Morocco - Meknes to Fez - Day 4

After a so-so nights sleep - I didn't find the bed all that comfortable, nor was it very big!  It was hard and it dug into all my bruises I have collected on my travels.  We popped upstairs for our breakfast which was included - hot mint tea and french pastries.  Chocolat du Pain.  Yum.  Jeffrey then came and got us and we set off for a wander in the Medina, with Liang showing us some amazing artists.  

This man is hammering in silver thread into various creations.  Very focussed and dedicated, and the items he makes are beautiful....

Here they are making the shape.....

And this is what it looks like once the silver thread is hammered into it.  Beautiful artwork.  See the plates on the wall - I bought one of them.  I wish I now had bought two as they would look good as a pair.  I guess I will have to return!!!

Wandering around in the medina - carpets for sale...

As we were leaving Meknes, Anne and I came across this chewing gum in a vendors cart.  We asked to buy it, but it was his own so we couldn't.  We took a photo as proof though.   Anyone want to chew on this!!!

Jeffrey and Liang dropped us off at the train station and I was sad to leave them.  So much fun and what an amazing country they are living in.

Anne and I then caught the train to Fez.  We happpened to start talking to somone on the train who mentioned that his nephew guides visitors around Fez, doesn't do it for money as they come from a wealthy family, but do it because they love their city.  They said 200 dirham for the two of us would be fine for 2 days (about 20 euros).  So we decided to take them up on it.

We stayed in a Riad in the heart of the Medina and it takes about 25 minutes to get there.  Someone from the Riad met us at the train station, then walked us to our Riad.  We were given a map, checked in, dropped our luggage, put a load of washing on and hung it out, and then we were off again with our new tour guide.  First he took us up out of the Medina high on the hill to see the old city of Fez...

Approx 450,000 people still live in this walled city, pretty much as they have done so for many generations.  The medina is narrow and some parts are steep.  No cars - only donkeys, horses and the odd motorbike.  You can see where are are staying in the above photo - look to the green dome and tower (the first one you come to from the bottom of the photo)  If you enlarge that part of it, you can see our riad - from the washing on the line just above it!!  So yes - we were in the heart of the medina.

On top of the hill was an old Roman ruin - but I am not sure of the history of it.  The sky was pretty blue though!

Our guide then took us to his mothers for tea and cookies, for an experience in a real Berber family home.  They lived in the New City in a lovely apartment.  We were served Mint Tea and beautiful food and got to watch a bit of a Bollywood movie on Television.  It was then arranged that Anne would go out and see the nightlife, but I would probably stay in as I was getting tired.  The driver then drove us back towards the Medina where we were staying first stopping at the palace so we could take photos...

Then took us up to the South Side of the city for a different view, again from a building I know nothing about - I'll have to do a bit more research...

We walked back to our Riad stopping at a restaurant for a bite to eat where we had a Vegetabe dish and  a Pastille - which was a bun filled with spiced chicken.  It was gorgeous.  We had to climb four flights of berber stairs to get to the rooftop where we ate, and once again, we could see our Riad from the rooftop.  I've decided to live in Fez, you need to be extremely fit, not only for all the steep alleyways, but also for the staircases you have to climb!

Once we were in the Riad, we were too tired to do anything else, so we stayed in and had an early night!