One weekend our school ended up going to Fez. Of course it was planned out and everything, but we hadn’t really heard much about the plans beforehand. Fez is one of the four King Cities of Morocco, and significantly more touristy than Rabat, meaning that it would’ve been impossible for all 40 students to stay in the same place, so we were split up. The first group stayed at a place called “Funky Fez” which, they told us when we saw them again at the end of the weekend, fully lived up to its name. Stains on bed sheets, claustrophobic rooms and general “funkyness” made the unique charm of the place. My group, on the other hand, got to stay at a pretty nice Gite (a house with an open inner courtyard). We weren’t the only ones staying at the Gite, and the nature of the accommodation meant that we soon recognized each other. The fact that the doors of the rooms didn’t have locks and either didn’t close completely or wouldn’t open again if they were close certainly didn’t help in providing a bit of privacy.

Our Gite was located at the edge of the Medieval city center of Fez, and from the roof/terrace we had quite a nice view over Fez.

The next morning I had set my alarm to 5am in order to be awake for the sunrise, which I hoped I would see from the roof of our Gite. My roommates had asked me to wake them up, too – despite us only going to sleep at almost 2am – but when I tried, they gave up on their plan and I ended up sitting on the roof alone. What I hadn’t taken into consideration was that there were hills around Fez, so although it was starting to get bright, the sun was nowhere to be seen for around another three-quarters of an hour. But when it did come up, the Sahara dust made for a very pretty sunrise – and I figured it was worth getting so little sleep.

The city was slowly awaking, and with it my peers. In case you ever plan on watching Fez come to life on a February morning, let me tell you: it gets quite cold after a while. Even when the sun was out, it still took a couple hours for the air to reach a comfortable temperature.

After a very nice breakfast with bread, yogurt, a nut mix and a fruit mix (the latter two of which I was unable to eat thanks to my allergies), we set off to see the city. After all, we only had one and a half days to see as much of it as possible.

Somehow we ended up in a shop selling fabric (somehow = they more or less forced us inside, claiming they had the best view on the mosque next door).

Okay, they had a decent view over the city from the roof of their shop, but the mosque that they promised us was behind a small roof. Nonetheless, I think the photos I took from up there give you a decent impression of how maze-like Fez is.

Next on the program was what I was most looking forward to: the (in)famous leather tanneries of Fez. The leather is treated with pigeon droppings and a whole bunch of other stuff, which makes for a very “intense” smell. Though there are a few, far-between signs that direct you towards the tanneries, you wouldn’t really need them, as you could simply follow the smell there. When you enter one of the adjacent buildings to catch a glimpse of the colorful tubs of leather, you will probably be handed a mint leaf and be told to hold it under your nose. I personally didn’t find the smell quite bad enough to look like a complete moron with a leaf on his upper lip, but most people went for the other option. Anyway, the tanneries are really worth visiting and also make for some pretty neat photos.

 

Much like Rabat, Fez also has a lot of cats.

The Medina of Fez is a bit different from that in Rabat. Of course, it is aimed more at tourists than that of the Capital, but it is also significantly bigger, and the main goods being sold are along the lines of clothing and jewelry, not so much food.

I enjoy photographing doors. So let’s now have a brief pause to appreciate some of the doors Fez had to offer.

This is the city wall of Fez, which was meant to prevent anyone from outside the city who wasn’t supposed to enter from doing just that. Today the open space right next to the door is used as a market square, parking lot and for people to meet up.

To finish off the day, we had dinner in a restaurant that had quite delicious Moroccan-western food. I would definitely recommend travelers to try and have some local food, or, if they feel like it, try to find the parts of the Medina that do sell vegetables and fruits.

After a long and certainly exhausting day (probably also thanks to the fact that I only slept for three hours), and full of new impressions, we returned to our Gite in the evening. I think it is needless to say that we all slept pretty well that night.

The next day was proof – once more – that rain is nothing usual in Morocco, especially during the winter months.

So instead of walking through the city for kilometers, we ended up simply sitting in a rooftop café and enjoying the view before our bus came to pick us up. On the way back to Rabat, and on the back side of the front that had passed overhead, we got some pretty nice cloudscapes, enhanced by the setting sun. Over all, a very pleasing end to the day and the trip to Fez.