Fez, Morocco

Our trip to Morocco is behind us, but let's start from the beginning. My husband celebrated his thirtieth birthday and I wanted to give him a trip. Choosing a destination was quite difficult. S two tamales We are quite limited. These were our selection criteria:

1. safe country

2. The flight to get there must not be longer than four hours, and must be a direct flight from one of the nearby airports.

3. Since we were traveling in the fall, I wanted it to be warm there, or at least the same as here (and not colder).

4. cheap destination, cheap accommodation, cheap food

I chose Morocco based on these strict criteria. There was a pretty big prejudice (even on my part) that it was a dangerous country. Even when I told the others, the first reaction was: " Why are you two going too?" But it turned out to be quite the opposite. We didn't have a single problem.

I made a partial travel plan in advance, about 7 days, and booked accommodations. This was quite a task, because you soon realize that Morocco is reeees big country. Driving and children are sometimes not such an easy combination. The Sahara was the one I was most worried about, but it's worth spending a whole day driving just for the desert. And even then, every other day we drove for 4 hours a day. We were there for 14 days and we did over 2000km. If you do the math, that's 285km every other day . Quite a lot . I also booked the car at home. A Fiat Panda was waiting for us at the airport in Fes. Luckily, we were already quite versed in the package and we filled Panda's trunk to the brim with two small suitcases (10kg) and an Osprey backpack. We left the stroller at home. I also took an Ergobaby carrier, which came in handy.

The flight was a bit of a mess, both ways. What we got was definitely made it known that we can do it and that we could go somewhere else. We landed late in the evening. Culture shock right at the airport: men everywhere. We picked up the car, paid an extremely high advance (1700€!) and drove off. First impression: a typical third world country. Half-finished buildings, garbage everywhere, stray dogs and cats rummaging through the garbage at every turn. Green motion (i.e. our rentacar) is, despite what is written full to full changed the policy and our car was empty to empty . We were out of gas, the red light was on. Luckily, because it was late, there wasn't much traffic, so Vasja found his way around quite well. Nervous about not running out of gas, he looked for the first gas station . We find it - they only take cash, but we don't have any. Okay, look for an ATM first. We find it quickly, we park on the side of the road, Vasja goes to the other side to the ATM, at that moment a group of ten Moroccans pass by. I'm already I look towards Vasja, I watch how they tamaladva , I lock the car, I check again if Vasya is okay. The guys shout something and then just go their own way. Prejudice! They haven't even looked at us, but the situation seemed pretty terrifying to me. We fill up the car, we pay in dirhams, gasoline is cheaper than here - 1€/liter.

We continue driving to the medina. We park the car, pay guardianu to watch over it for us for two days. We are free from traffic for two days. It is already a little after midnight. We search for our Riad through strange, dirty, narrow streets. Again: it is night, men and only men are outside. Strange smells, a thousand stimuli. We find the riad, but we have to wait a little longer for the receptionist to come. We go to bed at 1 am, Klara is too tired and has difficulty falling asleep. In the morning, the alarm clock is still before seven. Breakfast is not until 9 am. The children are already nervous, we finally eat and go exploring.

The Medina is the old part of the city where there is no traffic. Only pedestrians, horses, donkeys carrying gas cylinders, carts with eggs and animals waiting to be slaughtered. Since we were outside at exactly 9am, the shops were just opening. No one was intrusive. We were meant to see leather dyeing- Fes leather tanneries . As we get closer, a self-proclaimed guide finds us and takes us to one of his shops, on top of which there is a terrace overlooking the tannery. They dye the hides in different containers of different colors. Everyone describes the terrible smell. Honestly? I was asked what the smell was and my answer was: " I don't know if we are such bad farmers, we didn't smell at all." On the other hand, the same location was visited by, I would say, a Chinese director , who could barely stand the smells. For those who are more sensitive, they hand out mint leaves at the entrance so you can smell the mint and not the stench. Judging by the Chinese businessman's facial expressions, those mint leaves don't help much... 

We took pictures on the terrace, Klara was dozing diligently in Ergot. We also inspected the stores but politely dismissed the merchants with its not my style . We got back around 12pm because the kids had to sleep. When they woke up we went for a late lunch. Cheap and good. Food was my big concern, what will the children eat, we have to pay attention to hygiene, etc. The food was more than excellent: mostly tajine and couscous . We didn't have any digestive problems either. At the beginning we ate in a more Nobel restaurants, but then we didn't complicate things any further and ate in cheaper and more secluded or street-side places. 

In the afternoon we walked to the Merenid tombs viewpoint. Past the Muslim cemetery, which I thought was very photogenic. White but abandoned graves, one on top of the other so crowded that you can't even pass by. We waited for the sunset at the viewpoint, looked at the huge Fes el Bali medina (UNESCO) and then returned. The sun sets later than here. At the end of October there around 7pm, which seemed true to me It's nice that the darkness doesn't catch up with you too quickly and you can make the most of the day.

The next day we visited the Bou Inania Madrasa. A mosque that is also open to non-Muslims. Beautiful mosaics and other typical decorations. Then we walked to the Blue Gate - the entrance to the medina. Shortly before noon we set off for Azrou. We said goodbye to our traditional Riad. It had an open inner courtyard, lots of mosaics and unusually high ceilings. There were also carpets, a simple bathroom and an extremely friendly housekeeper. In Fes we also found a supermarket (a really big one, with Burger King, McDonalds and Pizza Hut - a little surprised that they also have this). Then the path under the feet or steering wheel and gas . Azrou was just a stopover, so much so that we were a little closer to the desert.

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