Sorry its taken me so long to put this up! I was in Morocco the 3rd week of January for work. It was a pretty short trip, 7 days, but we were lucky enough to fall over a weekend, which gave us some free time to explore!!
Fes is like a town that time forgot. It was established during the Berber period and was a major stop for the camel caravans that brought goods up to Europe. The 'medina' is the oldest part of the city and is a huge market place. We saw spices, tourist stuff, lanterns, home goods, silver, copper, leather goods, fruits, meats and even a camel head and goat hooves for sale. (ugh!) Its not just a tourist site- people live, work and shop there. The buildings are 3-4 stories high- they have businesses on the first level and
apartments on the upper levels. The 'roads' vary in width- some are probably as wide as 12', but most others are about 5-6'. This makes for very crowded conditions!! Especially when you factor in the donkeys that are used to transport stuff. Its no joke that you have to pay attention to whats going on around you- if you hear someone yelling, get out of the way because that probably means that a donkey is coming up from behind and I don't think the donkeys really care about stepping over your dead body!! haha!! Seriously- the smells, sounds and sights of that place will stay with me (and haunt me!) forever!! Our guide told us that the sounds of the medina was 
actually the inspiration of poets of long ago and were the foundation of the Arabic poetry styles. I can hear it- taken apart, the sounds are jarring, but they are musical when they are put all together- very interesting.
Here I have to pause for a moment to talk about the food. Normally, I am an 'American' eater- I like things that are recognizable and while I'll try some things, others I'll just pass on. The food in Morocco was some of my favorite! We had a meal the first night that stands out as one of my favorite of all time. It was course after course of pitas, cous cous, schwarma, vegetable 'salsas' (because thats what they most reminded me of and I don't know what the real word is) for pitas, lamb and veal that just melted in your mouth- man, was it good! I even tried my first date (Indiana Jones style) and, well, I didn't like it, but at least I tried it!!!! Finish it all with a shot of hot mint tea (LOVE IT) and a spritz of scented water for the hands and I was in heaven. I can't wait to find a Moroccan restaurant in DC to compare it to!
Ok- so back to Rabat. I
felt safe there- the women wore modern clothes and worked outside the home. It was a standard Middle Eastern city in that there was alot going on in the streets- the cars were a bit crazy, there was no crosswalk, etc, and the buildings and streets were a bit on the dirty side. But the people seemed nice enough. I did get taken advantage of financially a couple of times, but everything was so inexpensive I didn't even mind that too much. I actually didn't see too many sites in Rabat itself because we worked all day, but I did get to see Rabat's medina (nowhere near the experience of Fes!) and the Kasbah, a small community that is a maze of streets with pretty 
whitewashed/blue buildings. It seemed mostly residential, but there were some shops mixed in. When you wind your way to the top of the hill, you find the look out, where you can see the ocean. They do have a beach, but it was way too cold. The only people there were surfers.
I stayed in Rabat, the capital city. Its not the largest city in Morocco, or the fanciest or the most touristy. Locals consider it 'provincial' and it kind of shut down at night- we had a hard time finding places to eat dinner. The official languages are Arabic and French, which meant that Erin couldn't understand a thing that was being said. The Rabat airport is the smallest I've ever been in. One room for incoming, one room for outgoing. (plus a business lounge, which we managed to find on the way home...) The weather was a nice change from DC- highs in the 60s and sunny for the first part of the week, but of course it got colder and rainier on the weekend!!!
Saturday, we arranged a day tour to a town called Fes. I'd been told that I had to go visit- and I'm glad I did, but I don't see myself going back- haha!! We took the train (about 3 hours) and were met by a guide at the Fes train station. The countryside 
is amazingly green- I expected more desert, but that occurs more inland. Our guide spoke English extremely well and with a British accent, which he explained was because he learned English from watching BBC! I'm sure he was exaggerating.
is amazingly green- I expected more desert, but that occurs more inland. Our guide spoke English extremely well and with a British accent, which he explained was because he learned English from watching BBC! I'm sure he was exaggerating. Fes is like a town that time forgot. It was established during the Berber period and was a major stop for the camel caravans that brought goods up to Europe. The 'medina' is the oldest part of the city and is a huge market place. We saw spices, tourist stuff, lanterns, home goods, silver, copper, leather goods, fruits, meats and even a camel head and goat hooves for sale. (ugh!) Its not just a tourist site- people live, work and shop there. The buildings are 3-4 stories high- they have businesses on the first level and
apartments on the upper levels. The 'roads' vary in width- some are probably as wide as 12', but most others are about 5-6'. This makes for very crowded conditions!! Especially when you factor in the donkeys that are used to transport stuff. Its no joke that you have to pay attention to whats going on around you- if you hear someone yelling, get out of the way because that probably means that a donkey is coming up from behind and I don't think the donkeys really care about stepping over your dead body!! haha!! Seriously- the smells, sounds and sights of that place will stay with me (and haunt me!) forever!! Our guide told us that the sounds of the medina was 
actually the inspiration of poets of long ago and were the foundation of the Arabic poetry styles. I can hear it- taken apart, the sounds are jarring, but they are musical when they are put all together- very interesting.We visited the tanning 'factory' in the middle of the medina- actually, we smelled it long before we got there. At the door, they hand you a sprig of mint leaves and believe me- those leaves were pretty much stuck up my nose! I have some photos from the observation area of the vats of dye. We were told that Fes is most known for its leathergoods. I guess it gets processed here and sent up to Europe for fabrication. All kinds of leather- sheep, goat, and camel. No cows over there!! It was a great trip- a full day! When I got home, I realized that the entire day, including a fantastic lunch, train, tour, etc- only cost each of us about $40. Amazing!
Here I have to pause for a moment to talk about the food. Normally, I am an 'American' eater- I like things that are recognizable and while I'll try some things, others I'll just pass on. The food in Morocco was some of my favorite! We had a meal the first night that stands out as one of my favorite of all time. It was course after course of pitas, cous cous, schwarma, vegetable 'salsas' (because thats what they most reminded me of and I don't know what the real word is) for pitas, lamb and veal that just melted in your mouth- man, was it good! I even tried my first date (Indiana Jones style) and, well, I didn't like it, but at least I tried it!!!! Finish it all with a shot of hot mint tea (LOVE IT) and a spritz of scented water for the hands and I was in heaven. I can't wait to find a Moroccan restaurant in DC to compare it to!
Ok- so back to Rabat. I
felt safe there- the women wore modern clothes and worked outside the home. It was a standard Middle Eastern city in that there was alot going on in the streets- the cars were a bit crazy, there was no crosswalk, etc, and the buildings and streets were a bit on the dirty side. But the people seemed nice enough. I did get taken advantage of financially a couple of times, but everything was so inexpensive I didn't even mind that too much. I actually didn't see too many sites in Rabat itself because we worked all day, but I did get to see Rabat's medina (nowhere near the experience of Fes!) and the Kasbah, a small community that is a maze of streets with pretty 
whitewashed/blue buildings. It seemed mostly residential, but there were some shops mixed in. When you wind your way to the top of the hill, you find the look out, where you can see the ocean. They do have a beach, but it was way too cold. The only people there were surfers.
I will be going back probably in the summer, so I left Casablanca and Marakesh for those trips!! You can see the rest of my photos here:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=635235109308%3A474740808
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=635235109308%3A474740808
