MOROCCO December 23, 2007: Americans in Morocco

Well in the pouring rain of Rabat, we made it out of the medina, dragging our bags (wheeling where possible) to the petit taxi (they are all blue) to the train station. Spent a few hours on the train with an interesting Saudi pilot who had gone to Temple University in Philly – we heard his view of American politics and the American / Saudi connections, as well as his analysis of 9-11. Also got hustled by one guy who was supposedly working for the Moroccan Travel Agency telling us he could get us a great guide for Fes (where we were headed).. and that the recommended guide had taken Hillary Clinton and Bono around town! He then proceeded to call the guide – Mohammud (naturally!) – and had Mike talk with him. Mike told Mohammed that his wife makes all the plans.. so then Mohammed wanted to talk with me. I said we weren’t the “guide-type” and suggested he give us his number and that we’d call him if we were interested.  (The old ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you routine’ – seemed to work.)

The arrival in Fes was a bit hectic. We knew our “hotel-riad” was in the medina – the medieval section of the town and we had a contact number and information for when we arrived at the medina entrance (a particular gate, since there are many entry points). We were to call and they would send someone out to meet us. Well we used my mobile and couldn’t get through.. then managed to have a swarm of young guys offering to help us.. but we went to a phone store (teleboutique) for them to call the number and they couldn’t get through either. We were a bit concerned – after all we found the place on the Internet.  But we decided to go it alone and trek into the medina and ask people as we went.. all the way “wheeling” our bags.

The medina is an unbelievable maze of more than 900 separate streets, mostly dead ends. It’s like walking through narrow caves. On normal days it’s buzzing with people and thousands of little shops, but because of the holiday (which goes on for 4 days and we are now finishing day 3) most shops were closed, making the experience surrealistic. The medina dates back to medieval days – the oldest in Morocco. After meandering for a bit, we started to ask people to direct us down these winding, narrow, sometimes paved alleys. I must say I was beginning to have my doubts. But alas, we were taken to #14 Sbba Lyouta and behind this very large, heavy wooden, carved door, we were escorted into a little paradise.

Medieval building with towering ceilings and open air atrium…  Tile work everywhere and carvings in every corner…..  Our room is a delightful suite — which is a terraced balcony with views of the entire medina……  After an early evening walk in the medina we had a traditional Moroccan meal ….  Tomorrow we really explore this amazing city

Apologies for bad typing. I’m using an Arabic keyboard

Fern