Fes as they call it here is apparently the oldest city in Morocco. We ended up there around 5:15 after a somewhat gruelling day. We left Chefchaouon at 9:30. Jim had a vet rough night last night and things did not improve until we arrived at the hotel in Fes. We are here for two nights so that helps. Gail is vastly improved.
We basically drove for three hours through some lovely hilly and rolling countryside that was similar to a ride up through the Fraser Canyon and Cache creek and into 100 Mile House in Bc. Later the landscape turned into a Moroccan version of the Great Central Valley in California. It is basically nothing but fertile soil forever and as far as the eye can see. Wheat, barley, lentils, peas, oranges, grapes, watermelon and on and on the list goes.
Of special interest was a one hour walking tour of an Ancient Roman city of Volubilis, meaning Morning Glory. It was settled in about the first century AD and lasted for 300 years before the Roman Army was pushed back by the invading Berbers. The abandoned structures were used as a source of building material by settlers many years later and then the remains were destroyed by an earthquake later still. It has been somewhat restored even though 70% of the material was taken away and used elsewhere.
We had a quick street lunch in a town called Moulay Idriss, where we risked getting stricken by who knows what. Jim did not eat much and was quite happy to reside in the car when we stopped for photo opportunities later. He never once complained or moaned or groaned and was quite happy to just be quiet and rest.
We were all very, very happy to arrive at the hotel where we stay for two nights. We all had dinner together in the hotel the last thing we needed was an outside walk looking for some place that served food that we all could live with. Jim ate his food, just to eat something and I feel that he is on the mend.
Main Street in a Roman town around 200 AD.
Let your imagination take over!
Our guide with the other three.
Apparently twisted columns are rare, how would we know otherwise?
A street drain chiseled 2000 years ago by some Roman in Morocco!
By our outside lunch table in a street today.
Also taken while waiting for lunch which was BBQ'd beef meatballs, olives, bread and water.
Same place. They had rolled stringed figs that looked great.
How do they stack olives like that?
'Lunch'
Hillside settlement. Here, the people settled first at the top of the hills and often they built a wall around it, that walled city was later was called the Medina, or old walled city. As more people moved close to the old city it gradually spread out and downhill, that is called the new city. We have been staying in the old walled cities called Medinas. And now you know!
My much younger wife at one of the gates to the original Imperial City of Morocco called Meknes where we had an abbreviated van tour,
Same wall and gate.
Inside our home for two days.
Roof top at the hotel.
One of the lobby's.
Our bedroom on the third floor, no sounds of the city penetrate the walls, except the faint Calls to Prayer. They do not last long and remind us of where we are. By the way, the Calls to Prayer times, [five times a day] vary throughout the year as the days get longer or shorter. You can download an App on your phone to keep you in tune with Prayer Time in case you were wondering how to fit a Prayer Time into your busy schedule. The public calls to prayer are followed in about 15 minutes by actual prayer time, which is silent inside the Mosque. It is like church bells before church on Sunday.
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