Fes

Old city Fes is an incredible maze of narrow lanes and crowded stalls with semi aggressive salesman yelling that their products are worth a look. We got lost fast, in a good way. It's part of the medina's charm.

The medina is a dream for photographers, with it's faded and muted painted doors and shutters, narrow winding steps, and cast iron creations. We also saw a school and mosque with beautiful tile work and stucco designs. We found a cafe recommended by a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco and drank some delicious iced mint tea.

We've had fun eating cheaply at the hole-in-the-wall places throughout Fes. Favorite dishes include B'sara, a white bean and garlic soup served with a dollup of olive oil and pita bread, a Moroccan soup of beans with a tomato base, makoda, which are fried spiced potato balls, and pita sandwiches made with various fillings. There's lots of Moroccan pastries to choose from or gelato for dessert. Mint tea, cafe au lait, and espressos are everywhere. A couple of times we'd follow signs to a restaurant, turning on alleys off of alleys, winding up narrow stairs, and find ourselves in someone's home.

Highlights of the medina included finding an "industrial center," where we saw the wood being cut and sanded, the leather dyed, huge weaving looms (almost always operated by men), tiles chipped, etc. It was quieter and more removed then expected, a little behind the scenes.

We joined a mass of people huddled out into the streets of a sidewalk cafe to watch the World Cup game around a small TV. Beer is not sold much or at all, so we drank orange juice and mint tea. Most fans were cheering for Spain, which made the game more fun by watching their reactions. Lots of hugging and singing and drum playing exploded afterwards.

We spent today in new Fes, which is completely different. It is more residential and affluent with wide boulevards. It is nice to be able to compare the two sides of Fes and to spend some time in a more, shall we say, relaxed, environment.