Guided Tour - Fez

Our train ride from Marrakesh to Fez was HOT! We were supposedly in an air conditioned car but you would have never known. There was a tiny bit of cold air coming from the vent so we took turns fanning each other the whole way. Oh, did we mention the train ride was seven hours long!!!

We beelined it for the taxi stand as soon as we arrived (12:30am). As we were loading our luggage into the first two cars a fight was breaking out between two drivers. Apparently the driver of the first car had butted in line. Why they chose to fight about it when we arrived was a mystery to us. The car had been parked there well before we arrived. The fight became so heated that one man had his hands around the other man's throat. We quickly unloaded our stuff and put it in the next car in line. What a lovely welcome to Fez!

The taxi dropped us off in the middle of one of the main squares. We had written directions on how to walk to the hotel from the square. A teenage boy came up to us and asked us if we needed a guide to our hotel (of course for a fee). We took him up on his offer since there are over 9,000 unmarked dead end streets in the Fez Medina. By the time the boy walked us to our hotel, about eight other teenagers were following us around trying to offer their assistance. Our patience was wearing thin so we were happy once we made it to our hotel!

We decided Fez would be best explored by a tour guide. This turned out to be the best decision we could have ever made. Our tour guide, Isham, was not only a friendly and intelligent tour guide but also a local football celebrity too. He took us to the following places: Royal Palace, Jewish Quarters, Jewish Synagogue, Medersa, tannery, spice shop, and a ceramic studio. We ended the day watching Spain beat Germany at a local hotel. John was devastated but was quickly consoled when he realized we would be watching the world cup final in Spain!