Fez

Nov. 24

Had breakfast on our hotel terrace w/ Jenny... bread, butter, and cafe au lait. Jenny by the way is an architect from Oslo so had interesting conversations about buildings with her. We attempted to take a walking tour through the ancient winding streets of the medina - only to realize that:

a) it was almost impossible to navigate
b)all the stores were closing as it was Friday.

In the midst of the frantic rush to get to the mosque, we walked back and decided to head to the ville nouvelle to book a guide for the next day. On the way to the new city we checked out the bus station and bought a cheap lunch of bread and bean stew, tried to take a picture of a nice huge old door( which an angry guard informed us was not allowed as it was the king's palace). We walked through the bustling mellah(Jewish quarter) and finally made our way to where we thought the tourist office should be. Turns out it was under renovation, but the guides found us anyway. We booked a guide for the next morning, had steaming hot beef sandwiches with fries for supper and went to bed. We had moved hotels that morning to a cheaper, friendlier place. Unfortunately our rooms were right beside a busy medina street which meant that for most of the night it seemed as though we were attempting to sleep right on the street. Incredibly noisy, not to mention the mosque at 5 am and the street sweepers at 6. Saving grace - piping hot showers, not to be taken for granted in this country.