But I digress.......
February 5, 2009
After a disappointing beginning in Morocco, we had an incredible experience in this beautiful country. Disappointing, because we arrived 12 hours late due to bad weather, and did not get to have dinner with Malika Ouensa’s family in Casablanca.
There is no way to adequately describe the experience I had stepping out of a taxi at Place el a Hakim in Meknes at 5PM. It is an enormous ancient square and it was full of mostly men wearing long dark robes with hoods and women wearing long blouses over pants and head scarves. We stuck out like 5 sore thumbs! Ignoring us, the people were playing music, watching street performances, shopping, eating, begging or selling their wares. I felt as if I had stepped out of a car and into the 8th century. It took my breath away.
We found our way through narrow, dark streets, more like passage ways, to the Ryad Bahia where we stayed for 2 nights. This is the Moroccan version of a bed and breakfast and is usually always located in the medina or the old part of the city. In Morocco it is always quite surprising to walk into a home from the street. Beyond the doorway, one discovers an extraordinary and ornate courtyard with mosaic tiles and fountains, greenery and pillows for sitting. Check it out.
http://www.ryad-bahia.com/fr/index.php?afficher=presentation
The Moroccans offer superb hospitality which is always initiated by an offering of hot mint tea which is such a pleasant respite after the challenges of travel in such a foreign place.
Before our arrival at the Ryad, we visited Volubilis, Roman ruins located about 24 km from Meknes. At the train station, we negotiated a price for a grand taxi to take us to the ruins, wait for us and deliver us to the medina. Travelling with our friends, Sarah and Jon, we packed into this old Mercedes like sardines and drove through the countryside with this wonderful, gracious man who stopped at all the panoramic overlooks for photos. We mostly communicated in French (that is, Reggie did) which is the second language of Morocco, Arabic being the first.
Volubilis was founded by the Romans in 25 BC and served as an outpost for the Roman Empire
for 200-300 years. Now it is only occupied by storks that are nesting on top of some of the ancient columns that are still standing. Along with the French, the Moroccans have been excavating and restoring these ruins since 1963 and still much remains buried under mounds of dirt. We hired another guide to take us through the ruins and he showed us the basilica, forum and some remnants of homes owned by the wealthy Patricians many of which had restored mosaic floors. It is quite a humbling experience to stand in the midst of such antiquity.
On the next day we visited Morocco’s second Imperial City, Fes, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a short train ride from Meknes. While on the train we met Ahmed who called his friend Hajj Rashid, who met us at the train station and whom we hired as a guide for the day. Later comparing notes with fellow voyagers, we determined that there is a real business working the trains to find tourist who need guides. And need a guide we did!! The souk (market) in Fes is a warren of 8000 streets with no names
that I could see. The streets are more like are tiny dark, passage ways, lined with 3-4 story attached buildings. We would still be wandering around there trying to find our way out if not for Hajj Rashid. The tiny streets are filled with shops, merchandize, people and donkeys carrying goods. We visited a rug cooperative, a shop full of brass and bronze engraved plates and vessels, and a tannery where we saw them curing and dying leather on the roof tops of several buildings. It was here that I bought a leather coat and was told that I did a good job bargaining.
The food markets in Meknes and Fes are a full frontal assault of all the senses. Life at its most intense…all varieties of dates and olives stacked in pyramids, spices piled up in cone like shapes like sand castles, live chickens squaking on their
way to the plucking machines, hanging sides of beef and pork, a real camel’s head marking the camel meat vendor, and candies and pastries that would put Willie Wonka to shame. It was an EYES WIDE OPEN experience and there is nothing in my memory bank that compares.
There is no way to adequately describe the experience I had stepping out of a taxi at Place el a Hakim in Meknes at 5PM. It is an enormous ancient square and it was full of mostly men wearing long dark robes with hoods and women wearing long blouses over pants and head scarves. We stuck out like 5 sore thumbs! Ignoring us, the people were playing music, watching street performances, shopping, eating, begging or selling their wares. I felt as if I had stepped out of a car and into the 8th century. It took my breath away.
We found our way through narrow, dark streets, more like passage ways, to the Ryad Bahia where we stayed for 2 nights. This is the Moroccan version of a bed and breakfast and is usually always located in the medina or the old part of the city. In Morocco it is always quite surprising to walk into a home from the street. Beyond the doorway, one discovers an extraordinary and ornate courtyard with mosaic tiles and fountains, greenery and pillows for sitting. Check it out.http://www.ryad-bahia.com/fr/index.php?afficher=presentation
The Moroccans offer superb hospitality which is always initiated by an offering of hot mint tea which is such a pleasant respite after the challenges of travel in such a foreign place.
Before our arrival at the Ryad, we visited Volubilis, Roman ruins located about 24 km from Meknes. At the train station, we negotiated a price for a grand taxi to take us to the ruins, wait for us and deliver us to the medina. Travelling with our friends, Sarah and Jon, we packed into this old Mercedes like sardines and drove through the countryside with this wonderful, gracious man who stopped at all the panoramic overlooks for photos. We mostly communicated in French (that is, Reggie did) which is the second language of Morocco, Arabic being the first.
Volubilis was founded by the Romans in 25 BC and served as an outpost for the Roman Empire
for 200-300 years. Now it is only occupied by storks that are nesting on top of some of the ancient columns that are still standing. Along with the French, the Moroccans have been excavating and restoring these ruins since 1963 and still much remains buried under mounds of dirt. We hired another guide to take us through the ruins and he showed us the basilica, forum and some remnants of homes owned by the wealthy Patricians many of which had restored mosaic floors. It is quite a humbling experience to stand in the midst of such antiquity.On the next day we visited Morocco’s second Imperial City, Fes, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a short train ride from Meknes. While on the train we met Ahmed who called his friend Hajj Rashid, who met us at the train station and whom we hired as a guide for the day. Later comparing notes with fellow voyagers, we determined that there is a real business working the trains to find tourist who need guides. And need a guide we did!! The souk (market) in Fes is a warren of 8000 streets with no names
that I could see. The streets are more like are tiny dark, passage ways, lined with 3-4 story attached buildings. We would still be wandering around there trying to find our way out if not for Hajj Rashid. The tiny streets are filled with shops, merchandize, people and donkeys carrying goods. We visited a rug cooperative, a shop full of brass and bronze engraved plates and vessels, and a tannery where we saw them curing and dying leather on the roof tops of several buildings. It was here that I bought a leather coat and was told that I did a good job bargaining. The food markets in Meknes and Fes are a full frontal assault of all the senses. Life at its most intense…all varieties of dates and olives stacked in pyramids, spices piled up in cone like shapes like sand castles, live chickens squaking on their
way to the plucking machines, hanging sides of beef and pork, a real camel’s head marking the camel meat vendor, and candies and pastries that would put Willie Wonka to shame. It was an EYES WIDE OPEN experience and there is nothing in my memory bank that compares. 
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