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.