Fes - Meknes (MA) : imerial cities
Fes
N 34°03.707' W 004°59.024'
We said good bye to Chaouen with an early morning walk up to the minaret on the hill overlooking the town and watched the sun peel across the medina. After the obligatory bargaining for the three-day parking fee we wound our way over the hilly landscape to Fes. Just inside one of the nine gates of the walled city we settled in at the Hotel Cascade which had a commanding roof-top terrace and an amiable "chai-man" (for lack of a better word) on our floor who was always at our disposition to serve us mint tea, teach is a few words of Arabic or simply give us a friendly "salaam" or bon-jour.
Wandering though the people packed maze of the medina the architectural sights, walled gardens, artesans and their fine work and the smell of spices and street stalls makes you think that a western CBD is science fiction. Most impressive, however, was the leather tannery where men tread animal hides for hours in man-hole sized pits under the scrutinous eyes of the supervisors. It's hard work especially now in winter when the water temperature is probably not much more than 5 degrees C.
We got our meals from street stalls and often took them up to the hotel's sunny roof-top to enjoy them to the array of music rising from the alleys below or to the jumble of player calls from Fes’ 300-odd mosques at dusk.
Meknes
N 33°53.638' W 005°33.797'
Our next stop was just a 2-hour cruise down what must be every German’s dream of a freeway: 2 lanes each way, brand new, no road works and devoid of traffic. That males it difficult to stick to the 120 km/h speed limit but the omnipresent traffic police and with our favourite music sounding from our helmets we were content to relax and enjoy the journey. The entire three storey hotel in Meknes and it's rooms are tiled floor to ceiling with the same tile having a typically Arabic, geometric and colourful design giving the place quite a psychedelic.
A lot smaller the Fes, we spent a few days enjoying the quiet atmosphere and long breakfasts in one of the ever present and well frequented "salons de thé". The quality of coffee and pastries easily matches anything in Europe, not to mention value for money and the service: speed, courteousy, appearance, mood and gesture of the waiter would beat anything in our 1st world nine times out of ten.
The rain kept us here longer than planed so we clocked up a few hours on the internet and tried out the different tajines (a meat or vegetable dish cooked and served in earthen ware).
Sunshine at last and we visited the nearly Roman ruins of Vollubulis known for their exceptional mosaics from the 2nd. century AD.
N 34°03.707' W 004°59.024'
We said good bye to Chaouen with an early morning walk up to the minaret on the hill overlooking the town and watched the sun peel across the medina. After the obligatory bargaining for the three-day parking fee we wound our way over the hilly landscape to Fes. Just inside one of the nine gates of the walled city we settled in at the Hotel Cascade which had a commanding roof-top terrace and an amiable "chai-man" (for lack of a better word) on our floor who was always at our disposition to serve us mint tea, teach is a few words of Arabic or simply give us a friendly "salaam" or bon-jour.
Wandering though the people packed maze of the medina the architectural sights, walled gardens, artesans and their fine work and the smell of spices and street stalls makes you think that a western CBD is science fiction. Most impressive, however, was the leather tannery where men tread animal hides for hours in man-hole sized pits under the scrutinous eyes of the supervisors. It's hard work especially now in winter when the water temperature is probably not much more than 5 degrees C.
We got our meals from street stalls and often took them up to the hotel's sunny roof-top to enjoy them to the array of music rising from the alleys below or to the jumble of player calls from Fes’ 300-odd mosques at dusk.
Meknes
N 33°53.638' W 005°33.797'
Our next stop was just a 2-hour cruise down what must be every German’s dream of a freeway: 2 lanes each way, brand new, no road works and devoid of traffic. That males it difficult to stick to the 120 km/h speed limit but the omnipresent traffic police and with our favourite music sounding from our helmets we were content to relax and enjoy the journey. The entire three storey hotel in Meknes and it's rooms are tiled floor to ceiling with the same tile having a typically Arabic, geometric and colourful design giving the place quite a psychedelic.
A lot smaller the Fes, we spent a few days enjoying the quiet atmosphere and long breakfasts in one of the ever present and well frequented "salons de thé". The quality of coffee and pastries easily matches anything in Europe, not to mention value for money and the service: speed, courteousy, appearance, mood and gesture of the waiter would beat anything in our 1st world nine times out of ten.
The rain kept us here longer than planed so we clocked up a few hours on the internet and tried out the different tajines (a meat or vegetable dish cooked and served in earthen ware).
Sunshine at last and we visited the nearly Roman ruins of Vollubulis known for their exceptional mosaics from the 2nd. century AD.
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