The hat is a fes, but the city is Fez, meaning ax!
(Fez city view)
We got there driving through the Ziz valley (millions of date palms), along with the town of Medilt—the apple capital of Africa (I had an amazing fresh squeezed apple juice). As you climb into the mountains, there are cedar forests, filled with wild monkeys—that of course Pam and I had to feed and play with. We drove through Ifrane, a village that seems like a Swiss town, complete with chalets and skiing (yes!).
There are three components to the city, with the old city dating from the 9th century. There are more than 9000 streets in the town, so it is incredibly challenging to figure out where you are. The buildings are tall and line the “streets” or passageways, so that you don’t actually ever walk in the sunlight.
Wooden trestles cover other common areas. We learned that all mosques in Morocco must have marble floors, wood doors, plaster friezes, mosaic tiles, and stained glass: these represent the 5 levels of paradise in Muslim faith, but also represent the earth, water, wind, food and animals that are so bountiful in the country.
(Fez Souk Mosque)
The Koranic school was beautiful, with tile, wood and plaster friezes throughout—although all the students’ rooms only had bolts to close the doors on the outside!
A few more scenes from Fez:
(Tannery)
(Argile Pottery)
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