We understand now why Morocco is one of only 11 countries showcased at Disney Epcot. I’ll try to describe Morocco with pictures and words, but they will fall well short of conveying the sights and sounds over the 10 days we were there. (Here’s a map of out trips so you can see where we went.) We visited three major cities, each having an old town (medina) enclosed by old earthen walls. Modern sections of the city lie outside the walls, but UNESCO has helped preserve the medinas, the origins of which date to the 9th century.
These city centers are like a rabbit warren of meandering narrow old streets designed for people and donkey carts. Houses are typically located on dead-end alleys that come off of the main streets. Riads are large traditional Moroccan houses, two or three stories tall, built around a private courtyard. There are few exterior windows, mainly windows opening onto the courtyard. Many of these riads have been converted into small hotels over the past 20 years, so tourists can stay in the old part of town. We stayed in riads in Marrakech and Fes.
Marrakech
There are hundreds of small shops in the media of Marrakech. It’s a large maze of narrow streets with small shops lining the sides, umbrellas and makeshift awning over the top, navigated by tourists, locals and motorbikes and occasional deliver handcarts.
Jemma el-Fnaa is a large open square near the middle of the medina. It comes alive at night with hundreds of stalls selling food, juice, clothes etc. Snakes, monkeys, competing music from various regions in Africa, hawkers, locals, tourists from throughout the world make this a nearly overwhelming experience for the senses. No photos for some reason, so just imagine….. pretty crazy, right?
Ceramics, metalworks, leather, clothing, fabric, carpets, fruits and vegetables, spices, meats (complete with flies), restaurants and coffee shops, pastries, ice cream, toys, beggars, it’s all there. Stop for a moment to look at an item for sale and a salesman is at your elbow trying to lead you into their shop. “Please come inside, it costs nothing just to look…”
The local dish is Tagine, named after the clay pot that is used for cooking. Meat, covered with sliced vegetables and spices and cooked in an oven. Very good, though after many tagine meals in a row, pizza was a nice break.
We took a walking tour here, which helped us navigate the city and learn lots of facts about the city that we promptly forgot, except for this gem: Every neighborhood in the city has at least 4 things: Mosque, communal oven for baking (mostly bread), public bath ( hammam) and a fountain for fresh water. Most of the fountains are no longer running, but the other features are still in use.
The communal oven is wood fired, and is constantly churning out loafs of circular flat bread, which is part of every meal. Locals can also bring their own bread or other items to be baked in the oven, and the baker charges a nominal fee to do it. The bread was exceptionally good. Latin America would benefit from bread-making lessons in Morocco. Maybe the good bread is a remnant of the French Protectorate era from 1912 to 1956?
Yves St. Laurent made Morocco his second home. There is a museum and garden dedicated to him. The garden is beautiful, with a wide array of plants, especially cactus.
Fes
This is another ancient city with a very large old town surrounded by a wall. The Medina of Fez is considered as one of the most extensive and best conserved historic towns of the Arab-Muslim world. This was perhaps our favorite city to visit, and we only saw part of what there is to see. Sixteen gates let people and donkey carts in and out. Otherwise the narrow irregular streets are filled with shops, restaurants, riads as hotels, and regular families just living their lives. There are also artisan areas of town working in metal, ceramics, fabrics, carpets, leather.
Our Riad (Medina Sky)was very beautifully renovated by a young man. His parents and at least one brother lives there as well. Mom (Najia) prepared for us wonderful breakfasts and one excellent dinner. His father was our tour guide for half a day. The family has been in Fes for generations, so the father greeted friends all throughout the medina during our tour.
The largest tannery in Fes is world famous and has been in operation in the same location for around 800 years. Note that part of the tannery process is soaking the leather in a vat of pigeon poop (the white colored vats), which creates a smell so bad that they give tourists a sprig of mint before climbing to the observation area.
We also visited mosques, mausoleums, Madras, Funduqs (inns for caravans, securely housing merchants, their goods and animals). We visited one Funduq converted to a museum of crafts and tools. Incredible detail in many of the buildings, with typical Arabic geometric designs.
We also went to a Hammam to experience the Moroccan version of a bath and massage. Our hammam was tourist-oriented (men and women comingled in the reception area), but still authentic in the steps. The 30-minute bath part was quite an experience. While the guest lies nearly naked on a heated marble slab, the assistant uses water, soap and heavy loofah action to scrub off a layer of skin pretty much everywhere. Then the assistant dumps copious amounts of warm water on the guest to rinse off the soap/skin, followed, unexpectedly, by cold water. That was followed by a not-relaxing 30-minute massage where they work you over well. I am used to massages in South East Asia with smaller women as masseuses. In Fes my masseuse was a big guy, maybe 6’ 1” with massive, calloused hands. I felt like a rag doll.
And yes, another carpet was purchased and mailed home. Camel, Sheep and goat wool, hand woven.
Casablanca
We took a train from Fes to Casablanca. This was a relaxing 4-hour ride, with stops in about a dozen cities along the way. We were pretty worn out from the previous week, so we took it easy in Casablanca, just venturing out to see the main attraction, the world’s third largest mosque, completed in 1993. The estimates of cost are almost a billion dollars. The tile work was manufactured and installed using original manual methods: each individual piece cut and ground to fit. The plaster work was carved in place. The tower is 600 feet high and has an elevator so the poor soul who does the 5-time daily call to prayer doesn’t have to climb up there.
We walked through part of the non-tourist Casablanca medina, where normal people live. Really interesting, but just a bit sketchy being the only tourists in the neighborhood.
The Sahara Desert
This post is already long enough so we’ll cover that in the next post.
Final Thoughts:
We feel like we just scratched the surface of Morocco. There are other cities in the north to visit, and there is more to see in the cities we did visit. We would like to spend more time in Fes. The bread was unusually good and the fruits and vegetables very fresh throughout Morocco. If you crave adventure and new experiences, Morocco should be on your list!
On to Portugal
The aggressive driving of Lidia, our rideshare driver, probably shaved off 10 minutes on the normally 40 minute ride. Then we flew on to Portugal. After 5 days of rest and preparation, we start the pilgrimage part of the trip, from Porto, Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Stay tuned for that!
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