A day in the life of Fes

Today we ventured into the old city of Fes (Fes el Bali), home of 360 mosques, 80 000 shops (yes! 80 000!), 940 streets, and surrounded by 15km of walls…. 400 000 people live here but actually estimates of true population are over one million. The smells and the atmosphere was amazing, people, donkeys, carts with oranges or water, children, women wearing djellabas (hooded robes). It is a labyrinth of immense proportions. I would never venture in here alone, it would be impossible to find my way out again. The alleyways are narrow and crowded, with the shouts of ‘balak balak!’ meaning get out of the way, usually fully loaded donkeys going by, you have to squish up against the wall or get run over. The ever-present threat of pickpockets makes you clutch your bag to your chest be very wary. We visited leather tannery, also selling shoes and handbags. Watching those labourers, knee deep in vats of dye, dyeing wool in the hot sun makes you appreciate an office job! There are stray cats and kittens everywhere, but they look fed. Unfortunately there are also live pigeons and chickens crammed in tiny cages, camel heads hanging in the butcher stalls along with slabs of meat, I prefer to think of the origins of the meat I eat as being on styrofoam trays wrapped in cling-wrap! We saw beef jerky being made, fish and live snails in baskets. Yes I am thinking about trying snails, but definitely of the cooked variety. We visited a government co-op carpet seller and a couple of the girls bought beautiful rugs to be shipped home. As well as food, there were shoe stalls, clothing stalls, dodgy DVD stalls, plus tailors, barbers, and all kinds of artisans. What an amazing day. Earlier we also stopped by a pottery making factory and watched the clay on a potters wheel being made into all kinds of tajines, plates, mugs, and tiles. All were fired in beautiful stone ovens with burning wood and olive pits. The clay tiles are also dried out in the sun, dyed, and painstakingly made into mosaic tiles for fountains, table tops and other wares. Finished off the day with beers and a swim, and dinner out in the rooftop terrace we went to last night, having salad, and roast chicken. Lunch was bread and lentils, chicken pastilles and green mint tea and fresh oranges, strawberries and bananas dusted with cinnamon. Capping off a wonderful day, I was taking a picture of a great looking wall when 3 young giggling boys surrounded me, asking me to take their picture, I was a bit suss as I expected them to ask for money, but they just wanted to see their picture on my camera….fantastic.

Meknes and Fes

Later we visited Meknes and wandered around a charming and maze-like medina (medina: old walled town). It reminded me of Stonetown in Zanzibar. The markets were spectacular with displays of olives, preserved lemons, dried spices, and ….well we won’t talk about the dismembering of a cow’s head (I turned away and ignored THAT stall! sometimes it’s hard to be an animal lover….). Lots of mosaic tiling, men and women donning the djellaba (hooded robe), motorcycles zooming through the narrow streets, and oh I love this one, the calls to prayer on loudspeaker 5 times a day heard throughout the medina. Things to buy in the markets include pointed Moroccan slippers ( I should have bought the dalmation print ones I saw yesterday because I have not seen them again arghhgh), tajines (painted casserole dishes with cone-shaped lids), mirrors edged with Moroccan engraved silver or mosaic tile, and…Converse All-Stars, my favorite! (need to get some before I leave, they cost about $10). Okay, so the Converse aren’t exactly ‘Moroccan’, nor are the Prada handbags…but you get that. So my French is getting a bit better with practice and Sayid, our guide, is trying to teach us Arabic. It’s a tricky language. I think I will have to use my time-proven trick of writing a new word on my hand every day so I can practice it. And remember it!!

We arrived late in the day in FES. Our hotel is gorgeous, very Moroccan looking with light blue walls in the room, plenty of mosaic and tiling, a tiny bathroom with a bidet, and huge windows that open up onto the street below, right next to the medina. Mum, Catronelle (a lady on our tour) wandered around the medina and had a wonderful dinner of vegetarian cous-cous, lentils with fresh flat bread, and chicken and prune tajine under the stars on a rooftop terrace restaurant, with the craziness of the medina below. We bought some delicious sweet almond-y treats at a market stall, and I spied another one with SNAILS which I am determined to try while we are here….YUMMY! The Moroccans love their sweet treats, pastries with honey and sugar and almond and nuts, they are tiny and bite sized and beautiful.

Volubiles

Today we left Rabat and travelled inland west to Volubilis - once a provincial Roman capital, a distant outpost of the empire on a high plateau. Today it is a UNESCO world heritage site (think ancient Greek ruins!) . Very impressive with incredible mosaic floors almost intact, both with materials and colour. It is a beautiful site but…hardly any shade! it was hot and dry and sunny, I drank almost 2litres of water while wandering around the ruins.

Rabat, Morocco

Then we went off to Rabat, a couple of hours up the coast. We spent ages in the Medina, bought delicious fresh dates, nougat and almonds. The dates tasted FANTASTIC, wow……for lunch we ate at a gorgeous Moroccan style restaurant, we tried delicious pastry parcels filled with cheese and some with cinnamon flavoured chicken, and some lovely Moroccan pastries for dessert. Mum had green mint tea which was refreshing and not as sweet (luckily) as we had yesterday.

Our wonderful guides Sayid and Mfedel helped with the bargaining and all in all it was a very long but lovely day. Tonight we are further down the coast past Rabat. Rabat is a coastal ‘resort’ town, some new building going on but mostly run-down decrepit beach ‘shacks’ right on the beach. The beach is somewhat disappointing, full of plastic bottles, broken tiles and general rubbish. I would not go barefoot here, thank god for thongs J

King Hussein II Mosque, Casablanca

Had a fantastic day today, went to visit the King Hassein II Mosque in Casablanca. The mosque can fit a total of 25 000 worshippers inside (20 000 men on the main floor, 5 000 women up on the mezzanine), just amazing architecture, intricate marble work and carved wood, mosaic tile, chandeliers made of copper and of Murano glass from Italy, heated marble floors, a roof that can slide open in 3 minutes and close in 2. It was absolutely stunning! Most of the building materials are Moroccan, it took 6 years to build, using 3000 workers doing shifts 24/7. Underneath the main level are the ablution blocks for men and women.

Casablanca, Morocco, May 2010

Aaaah, Casablanca. In my head, hearing that name instantly conjures up thoughts of exotic spices, spicy lamb, muslim wailing music (sorry but that's a description i made up for it, i don't know the real name!!), chillin' out with the smoking pipe, but in reality Casablanca is an old, rundown, ramshackle kind of place. The kind of place that looks like a bomb hit it - buildings neglected, boarded up,demolished. On the way into town from the airport, i passed a shanty town reminiscent of the Nairobi slums in Kenya, scrap pieces of wood and corrugated iron, jammed together to make dwellings. I guess it's a bit of a disappointment, to see something that once would have looked magnificent (also similar to Havana, Cuba) and now derelict and unloved. Although poverty may have something to do with buildings being let go to ruin....hmmmm note to self: research poverty levels in Morocco to get a better understanding of life here. What i DO know is that French is widely spoken, and I am in need of a lot of practice! I am watching the men and women wearing djallabas (long hoodie robes!) and clothing and headscarves. It fascinates me..maybe i be lucky and will meet someone who can deck me out in an outfit like that, so i know what it feels like.

Mark's observations of west coast Canadian culture

1. TIM HORTON'S!!!
2. Canadian flags everywhere.

Mark's observations of American culture

1. Tipping. Not good. Annoying. Why do you have to tip everyone????? enough already!
2. Ding Dongs. Yummy.
3. Starbucks everywhere. Cheaper than at home. We like that!
4. 'How you doing, FOLKS?' ....folks???/ what is THAT??
5. Everything is big. Cars. Meal portion sizes. People. Enough said.
6. Options with meals. What kind of dressing with that? What kind of toast? Cream or milk with coffee? etc etc etc
7. Walgreens and Walmart. Yay!

more Yosemite!

We rented a Jeep Liberty, a 4WD, and also rented snow chains as it was a requirement for entry into the park. Leaving San Francisco, I finally worked out how the GPS was going to help us, and we got there no problem. We stayed at Cedar Lodge, about 40mins from Yosemite main village. The park rangers were super friendly, the roads very well maintained, and I can see why it is such a popular place. Mark made a snowball and threw it at me (thank you very much).

Yosemite National Park, California

Yosemite is the most AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL place, we were just gobsmacked. Mark got to see snow falling, and since there was a fresh snowfall overnight, we lucked out and saw Yosemite in its glory. The rocks, the trees, the streams...WOW. We had lunch at the Awanhee Hotel in the park, a historic lodge with floor to ceiling windows in the dining area. We did some short walks but mostly revelled in the beauty. I only wish I was a better photographer as I did not do this place justice!

San Francisco, California

San Francisco is a gorgeous amazing city. People watching is a lot of fun, especially the homeless/panhandlers, who are sometimes insane. We met up with our FB friends Athens and her man, Kevin, who kindly picked us up at the airport. Mum arrived not long after we did, and we spent the first day wandering about Chinatown, North Beach and Fisherman's Wharf. OH and, riding the cable cars! There is a Starbucks on every corner (at least). We have also discovered Ding Dongs and Ho Hos, a totally delicious American junk food delicacy.

Tofino, Vancouver Island

Tofino: on the west coast of the island, apparently the 'storm season' which is quite spectacular, has just passed. The weather for us was a mix of cloud/cloud/cloud and COLD. We did a few short hikes in Ucluelet and the Tofino area, had fish and chips at Big Daddy's, enjoyed the fireplace in our hotel room and walked on the beach. We think that we are spoiled for beaches in Australia where we live, but had fun anyway.

Vancouver Island: Victoria to Tofino

The drive from Victoria to Tofino takes about 4 hours non stop, but we took basically all day, stopping all along the way to see the beautiful sights, including Cathedral Grove and coastal communities. It was bloody cold so we also made stops at Walmart (gloves, hoodies and trackies and warmer socks!) and Tim Horton's Donuts (to get Timbits!). Mark thinks it's hilarious that there's a Tim Horton's on almost every corner.

Vancouver, Canada

Vancouver weather was surprisingly not that rainy! We arrived at the airport to find my brother and my niece Forest (6) waiting for us. Decided to rent a car for the week and proceeded to visit Cypress Mountain, where the snowboard half pipe events were recently held for the Olympics. There was SNOW up in the mountains, which Mark absolutely loved. We also checked out Lynn Canyon, a suspension bridge in the midst of a forest. Our planned gondola car up to Grouse Mountain was cancelled due to high cloud (not much of a view).
The next day we drove down to Tswawassen to catch the ferry over to Vancouver Island. The scenery was just beautiful! We stopped in to one of my oldest friend's (Vida) to visit, and then off we drove towards Tofino.