ATW in 45. #37

Today was fine. At first. We were supposed to meet our driver at 8am. Didn’t happen. I got up at 710 after one snooze on the alarm. Went to shower. After ten minutes waiting for hot water, I gave up. Not going for cold. Took a French bath instead. Not a good start. Emily followed suit. She likes hot water too.

We were fully dressed and packed by 8. When I say is I mean Emily and I. The adult kids were still in bed. Em and I went downstairs for breakfast. She decided to not eat due to the number of small roaches running around. I ate some. And had a couple cups of coffee.

We went back up and Emily told the adults to skip eating because it was nasty. That was a mistake, we found out, later.

We got down to the van by 9am and were off to view the only thing worth seeing in Casablanca according to our guide. It’s a really huge mosque next to the ocean. More on that in a moment.

Both kids turned on us when we got there. Remember when your kids were toddlers? You had to feed them to keep them from becoming monsters? We got the adult version of a tantrum. Fun. Well, when they are adults the same thing applies. They became monsters and, of course, blame us. I think adults of any age should be able to get food or tell their fellow travellers they need to stop and get food. Also, I think they revert to their childhood when they are around us. As I told them, take care of yourselves. You’re old enough.

We toured the mosque. Tallest minaret in the world. Inside holds 25,000 parishioners on the floor in prayer. It’s insanely large. Even their wash room underneath could easily hold a thousand people. It is mostly beautiful. But, it’s only 20 years old and all the rehab work they do, and there is a lot next to the ocean, is done with a lower standard and leaves a “scar” in a sense. Really ruins the look.

After the mosque tour we went to eat. And miraculously the young adults became human again. Well, as human as they can get.

Off to Meknes. Long drive. Boring drive. Through the countryside with the usual views from the interstate. Nothing. Just olive trees. We all fell asleep. At Meknes we looked at another Mosque. This one very old. I think they believe we want to see all mosques. We don’t.

We walked across the street to a market. Appearances would tell me that it was there for tourists. God thing in a tourist. I patronized a couple snake charmers, one with a cobra. Way fun. It would appear the owner of the snake yanked out its fangs. Still exciting. I got to get into the act and play with the snake while Emily stood 20 feet away and was creeped out. She does not like snakes. At all. The snake guy wanted her to film a video of me and the cobra and she had a hard time filming it. It’s a wonder.

Back in the van to Volubilis. The Roman ruins on the way from Meknes to Fes. They seem kinda in the middle of nowhere but back in the day Volubilis was a very important city in North Africa. They manufactured lots of olive oil and grew much wheat. The lands around the town were very fertile. The ruins themselves are about one third excavated. But what is there is very impressive. I was here 44 years ago and the ruins have become less ruinous since then. They have added a small museum and very nice restroom facilities. And parking. When I was here prior, none of that. Just ruins in a field.

I can say now, having been to Rome, that Volubilis is unique. If you are in Morocco, it’s worth a stop here. Although I would not come just for the ruins.
We wandered through with the guide for over an hour. One nice change, Morocco has professional guides now. College educated, multi lingual, knowledgeable. And honest. Years ago the guides just spoke English and would make up half the things they said. And it seemed their job to help separate you from your money. Now, I am not surrounded by “guides” at every stop. Nice change.

I should mention, the roads to Volubilis were windy and bumpy and up and down. All four of us got car sick. A walk around for an hour after arriving helped.

The trip to Fes from the ruins took about an hour and a half. But we got there.

Riad Sheryne is our destination in Fes. The word Riad means house. So we are staying in a Moroccan style house which has been converted to a hotel. Most have been rehabbed into luxury apartments. First impressions don’t look good. Hess houses are behind walls. The access is a door in an alleyway or he side of a building. Ours is on he Médina. It has no address. When the Fes Medina was built in the 9th century no one thought of addresses. So all I know is, the Riad is in the medina. I have to call when I get here and ask them to come out. Lovely.

My guide Youssef fixed that. He call is friend Azin and asked him to come show us the door. It was actually quite close to where we parked. Down an unmarked narrow alleyway with a couple of sharp turns in the 9th century Medina of Fes. I should mention, you need a guide to go through the Medina or you could be hopelessly lost. It’s recommended you not go into the medina after dark. I am sure you are getting the idea.

So Amazon did show up. We grabbed our bags and followed him down the alleyways to the Riad. Again, hard to find. Turns out Azin lives in the medina. But we got there. They have a bell which we rang. Door answered, no one speaks English, so on left. We went in, with some trepidation. Well, the Riad is beautiful. It was remodeled last year and they did a great job.

A Riad is a house. It’s behind the wall of the Medina with one door access. So on the outside you can’t tell anything about it. There is a central courtyard on the main floor, all done in traditional mosaic. Very clean. The employees speak zero English. But, they are really friendly and quite helpful. We got all the usual paperwork done and headed up to the rooms. All rooms are on the 2nd floor and up. So down is common area and up private rooms.

Turns out the rooms were fantastic too. Comfy, cozy, clean and well appointed. And the place is cheap. Just a fine place to stay.

We wanted to go get dinner. But, we are in the Medina, it’s geting dark, and you would prob get lost if you wander out. The manager decided to walk us to dinner. Halfway there I realized I had left my wallet. The hotel manager said no prob. He would tell the restaurant we would pay them tomorrow. Ya, no prob. Turned out that worked. We ate and left without paying. Gotta love the honor system.

We went back after dinner, in the dark, through the alleys and to the Riad, no problem. And off to bed.