Frolicking through Fes

J's school schedule has been a bit more time-consuming that we initially anticipated, so we've spent the last few weeks in Rabat. The week of Thanksgiving also happened to be the week Morocco celebrated a holiday recognizing the birth of the Prophet, so we ended up getting a surprise two days off from the university. On a whim, we booked an overnight trip to Fes. We knew 36 hours wasn't enough to see all of Fes, so we set out with a primary goal of venturing around the famous Medina, the largest pedestrian-only space in the world. When people talk about Fes, they often talk about getting lost in the maze of streets. That is not a lie. There are over 9,400 streets in the Medina and maybe 1/4 of them are labeled on a map. The advice: stick to the main streets, or be prepared to pay someone to lead you out of the maze and to a taxi.

We took the train from Rabat to Fes (a 3-hour trip), expecting to arrive right around lunchtime. It had been raining all weekend, but had finally cleared up and there was only a 30% chance of showers noted in the evening. Lesson learned: stop trying to follow the weather forecast in Morocco. It if oftentimes incorrect. It POURED the entire afternoon, which left the stone streets of the Medina full of surprises (we used to call those "squishy bricks" at Elon...step on the wrong one, and you're covered in muddy water).

We did enjoy a great lunch at Cafe Clock, which is famous for it's Camel Burger. After that, we most definitely got lost trying to find our riad. It was very reminiscent of a scene from the movie, Labyrinth, as Jennifer Connolly is trying to follow arrows she drew on the bricks and the little creatures keep moving them...we would follow the signs to the hotel, and then the signs would disappear, leaving you to guess what direction to head in next. Soaking wet, we did finally find the riad and spent the rest of the afternoon drying our socks and shoes with a hair dryer. But our room was cozy! There are hundreds of riads to choose from - we ended up selecting Riad Layla for a combination of price, location, and amenities.

Once the rain quieted and we had dried our clothes enough to where we wouldn't freeze, we headed back out to wander the Medina for a few hours before dinner. We decided it would be smart to walk to the restaurant first, so we knew exactly where we needed to go. FYI - we found it on the first shot :) The Fes Medina is enchanting, and full of so many unique finds! We spent most of our time bouncing between rug shops, drinking mint tea and chatting with the shop owners about what we were looking for. K found a concept store called, "Medin'Art", which sold a variety of handmade items - handbags, tshirts, jewelry, artwork, scarves, pillows, etc - of which, she wanted to buy ALL OF IT. I mean, some of it was just impeccable! But knowing we were heading to dinner, we did control ourselves and left all shops empty-handed.

After two hours of "window shopping", we headed back to Nur Restaurant for dinner. Nur is an upscale restaurant in the Medina which offers a 2 1/2 hour, 10-course experience of Moroccan flavors and unique dishes. The team sources the best ingredients from the markets each day, and Chef Najat creates her daily menu based upon what ingredients are available. This means the menu is constantly being improvised around seasonal seafood and local protein offerings (with the exception of the mole sauce, which is a staple on the menu). With this being a pricier experience, we decided it would be our Thanksgiving celebration for 2018. The manager of the restaurant is from Michigan, and he spent about 15 minutes speaking with us at our table before the meal. We felt very welcome; the staff were all friendly and professional, and the food was A-MA-ZING. We left feeling sufficiently full, and with a restaurant that we would love to bring friends and family to for a special treat! While we would love to share the menu with you, it doesn't exist! You only learn what you are eating when they put it in front of you, and unless you write it down, chances are you won't remember what exactly was in each dish. Here are a few of the ones that we enjoyed the most:

• Electrolyte Shot: cucumber, beet, maybe lime, and a saline infusion...no alcohol! Just a light, refreshing way to prepare yourself for the meal!

• Fish Soup with steamed vegetables, served in a conch shell <-- this was J's favorite dish of the evening (it really was fantastic)!

• Saffron Ice Cream w/ berries, pear, and chocolate cake - we aren't huge fans of saffron, but this ice cream was an exception!

• Other deliciousness: fava been soup with pasta and calamari, smoked salmon with an olive and avocado puree and fruit (perfect blend of sweet and salty), duck with mushrooms and apples, chicken with mole sauce and quinoa (K's favorite dish that wasn't dessert), beef medallion, and homemade chocolates!

We carefully made our way back to the riad (without getting lost, I will add) and our food comas put us in a deep sleep.

The following morning the clouds had cleared, and we enjoyed a brisk breakfast on the rooftop of the riad. Moroccan mornings tend to start a bit later, so we were left with about 3 hours of time before we had to catch our train back to Rabat. We headed straight for the Chouara Tannery to catch some iconic photos and perhaps purchase some leather goods. The Chouara Tannery was built in the 11th century and is the largest of three tanneries in Fes. In the photo below, you'll notice there are two distinct sides to the tannery. The white side is where they clean and soften the hides...in a combination of pigeon poop, cow urine, and chemicals found in limestone. Mmmmmm, smells delicious! The hides then move to the darker tubs, where they are dyed using natural colors from things like poppies, henna, indigo, and saffron.

Fes is known for having some of the best (and cheapest) leather in the world (we apologize to our vegan friends ahead of time...). It also means it's pretty popular with tourists and local shopkeepers are not afraid to hassle shoppers for sales. The leather shops were the worst with bothersome shopkeepers, but we never ran into that issue with any of the rug shops.

When our hands were too full of goodies, we tried to scramble out of the medina...and got lost. Which led to a random man yelling for us to following him (ok, he CHOSE to walk in front of us and "lead" us to the street - we did not ask him for help). In fact, we told him we didn't need help (when we really had zero clue where we were going). In the end, we just let him lead us towards the street and tried to give him some money...which he refused because it "wasn't enough". Again, this is the part where we accepted the fact that we were lost and we did the thing people warn you about. BUT, we did manage to get out of the medina and find a taxi. Only for said taxi to also get lost while trying to get us back to the riad to grab our backpacks...it was a mildly chaotic 30 minutes - I think an experience one has to have in Fes - and now we're experts for when we return ;P

Our thoughts on Fes: We like Fes much more than Casablanca...and we'd love to go back to explore more of it. There were several historical sites that we blew past, and with more time, we'd love to get a good look at them. There are also several hikes around the vicinity that overlook the city and provide some incredible views. And of course, we could partake in some more shopping...there are so many choices!

Until next time...