Figs, Fountains, and Facials in Fes

 

Yesterday, after breakfast, Maia and I decided to go to a garden the French woman in our home recommended.  She used to live here in Morocco, so she’s pretty comfortable here and knows her way around.  Since the Jardin Jnane Sbil is relatively near to the Bab Boujloud (Blue Gate) by our home, she walked over there with us and we all made our appointments for our facials this afternoon at the argan oil store on the way.

Maia and I had a lovely time walking around the garden.  It was laid out rather formally and had all sorts of exotic plants.  There were also multiple water features and quite a bit of shade, which was nice!

A lot of people were there, enjoying the garden too, and it was nice to see so many locals taking advantage of that that sort of thing. Maia knows a lot about plants, so she was able to show me some interesting things.  For example, I got to see peppercorn growing on a tree.

 

After a while,  we ran into our housemate again, and walked around Fes all together for a while.  We were hoping to visit the Jewish cemetery, but as it is the Sabbath, it turned out to be closed.  We walked past the royal palace, however, which is one of the King’s residences – I guess he has one in every town – just in case!

 

 

We had all been invited by Aziz to join him and his family for couscous, a traditional Moroccan meal, which is cooked in a tangine.  So having seen more of the city, we headed back home for a delicious meal en famille on the roof.

It was completed with mint tea (of course!) and delicious fruit, and I was able to eat my first fresh fig!  It was delicious.  They peel easily with a knife and then are soft and tasty, with the edible seeds!

 

 

 

After a much needed nap, we all met up again and went to get our faces done at Arganabi, the nearby argan oil and essential oils store.  One of the reasons we chose to go there was a lotion from that shop that our friend had been using since her last visit from France.  It had a combination of different essential oils, but really helped her knee, which had been swollen with arthritis, and acted up last time she came here.

In Morocco, there are a lot of stairs.  One thing I noticed as well, is that none of the stairs are the same height.  Many of the buildings are very old.  One step will be huge and the next will be quite shallow.  It makes climbing and descending any staircase a bit of an adventure.  In addition, many of the staircases are spiral-shaped.  Having aching joints and trying to navigate this city would be quite a challenge.  She used this cream and it helped her literally overnight with her pain and swelling.  So she took us to the shop to check it out a couple of days ago.  As we wandered the shop smelling all the essential oils (jasmine, orange blossom, rose, mint, etc) their skin product line came up and one thing led to another and there I was, a couple of days later, getting some sort of black soap smeared all over my face by some girl who spoke only a little English.  I’ll tell you what, though:  the facial wasn’t anything fancy, but it only cost a few bucks, and I definitely walked out of there with a smooth, glowing complexion.  And after nearly three months on the road, I can assure you, I needed it!

Last night, Maia and I went back again to a cafe we had found a day or so before called The Clock Cafe.  It had a rooftop dining area and we had been a couple times since our first visit.  We really liked the atmosphere.  There were students studying, and young people of many cultures who would come there to hang out.  There is a very relaxed and friendly vibe, where you can meet people or mind your own business.  We liked the place.  Food was pretty good, too! So we enjoyed a final evening there.  We met a guy who was Moroccan but lived in France and ended up talking for a while before coming home late.

Today, I’ve booked a seat on the bus to Chefchaouen, a small mountain town in the north of Morocco.  I saw some pictures that Anas showed me when in I was in Casablanca of a trip he and some of his friends took there and I absolutely have to see this place.  It looks beautiful!  I’m looking forward to some mountain hiking time!