The Big Maroccan City

Fès has been quite a change from Chefchaouen. We arrived in the evening and we greeted almost right away by the hassle of the taxi men. After arguing over the price, deciding we did not want their service and would prefer a smaller and metered "petit taxi", we ended up back were we had begun and paid far too much for the trip to our hotel.

That small bit of bother was well worth it once we entered the Medina and sat down to have our first meal at Le Kasbah, one of the many restaurants at the entrance of this UNESCO heritage site. A gorgeous tagine of chicken and prunes and a beef kabab were just what we had been looking for in Morocco.

Fès has proven it's self as quite the culinary capital of our travels so far. We have enjoyed the candies from the Medina, the many tagines, as well as the roof-top terrace of a restaurant, Café Clock, run by a British ex-pat Michael, who we met while enjoying a bottle of Casablanca Lager at the Hotel Batha. Last night however, we took on the meal of meals. Following the guide book to what we read would be a small palace restaurant, Dar Jamai, we sat down for a meal that we assumed would be about 200 Dh (18 euro) for the two of us. But, no we were informed that the set menu would be made up of a number of courses at the price of 300 Dh per person. Swallowing our small bit of shock, we sat, we could not possibly just walk out. So....we ate....and ate and ate. The meal was alright, the price does put you off quite a bit after eating better meal for a lot less, as well as the wasted food that we could not possibly have taken in. It was the experience of eating in a lovely home that cost us.

In addition to all of the terrific food, we also conquered the 'terrifying' Medina without a guide and made our way to the tannery without too much bother. The government had created the position of Medina Guide, due to all of the tourists getting lost; however, what it seems to have created is a problem of increasing numbers of 'faux-guides'. We don't know what the solution to all of this would be, but acting like you are just going for a stroll seemed to have worked for us.

Our last day in Fès will be spent exploring the Medina some, as well as checking out the fortress like war museum, and most likely having some beers with our new Aussie buddies, Karen and Annie.

Off to Rabat tomorrow by train. Time for lunch now though! (notice the sleeping cat at Tom's feet, he seems to live at the bank machine because we have seen him sleeping there since)