Although I was initially warned away from Fes by a fellow traveler (in the women's bathroom of the Algeciras train station), I am glad we came - it's been my favorite city in Morocco so far. We arrived at around 3 pm and, as the train station had no left luggage facilities, wandered off in hopes of stumbling upon one. We were talking to each other (in English) and after a while a kid (about 15 or so) that we were walking behind turned around to us and said "excuse me, my family has a hotel near here if you need to stay the night." We said we were not going to stay overnight in Fes, but rather were just looking for a place to leave our backpack. He responded that we could leave it at the hotel, and that they could provide us with a guide for the Medina as well. We followed him to the hotel, and then decided to inquire about the price of a room, as it would be nicer to stay the night than to wait until 1:0 am for a night train.It was cheap, and the people there were very friendly, so we opted for a room as well as a guide to the medina for a few hours.
The medina (old city) is a sprawling maze of 9000+ narrow alleyways filled with tanneries, restaurants, shops, bakeries, weaving houses, butchers, candy shops, grills, and wood-carvers. The streets are wide enough to allow a few people through (side by side) at a time. Our guide showed us the main mosque and pointed out a lot of architecture within the palaces/city walls, and he also led us to specific shops. The first was a weaver's shop, hidden upstairs, where our host explained the different items and gave us sweet mint tea while he tried to convince us to buy one of their beautiful blankets. Unfortunately, our budget did not allow for such extravagance, but it was an educating experience. We got a similar tour in a tannery, with an explanation of how the leathers are dyed and a shorter visit to shops selling work of wood, silver, silk, and embroidery. After the carpet-weaver's shop, most of the shop keepers were less aggressive and more respectful of our wish to just look.
All these shops crammed together, the alleys filled with people and distinct sounds and smells - the medina was amazing and overwhelming. Afterwards, we went to find a taxi to take us back to the hotel. The road was apparently once a mule-road, and the mules and donkeys still felt they owned the place, walking down the street (without an owner), forcing cars to drive around them.
Our taxi took us up the hill for an overview of the city before returning to the hotel.
All in all, I would have liked more time to explore Fes on my own -- days to lose myself in the maze of the medina -- but time was limited. Perhaps I will return here someday to better acquaint myself with the city I've only just met.
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