I decided to take a guided tour through Fes.  My host Aziz arranged it for me and Maia, one of the other women staying in his house, decided to join as well.  She is half American and half Italian, so her English is perfect (as is her French and Italian and half a dozen other languanges, I think)!  Our guide was going to meet us at the house after our breakfast – a delicious combination of the ubiquitous Moroccan mint tea and a combination of breads and jams and honey on the rooftop of our home.

Our tour guide was named Moustafa and also spoke many languages – very quickly!  He liked to switch between languages to explain things as well, sometimes to describe something better by giving synonyms or cognates, but sometimes just because he thought Maia wanted to hear it in another language or something.  So he was a bit difficult to follow.  Also, he didn’t always follow through with his stories and trains of thought.  So the day was a bit scattered and a little confusing at times.  The medina in Fes is very large and labyrinthine and there is much to see as well, so we had a lot to cram into a short amount of time.

Unfortunately – and this is something Maia and I had both been afraid of and dreaded when booking a tour – we were shuffled from store to store quite a bit throughout the day.  Often when going on a tour of an area, the tours are arranged so that you are “encouraged” to purchase local products.  Occasionally, this works out, as you wanted to get some souvenirs anyways; however, it usually just makes you feel like a walking tourist-shaped wallet, targeted for easy access!  Nonetheless, we did cover a lot of ground and saw many things during the tour.  I couldn’t have seen so many things on my own as I would’ve spent many hours lost in the maze of the medina.

In the morning, we saw the Serafine Medrasah, or school, which was founded in the 13th century and still in use.  We saw several schools, actually, in our wanderings.

The Serafine Medrasah’s right next to the Qaraouiyine Mosque, which we glimpsed inside, as we passed by during a busy call to prayer time.

Then, we went to a Berber carpet house.  The Berbers are one of the desert tribes of nomadic people who live in Morocco.  One of the things they are known for is their carpet-making skills.  Both males and females make carpets, but traditionally, the larger, more complex ones are made by women.  Maia was very interested in the textiles and cultural aspect of this as she is an artist who has been working with textiles lately for a large project she just completed with fabric and wind.  Check it out here.

After “playing” their rooftop loom like a piano-harp, I settled down with Maia to look at the carpets they had there.  The carpets are made, not only with animal wool threads, but also sometimes with cactus silk.  I had no idea you could make silk from cacti!

The salesman showed us many different carpets and told us about the different styles.  The complex designs by the female weavers were full of symbolism.  Here is a short video of the salesman hawking his wares and talking about some of the symbols found in the carpets as he gets into his selling groove.  Maia and I had both been interested in getting some carpets, so after some hard bargaining, we all left happy.  Here, he talks about the symbols in the cactus silk carpet I eventually got for myself (and had shipped home).

Then we visited the Attarine Madrasah, a school started in the 1300s, which was so richly decorated and beautiful that we just stopped and stared!  Recently restored, it is open and empty for viewing now so we were able to go inside and look at the design work.  It was spectacular – mable and stones and cedar, among others.

One of the highlights of the tour was the leather tannery of Fes. Smell-wise, this is not true. The hides of many animals puts up quite a stink. Add to it the smell of all the “pidgeon poo” they use to cure the hides and the other natural chemicals they use and it’s almost overpowering.

To give you an idea of how bad it is let me just tell you that they actually gave us sprigs of fresh mint leaves to hold to our noses during the tour! Here‘s a video of the tour guide at the tannery. In the first half he’s telling us about how they make the leather, and in the second half, he talks about what natural dyes they use to color the skins.

After the tannery, we went to the Nejjarine Museum and spent some time there while the Mostafa went to say his prayers.  The museum was also in a beautiful building and had some interesting things to see.

 

Afterward, Maia and I enjoyed some mint tea on the museum rooftop.  This was a special brew with jasmine in it! One thing I found interesting, and I noticed this particularly in Casablanca as well, is how many satellite dishes there are in Morocco. If you look at the top of any building, you will see half a dozen or more. It makes for an interesting skyline!

 

Then, it was off to see more things!  We saw some embroidery work, and then went to a female co-op where they make essential oils.  I learned a little bit about argan oil, which is very popular here.  It’s used in shampoos, lotions, soaps, cooking, just about everything, it seems!  Apparently, it’s very beneficial!  I may have to give it a try….

After the tour, Maia and I went out for dinner in the medina.  At her recommendation (she had tried this dish in the mountains with some women she met while traveling), I tried a tanjine I hadn’t had before.  It was made with beef, plums, raisins, and almonds.  I was stunned at how delicious it was!  I really enjoyed it.

Maia and I are both of the opinion that the whirlwind of a tour like the one we had today, while helpful for seeing a lot at once, is exhausting, and – perhaps – not quite worth it.  It definitely depends on the tour guide you get, and it’s always a gamble.  While ours had a lot of information to impart, he had no flow regulator, which was tough to handle!  It’ll be a long time before I book another tour like that!  

I’m planning to check out the town at my leisure tomorrow.  Maia and I, along with a Frenchwoman who is staying in our home as well, have signed up for mini-facials tomorrow at an argan oil shop down the road.  That should be fun!