First full day in Fes

 We woke up in Fes on a day we knew would be full but did not know how. After breakfast, we headed into town, starting in the Mellah, the Jewish quarter. I should back up a bit to give some context. Morocco was not a place where Jews were persecuted the way they traditionally had been in Europe. The religious outlook, set by the king, is one of tolerance and moderation. Morocco has been conquered and reconquered enough times that there is a cross-cultural current that you can almost feel. In all likelihood, the location, kind of between the Middle East and Europe, brought all types of people through here. Jews had to live in designated areas, but they served important government functions in some of the reigning dynasties. 

There are not many Jews left now, mostly because emigration to Israel was permitted and eventually supported in mid-20th century. There are normal diplomatic relations between Morocco and Israel at present, and the king has committed to restoring a number of Jewish historical sites like cemeteries and synagogues. This has been a long way of getting to the point that our first destination of the day was the Jewish cemetery in Fes. It's very large and still in use.

After that, we entered the Medina and walked through the souks. There are lots of places you could describe as sensory overload, and then there are the souks in Fes. At least in Grand Central at rush hour, crowded and crazy as it might be, you can see your way out and the main hall is big and open. Here, it's a tangle of narrow passageways, many covered with rough wooden roofs and all crowded to the limit of available space (though tour groups are partially responsible for that) to the point where people were literally pushing each other to move in their chose direction, that seem to go on endlessly and then dead end. I can't imagine trying to navigate it myself and I'm usually pretty good at keeping myself oriented. Maybe I could have managed, but probably not and it would have been totally stressful. 

It was an endless market. Meat, fruit and vegetables, herbs and spices, bakers, snacks and sweets. More nougat than you've ever seen in your life. Shoes and sandals, faux mosaic plates, wedding clothes and whatever else you might want. One after another. Each barely distinguishable from the previous one. And no rhyme or reason to the narrow passageways and even narrower alleys where there are pieces of lumber inserted between buildings, I'm guessing to keep them from leaning onto each other. 

Eventually we got to one of our top destinations, the tannery. This is a very famous thing in Fes and it's a little hard to properly describe. The tanning is done using all natural materials in vats that contain a mixture of water, salt, limestone, and pigeon poop, which does not smell very good. The bad smell is almost as famous as the tannery itself. Men scramble along the edges of square tubs full of chemicals first to tan it and then, after it dries, dye it. Sometimes they stand hip deep in the tubs to manipulate things. It's quite something. The smell was kind of medium level subway passageway ugly, so not worst than anything we'd smelled before, though others there clearly felt differently.

I enjoyed watching Ronnie photographing all of this. She got a least one great photo and I'm guessing there will be more.

We had to go into a store with someone who had guided us through and examine a couple of things ("Camel belly is the best! Waterproof and fireproof!" He poured water on the thing but did not try to set it on fire), but it wasn't pushy.

We then had lunch at a nice traditional Moroccan restaurant. Things got a bit dicier after that though, because we were brought to a carpet showroom where we got to see a variety of the rugs they make here, followed by a very slick, smooth, gentle hard sell trying to get us to buy something. Once you hear someone say "no obligation, of course" for the 5th time, you know what's going on. We were angry because we had very specifically told both the person designing the tour and the guide that we were not buying anything and did not want to be put in exactly that kind of situation. The guide got the message and apologized, and when we visited a pottery workshop and buying opportunity (which was clear from the ATM on site) the guy who showed us around took us to all the showrooms but like the leather guy, wasn't pushy.

We also saw the entranceways to mosques and the university (oldest in the world!?) though we could only peer inside. There will be more of that tomorrow. The Moroccans love their grand gates and doorways and there's clearly a certain amount of competitiveness in their extravagance. We saw a prime example of that at the mosque in Casablanca, but it's everywhere. This is a museum entrance. The detail work is incredible.

Eventually we came out of the Medina and back to the hotel, where I wanted to do a workout, though I couldn't find the gym. Once given instructions, I found it, but I might as well have not, because it was nobody's idea of a gym. It was a large room with a tile floor that had 5 machines. That's it- a couple of mats, but they were covered by a big pile of outdoor furniture cushions. No weights- there was one of those multifunction weight machines but it was complicated and lacking instructions, so I stretched and did some pushups and went back to the room. Interesting mixed bag of a day.