Travels with Craig and Jeri: Moroccan Odyssey Day 9

Morocco Day 9: Fes

We began a long ride to Fes this morning. The trip was broken up by a stop in El Khemisset, offering insight into everyday Moroccan life outside the big imperial cities. We visited the local souk where we met,Khalto Hafida, a female vegetable shop owner. She has been able to thrive in an all male club primarily due to her outgoing personality. Apparently, social media presence has also been a huge factor in her success with her son publishing videos of her and tourists on Instagram and TikTok. Her father, a street vendor, contracted tuberculosis when she was a young girl and to help the family, took over the business. Her business morphed from selling small items like salt and eggs to a full scale produce stall. She began producing washed and cut vegtables to sell to the younger crowd who didn't have time to prepare food for traditional tagine (think Blue Apron) and became an instant success.

She had us share mint tea with her and even gave one of our group a bag of local cous-cous.

Molly trying her hand at the tea ceremony

Mo just showing off

We finally reached Fes in the late afternoon. Fès (not to be confused with the hat, Fez) is often called the “spiritual heart” and cultural capital of Morocco with a history spanning more than twelve centuries. It is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in the Islamic world. It was founded around 789 CE by Idris I, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad and the founder of the Idrisid dynasty. The city was separated by the Fes River into Arabs from Andalusia (Spain) and Arabs from Tunisia. The second phase of development came in the 11th Century under the Almoravid dynasty when the two halves were unified and the city heavily fortified. During the Inquistion there was a significant migration of Spanish Jews and Arabs into the region.

The final expansion came under the French in the late 19th and early 20th century when the "nouvelle citee" was built.

We wanted to get some aerial views of the Fes medina when we first arrived and rode up to the Borj Nord (Northern Fort). It was built in the late 16th century to defend the city and to control potential uprisings from within Fès.

It gave us great views of Fès el-Bali (Old Fes) and the Zalagh Mountains.

Our local guide, Azzdine, was a great storyteller, and told us that there were only 2 things found outside the medina, the hospital and the graveyard. People said these were close together to save time. He did add, though, that medical care had improved quite a bit since the early days.

Our last stop before getting to our riyadh was to the Naji Pottery Center. This was in the Ain Nokbi district, historically designated for pottery workshops it was founded by the Naji family, master potters who have passed down their skills for several generations.

After showing off my pottery skills, I was asked to be an honorary member of the Naji family.

For some reason, Jeri had no interest in a congratulatory hug!

The pottery was beautiful. We almost got this menorah, but decided it was just too big and heavy. Molly and Dave, though, wound up with a new, beautiful service for 10.

We finally arrived near or riyadh. Our bus couldn't get into the narrow lanes where we were staying so we needed porters to bring all the luggage. It was amazing how much could be put on one cart.