Fes, the Medina and More


Djellaba

The djellaba (juh-LAH-buh) is a common, robe-like garment worn in Morocco on a daily basis by both men and women. The hood that is attached can be worn by women to cover their heads during prayer. Our guide, Mohammed, wears his djellaba every day.



The American Foudak

The Foudak is an animal hospital for horses, mules, and donkeys. It was established many years ago by an American woman who saw the need for this service. Some animals are rescues, some are just visiting while they are being cared for. This was a really nice stop for us, and definitely worthy of a donation.






Fes Medina

Think of the Medina as a huge shopping center. It is made up of hundreds, if not thousands, of narrow alleyways, all connected. One could easily get lost in the maze.  The Medina is divided into souks, which are areas of products. So, for the most part, most of the clothing is in one souk, the leather works in another souk, fresh foods in another souk, jewelry, metalwork, etc.  One can find many shops within each souk, often selling all the same goods. 

Going through the Medina is an absolutely astonishing experience. There are lots of uneven steps up and down, so the tourist needs to pay attention to every step, or bad things can happen. 

Some shopkeepers are a little pushy, but most of them take no with a smile. People here are generally very friendly. 

I hope I’ve shared enough pictures below to give you an idea of what experiencing the iMedina is like. 



Foods





Camel meat, anyone?
Look at those ribs!


Colorful shopping areas












The carpets are amazing, gorgeous, handmade. 





The Tannery 

Each of the round pools you can see contains natural dyes, which are used to treat and color various kinds of skins (cow, goat, camel, sheep). The skins are dunked into the tank and soaked in the dyes for a period of time, then are pulled out and dried and made into whatever kind of leather goods are needed. 




And I found a couple of Moroccan flag pins for my hat, the 
green pentacle (star) on a red background. 

Back to the hotel for lunch, 
then a special tour this afternoon. 

Bhalil

The small Amazigh (indigenous people of Morocco, also known as Berbers) village of Bhalil is built across a hillside, with picturesque pastel-color houses that line the narrow, winding streets. The houses appear ordinary from the outside, but many of them are built into the rock face, like a cave. This design keeps out scorching summer heat, as well as the ice or winter chill, and Bhalil’s modern-day troglodytes normally use the cave as a living and dining space.

The community oven. Residents make the dough in their homes, then bring it here, 
where all the baking is done. See the wood piled up to feed the fire. 



The cave as a home


Multi fabric rug














Buttons are hand-made for tailors to use on djallabas, creating extra income for residents. Forty buttons bring about 50 cents. 



















They now have running water, but until recently, water was fetched from community fountains and carried this way. That bucket is full. 

The ladies gather to sew buttons together 
and maybe to gossip. 


Local appliance store

The Ceramic School and Store

Creating the Art

Adding the Silver


Painting the Design

Ceramic and Silver

A buffet dinner at the hotel and call it a night




















Early Start Tomorrow (Tuesday): Bags outside the room at 6 am
Then
The High Atlas Mountains and Sunset in the Sahara. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Leaving Again - Morocco

Image
  Bonjour !  For any of you who have kept up with some of my adventures by reading one or more of my earlier travel blogs, here we go again .  As you may recall, I have traveled before with groups led by Georgia Lange , a former teaching colleague of mine who has become a travel agent specializing in small-group trips. I went with her group to France in 2022 , and again to Egypt in 2023 .  Both trips worked out quite well, so it sounded quite attractive when she sent out an email asking if anyone was interested in visiting Morocco. I signed up for it, and now it's time to go. My initial journey on American Airlines will be from Tucson to DFW to catch the overnight flight to Madrid, Spain, arriving mid-morning. From there, it's a relatively short flight to Casablanca to meet up with my group in the afternoon. Our tour, basically, is a large clockwise circle around the many varying landscapes of the country. Leaving Casablanca, some of the places on our itinerary will...
Read more

Hola Madrid !

Image
The World Famous Museo Del Prado From the last views of the Moroccan coast To the first views of rainy Spanish towns So there wasn’t much to report for Monday, as I left my hotel in the early morning to go to the airport, caught my flight to Madrid, and finally arrived and settled into my hotel room.  The flight was easy, and coming into España through customs was a breeze. It took a while for my bag to show up (I shouldn’t have checked it), and then there was a longer-than-expected wait for the hotel bus.  Once I arrived at the Marriott Auditorium Hotel , almost three hours after landing, everything was great. The room is perfectly adequate, and there is a terrific Bonvoy lounge on my third floor, which provides food and beverages (Sangria on tap) almost all day long. Tuesday morning dawned cloudy, but at least the rain had stopped. My plan was to head into Madrid on my own, using public transportation, and then ride the hop-on, hop-off bus as listed in the Rick Steves Madrid...
Read more

One Day, Four Cities

Image
CASABLANCA We are starting our Sunday drive by visiting the port area of Casablanca. The large mosque I mentioned earlier, the Hassan II mosque, dominates the skyline of the second busiest port in Africa (Durban, South Africa is the busiest.) There is also an old lighthouse, built by the French, to let ships know where they were.   Part of the ancient Fort built by the  Portuguese in the 12th century Visiting McDonalds at our first rest area. RABAT The wild seas at the coast of Rabat   Street sweeper Portuguese Fort Entrance to the mosque and tombs of Mo5 and Hassan II, the grandfather and father of the current king, M6, Mohammed the Sixth.  To call the faithful to prayer Guarding the tomb The large gold casket is Mohammed V The mosque First group photo Full Service at the gas station MEKNES The Thursday Gate into the old city FES Got to Fes late in the afternoon, with an hour to get to our rooms at the Marriott Jnan Palace Hotel, clean up some, and be ready to head ...
Read more