burgers.  The meat was spiced with cumin, sweet paprika and pepper and was as tasty as beef.  The man who was there when we arrived quickly finished his lunch and left, I don't think our arrival was appreciated.

On our way to our destination of Fes we visited the Roman ruins of Volubilis. This was a large city but sadly most of the ruins fell down in the 1755 earthquake.  Today only a small portion the ruins have been resurrected but it was still impressive with pillars and partial walls.  Where grand houses once stood 2000 years ago there were many mosaic floors, these were still colourful.

Casablanca

We flew from Valencia to Casablanca arriving there in the early evening. . It took time to get some local money and train tickets then we rushed to the platform in time to see the train pulling out. As the next two trains didn't come out was over 3 hours later that we arrived at our hotel. We had nothing planned for that evening so it didn't matter.

Next morning we went to the central market where locals go to buy their fruit, vegetables, spices, fish, pots and pans, meat and most other thing they might need for their daily life.  At 10:30 am it was still early and many stalls were still being set up. 

Fish stall very neatly displayed 

We walked from there to the Medina (old city). Within its walls the inhabitants can get most things they need.  At first we walked past stalls selling leather goods, trinkets, socks,, clothes both Moroccan style and western style.  I suspect these stalls are aimed at the tourist.  As we got further away from the gates it got busier and were amongst the locals buying their fruit and vegetables, spices, dried fruit, bread, fish and meat.  As we wandered the alleyways narrowed and after a few twists an turns we decided we had better backtrack before we got lost.

 Typical Medina street but they do get narrower than this.

Spice stall.  Wonderful aromas as you pass by here.

The Hassan II Mosque was our next stop.  This is huge, covering 2 hectares and was finished in 1992.  It is beautifully decorated.  We didn't want to wait 2 hours for the next tour so we continued on our way. 

Next we visited the Sacre Coeur cathedral.  It was built in 1930 and services stopped being held there in 1956.  It's a bit of a sorry sight but nothing inside we could appreciate the size of the building.  For a modest fee we climbed one of the towers and had a great view over Casablanca.

The view

from the tower of this cathedral

That evening we met our tour leader and the 14 other people who make up our Intrepid Travel group for the next 14 days.

Valencia

We took a train from Barcelona to Valencia, not one of the fancy fast ones but for a good part of the journey we were traveling at 199 km/h.  For most of the journey we were close to the sea and the land was flat with hills not far inland.  On the outskirts of Barcelona there were many market gardens but the land between the rail line and the sea was generally undeveloped.  Obviously this land close to a sandy beach wasn't prime real estate.  As we travelled away from the city we passed olive groves and citrus orchards and as we neared Valencia there were lots of citrus orchards.  There were no grassy paddocks with animals to be seen.

The first trees we saw when we walked out of the train station were orange trees with fruit but none low enough to pick☺

In Valencia our apartment, on the edge of the old town, was 3 stories up (62 steps, no lift) but it had a nice view and the location was great.  The old town is a maze of streets as it has many plazas all with streets radiating off in different directions. Also when a street meets another it's name seems to change.  This gave us a navigating challenge and our map didn't have all the streets or street names on it.  We did successfully find our way to where we wanted to go and visited a few extra places as well.

Valencia's history goes back a very long way and some of the buildings we saw reflect that.  Valencia was once a gated and walled city but now there are now only two gates, Torres de Serranos which was completed in 1391 and Torres de Quart completed in 1460.   

Torres de Serranos

Torres de Quart bears battle scars from the French siege of 1808.

The round marks are from bullets.

Our wandering in the old city took us to several churches.  

The Basilica de la Virgin Des Desamparados was built in 1642.

We went into La Lonja, an old silk exchange built in late 1400s to mid 1500s, and marveled at the grand hall with it's towering pillars and beautiful stone floor.  The building is decorated with gargoyles inside and out.

Valencia street 

Gargoyles at La Lonja

The river that once flowed near the old city was diverted after a big flood in 1957.  In place of the river is a nice park and as you wander along it you pass under some old bridges  that were built around 

the 1500s. 

Barcelona (2)

Next day we took a hop on hop off tourist bus which gave us easy access to the places we wanted to visit, including some of the Gaudi buildings.  Gaudi died in 1926 but the work on the Sagrada Familia continues today, as funds allow. The Sagrada Familia is huge, even in its uncompleted state.  On the outside of the building walls there are many stone figures.  Gaudi’s Cassa Batlo with its mask/skull like balconies was completed in 1907 and the Casa Mila apartment block, completed in 1912 has few straight lines.

On our last day we wandered down La Rambla, an old seasonal water course that has been converted into a tree lined avenue. It has a wide pedestrian area down the centre and one lane down each side for cars.  Retail shops line each side of the avenue and down the centre there are stalls selling a variety of goods.

We also walked around Barri Gotic with its medieval churches, old stone buildings and narrow streets barely more than a car width wide.

Our overall impression of Barcelona is a city with -
Lots of traffic and people, many tourists.
Good pedestrian areas and dedicated cycle lanes.
Lots of dogs, even on the metro
High density apartment living, most 5 or 6 stories.
Mostly small shops and markets, no big malls.
Many old stone buildings with gargoyles and other stone figures (these wouldn’t survive in Christchurch)

It's a lovely place to visit.

Sagrada Familia - many figures in this photo.

Another entrance at Sagrada Familia

Some figure at Sagrada Familia

Some more

Casa Batlo

Casa Mila 

La Rambla

Ornate stonework

Narrow street 

Old church

Barcelona (1)

At 1:20am we set off on our 13 hour flight to Barcelona and surprisingly we didn't feel too bad on arrival.  We were too early to check into our room so dropped our bags and went exploring the neighbourhood.  We walked through Plaza Espanya to go to the National Art Museum building. This is an impressive sight as it's set on a hill at the end of wide avenue and is fronted by fountains.  There are nice city views from there.  Also by the plaza is an old bull ring (1914 to 1917) now a shopping centre.

After some lunch we checked into our room and relaxed for a while.  Nicky, whose holiday crosses with ours for 2 days, came back from exploring and we later went out exploring together.  We visited the beach which isn't a naturally sandy beach and was developed in 1992 pre Olympics.  We returned to the train station via the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar built from 1329 to 1383.

National Art Museum

 

Basilica Santa Maria del Mar

City view which includes Gaudi's Sagrada Familia

Old bull ring

Singapore enroute

We had a 32 hour stopover in Singapore and after checking  into our hotel we went for a wander to stretch our legs and enjoy the balmy evening. The next day we walked the streets a little, then as it was 34 degrees, we abandoned our plan to relax in the park and instead hid out in an air conditioned mall.  While wandering the streets  we marvelled at the skyscrapers, many of them glass fronted but lots of interesting angles and shapes.  Along with the modern buildings are the stately ones from the colonial days and interesting Chinese influenced buildings.  Amongst the high rise are many lush parks all well manicured.

Watch this space

we are going on holiday soon ...