We are almost done, I swear!
So, after two nights and so much sand in the desert, our last day in the car meant driving from the dunes to Fes. We departed at 8:00 a.m. for an early start and came to a stop within about 7 minutes when we came across two guys from the Netherlands that had gotten their car stuck in the sand. We tried pushing the car out and then Yahia decided to run back to get some rope and help. We also learned a genius trick to get your car out of sand. We had tried pushing the car out and obviously the wheels spinning had really dug in. When Yahia returned with another guy, he showed us to rock the car side to side and the sand filled in around the tires and settled out. It is hard to describe but absolutely brilliant. We tied the cars up, pulled them out and got on our way.
The day was anti-climatic and especially sad as we got closer to Fes and closer to saying goodbye to Yahia. But the highlight was without question our lunch. We stopped in Zaida, a non-descript, very small little town. Yahia pulled up to a roadside grill where there was a butcher on the side. You pick out your meat and then they spice it and throw it on the grill. The meat was the best flavor and bite of food we had in Morocco!
It is amazing how quickly the landscapes change in Morocco and this day demonstrated that perfectly. We left the dunes in the morning and by the afternoon we were winding again through the Atlas Mountains with pockets of snow on the ground and forests of trees.
We stopped in Ifrane for a tea/coffee break. Ifrane is referred to as "Little Switzerland" and is a very odd place. It is in the mountains and has a very expensive, private university in the town (one of very few in the country). The buildings and houses are all very European/Alps looking and there is skiing nearby. It is very quiet, very clean and doused in elitism. More importantly though, Yahia met up with one of his friends here while we grabbed tea. It turned out, he had had his friend order a New Years cake for us and surprised us with it. Could the man have been any sweeter?!
We arrived in Fes in the late afternoon and after a tear-filled goodbye with Yahia, we settled into our gorgeous room at Dar Roumana. Our room and the Dar itself was stunning. It took the owner 4 years to restore and renovate the building. Our ceilings were 30 feet high, the woodwork over our door and windows was on par with what we had seen in kasbahs and palaces, and the tiling was beautiful.
We both loved Fes. I ended up getting sick our last day in Fes and was pretty much out of commission for the day. But we still saw a lot of the city. The Medina in Fes is hilly and charming. New Years Eve was our first night in and since neither of us are big on the holiday and all the over-priced prix fixe meals, we opted for camel burgers at a spot in the middle of the Medina.
We walked up and through the old streets on that first night. Worried about getting lost but in love with the old city and all the turns and how surprisingly quiet it was going into the New Year!
We woke up the next morning and started out with our guide, Elhakim, who we had booked for a couple hours to get a sense of the Medina and all of the history. The Medina was founded around 850 AD, and what they refer to as the new city was founded in the 13th century. A very young 700 years! The Medina is also the largest auto-free urban area in the world. There are plenty of donkeys and carts but no cars and motorbikes. We stopped by the Bab Boujloude, the main gate and worked our way through souk after souk. We of course visited a medersa and peaked in at mosques. The true highlight for me was running into this amazing old man, a friend of our guide, on the street. He didn't speak English but was hysterical and hugged me and I loved him.
Before we finished, we visited the tanneries. The tanneries in Fes have actually been ranked the 3rd worst job in the world. As a tourist visiting the tanneries as an attraction was disturbing but I think it is better to see than to ignore. The tanneries are brutal. The workers spend long days dipping the hides into these huge vats of bleach and color. The smell is wrenching (though not as bad as you are led to believe, and they give you mint to hold to your nose if you really need it).
Elhakim also showed us this communal bakery. Families bring their bread to these little shops and they shove loaf after loaf into the furnace. Apparently this is how bread used to be baked for families throughout the Medina.
Our next day in Fes, we got out of the Medina walls and walked over to the Jewish Cemetery. We also happened into the beautiful gardens. After we got turned around a bit in search of the Cemetery, we ended up being walked through back streets and allies by a handful of people that live in the surrounding buildings. They didn't speak English but graciously banged on doors for us and a neighborhood boy ended up walking us all the way around to the front gate of the cemetery, it was really quite something!
Not pictured is a lot of shopping we did in the Medina and our meal at Restaurant 7 (which was unfortunately a total disappointment). Finally, on January 3rd, we made our way to Casablanca by train. Our train ride was wonderful. It was beautiful and the train system is amazing in Morocco.
Casablanca on the other hand is, well, we would tell you not to bother. With that said, we did visit the Hassan II Mosque, a montrosity that is truly a site to be seen!
Ben also happened upon this random donut stand. How good do these look?
And finally, we finished it all off with dinner at this fish restaurant in the Port. It was an interesting spot. A mix of Moroccans and tourists, I couldn't eat much, but Ben ate up!
We flew out early the next morning to Barcelona. It was good while it lasted Morocco!
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