I have to say that I am overwhelmed thinking about writing this post. How can I possibly talk about this ancient imperial city, founded in the 700s, with its 1.5 million inhabitants, and whose medina is UNESCO World Heritage Site?
Of course I can’t cover very much at all, but I will attempt to tantalize you with a few photos and stories. Here is the video I watched to get me excited about hiring a private tour guide. Rick Steves has always said that a private guide will make you appreciate your experience. I felt as though we were a little out of our comfort zone, so we asked the hosts at our Fes riad if they could send us somebody tomorrow. “What time?” they asked. “How about 10:00?” They agreed that that was a perfect time.
At 10:00, a smartly-dressed young man showed up to pick us up. He said that he was a volunteer guide, and any tip we gave him, we would donate to the widows and orphans (we came to hear that phrase a lot).
For four hours, we wandered alleyways and walked through markets (souks). I was especially interested to see the world’s oldest university. The al-Qarawiyyin mosque-religious school / college was founded by Fatima al-Fihri in 859 with an associated school, or madrasa, which subsequently became one of the leading spiritual and educational centers of the historic Muslim world. It was incorporated into Morocco’s modern state university system in 1963.
As non-Muslims, we may not enter, but we can peek inside.
We learned that every little neighborhood in the medina has five things: a mosque, a fountain, a Koranic School, a bakery, and a hammam. Like a Turkish or Roman bath, a hammam a public place for a good scrub. We did not try one. The bakery is not what you would think of. Every morning you make your bread and mark it with your family design. Take it to you baker where he puts it is the wood-fired oven. Come back later, and your loaves are waiting for you on the cooking rack.
Fes is a famous center for handcrafted items. Fine rugs, amazing pottery, leather goods and bronze items.
Apparently you have to go to the tannery on any visit. Those pools you see? Filled with pigeon poop.
We chose Fes over any other large city, as it is supposed to be the most authentic, and less touristic.
Our guide left us once at a building to enjoy it while he went off to pray for five minutes.
He also took us to a rooftop terrace restaurant and told us that in an hour a young man would appear and walk us back to our medina. It’s great to get a local recommendation for a restaurant.
More photos at glampinginswiterland’s Instagram.
Glamping in Switzerland 