Possible Disappointment and We Got Scammed (But Didn't Really Mind)
We woke up a little later because everything in the Fes Medina opens a little later. Moussa told us that the Medina doesn't really get going until 10am or so. Moussa served us a wonderful breakfast at 9am. It was a carb overload of bread, lefse type stuff, muffins, honey, orange juice, and mint tea. It was our kind of breakfast!! Moussa and his wife are super nice and helpful all the time. We come and go quite a bit and they're always smiling when they open the door (knocking is the only way in).
After our awesome breakfast, Moussa told us that we really needed to head to the bus station and get our bus tickets for Chefchaouen. It was about a 15 min walk back up and our of the Medina and then across a busy street to the bus station. Talk about a cultural experience! There were people walking around everywhere and lots of trash and buses and taxis and no signage. We wandered around for a bit before figuring out where the bus ticket line was located. We waited and they told us that all the tickets were sold out!!! NOOOOO. Lacey was understandably very sad. I was depressed too. We headed back to our hostel with our shoulders slumped.
As we walked, we discussed other options like staying in Fes another night or going somewhere else or a day trip. It wasn't a fun conversation. Moussa wasn't around when we got back to the hostel so Lacey went on the laptop and canceled the Chefchaouen hostel we reserved. We sat around for a while because we were a little sad and depressed. Eventually, Moussa came back and told us that we didn't check the Local Buses, we only checked the Express Bus. We had no idea! We hurried back to the bus station and long story short, we got the bus tickets we needed!!!! Oh, happy day!
After that harrowing experience of thinking we weren't going where we wanted, we decided to wander around Fes for a while. The FourSquare app had some good suggestions for museums and gardens to visit so we walked around outside the Medina to find them. We visited a museum that had a beautiful garden and tile work inside. Then we did a looooong walk to a big garden area. Of course, that garden was closed on Mondays.
A guy came over and started chatting us up. He told us he could show us to the Jewish Quarter Synagogue. Like idiots, we followed him. I did my research before this trip and I knew this was a scam thing where a guy says he can help and then shows you around an area and at the end asks for an obscene amount of money. Again, we KNEW that's what was happening and we still did it. We think the tour guy's name was Rafi (though not sure).
A few things made this "tour" nerve-wracking for us: The Jewish Quarter has tiny, tiny, tiny streets. We didn't have mobile internet (although google maps works). We had no idea how much the guy was going to charge. So yeah, stressful!
On the bright side, the tour was legit awesome. It seems like no tourists ever visit the Jewish Quarter. It's a very residential area now with parts of it kind of falling apart and lots of people crammed in. Some of the streets were painted red and blue. The market street was something I'll never forget. It was a super narrow street with people lining each side with all sorts of things. There were sights and smells and people walking and it was so cool. I really wish I would have stopped to take a picture. Rafi also showed us the Jewish cemetery where there were thousands of white covered graves. The graves had holes in the back so people could shove candles and incense in.
A the end, the guy ended up charging us $20 a person which is whatever. I don't want to seem blase about spending money but it was a genuine cultural experience and that's entirely why we came to Morocco. I'll never forget it and that's worth $20 to me haha.
It was after 2pm and we still hadn't eaten lunch so we ate a place called "cinema cafe". It's probably kind of touristy but everything is that way in the Medina so who cares. The food was super cheap and ended up being really good. Lacey got a cheese pizza that was delicious and I got a chicken pastilla. Pastilla is chicken, almonds, egg, and spices wrapped in phyllo dough with cinnamon and icing sugar on top. It was a weird combo of savory and sweet but both of us liked it a lot!
Our feet were really hurting so back at the hostel, Lacey napped and I wrote the blog post. After a rest we went to a super cool mosque type building. The designs on everything inside were so cool! It really reminded me of the buildings I saw in Southern Spain back in the day. We spent a decent amount of time here taking pictures.
Choosing food options in Fes has been a little bit of an issue so we decided to just go back to the Cafe Clock that we went to the night before for dinner. This time we sat on the rooftop and got the best seat in the house overlooking the mosque minaret. I got lamb tagine (continuing my weird meat streak) and Lacey got a chicken couscous dish. Tagine is a dish cooked in a special pot and is basically a stew. The food was okay, not nearly as good as the night before, but still not bad.
We walked back to the hostel at around 9:30pm. It's so weird how there is literally no nightlife in the Medina. I mean it makes sense since alcohol isn't really a thing here and the Medina is super old and doesn't have bars or clubs or anything but still. The streets were just deserted for the most part (other than the shop selling guys who would stare at Lacey and say "oooo la la", very annoying). Early morning tomorrow for the bus.
Blue City here we come!!
After our awesome breakfast, Moussa told us that we really needed to head to the bus station and get our bus tickets for Chefchaouen. It was about a 15 min walk back up and our of the Medina and then across a busy street to the bus station. Talk about a cultural experience! There were people walking around everywhere and lots of trash and buses and taxis and no signage. We wandered around for a bit before figuring out where the bus ticket line was located. We waited and they told us that all the tickets were sold out!!! NOOOOO. Lacey was understandably very sad. I was depressed too. We headed back to our hostel with our shoulders slumped.
As we walked, we discussed other options like staying in Fes another night or going somewhere else or a day trip. It wasn't a fun conversation. Moussa wasn't around when we got back to the hostel so Lacey went on the laptop and canceled the Chefchaouen hostel we reserved. We sat around for a while because we were a little sad and depressed. Eventually, Moussa came back and told us that we didn't check the Local Buses, we only checked the Express Bus. We had no idea! We hurried back to the bus station and long story short, we got the bus tickets we needed!!!! Oh, happy day!
After that harrowing experience of thinking we weren't going where we wanted, we decided to wander around Fes for a while. The FourSquare app had some good suggestions for museums and gardens to visit so we walked around outside the Medina to find them. We visited a museum that had a beautiful garden and tile work inside. Then we did a looooong walk to a big garden area. Of course, that garden was closed on Mondays.
A guy came over and started chatting us up. He told us he could show us to the Jewish Quarter Synagogue. Like idiots, we followed him. I did my research before this trip and I knew this was a scam thing where a guy says he can help and then shows you around an area and at the end asks for an obscene amount of money. Again, we KNEW that's what was happening and we still did it. We think the tour guy's name was Rafi (though not sure).
A few things made this "tour" nerve-wracking for us: The Jewish Quarter has tiny, tiny, tiny streets. We didn't have mobile internet (although google maps works). We had no idea how much the guy was going to charge. So yeah, stressful!
On the bright side, the tour was legit awesome. It seems like no tourists ever visit the Jewish Quarter. It's a very residential area now with parts of it kind of falling apart and lots of people crammed in. Some of the streets were painted red and blue. The market street was something I'll never forget. It was a super narrow street with people lining each side with all sorts of things. There were sights and smells and people walking and it was so cool. I really wish I would have stopped to take a picture. Rafi also showed us the Jewish cemetery where there were thousands of white covered graves. The graves had holes in the back so people could shove candles and incense in.
A the end, the guy ended up charging us $20 a person which is whatever. I don't want to seem blase about spending money but it was a genuine cultural experience and that's entirely why we came to Morocco. I'll never forget it and that's worth $20 to me haha.
It was after 2pm and we still hadn't eaten lunch so we ate a place called "cinema cafe". It's probably kind of touristy but everything is that way in the Medina so who cares. The food was super cheap and ended up being really good. Lacey got a cheese pizza that was delicious and I got a chicken pastilla. Pastilla is chicken, almonds, egg, and spices wrapped in phyllo dough with cinnamon and icing sugar on top. It was a weird combo of savory and sweet but both of us liked it a lot!
Choosing food options in Fes has been a little bit of an issue so we decided to just go back to the Cafe Clock that we went to the night before for dinner. This time we sat on the rooftop and got the best seat in the house overlooking the mosque minaret. I got lamb tagine (continuing my weird meat streak) and Lacey got a chicken couscous dish. Tagine is a dish cooked in a special pot and is basically a stew. The food was okay, not nearly as good as the night before, but still not bad.
We walked back to the hostel at around 9:30pm. It's so weird how there is literally no nightlife in the Medina. I mean it makes sense since alcohol isn't really a thing here and the Medina is super old and doesn't have bars or clubs or anything but still. The streets were just deserted for the most part (other than the shop selling guys who would stare at Lacey and say "oooo la la", very annoying). Early morning tomorrow for the bus.
Blue City here we come!!
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