Rats in a maze- Morocco part 4

I had been told before I went that you really want to have a guide for the medina in Fes. I TOTALLY understand why. It would be so easy to get lost and never get out. It truly is a maze and it's full of fun little treats around every corner. We had a guide as part of our tour. The local guide told us that in order to become a guide in Fes or a postal delivery person you have to have been born and lived in Fes.

We started the day at the outside of the palace in Fes. Apparently every city has a palace for the king to use, just in case. Our guide told us later in the trip that the king is usually in Rabat. Fancy doors, amazing detail, the usual. We then went to a scenic overview of the city. I don't think even looking at the city from above you can tell just how twisty and maze like it is.

We toured a pottery school where they make pottery and mosaics, something Fes is known for. The work was beautiful. I wish I had a courtyard and a few thousand dollars to drop on a fancy fountain. After that we headed into the maze/medina of Fes. All the normal cute little shops, and some of the not so cute food shops. Escargot anyone? Camel- yes, camel? yuck!

The main thing that Fes is known for is the tannery. You have to go into a leather shop and from there you can look down on the vats of the tannery. It smells REALLY BAD so they give you mint to put by your nose and help with the smell. They also sell you leather goods there. They had super cute shoes but I have big American size feet and they didn't have the cute shoes in my size. :( I ended up with a purse that I probably really shouldn't have bought. A guy in our group bought a blue leather jacket that was so soft and looked so amazing on him. I was jealous.

We wondered around the shops. Actually, we ran past most of the shops. We had kinda wanted to stop at some but there really wasn't much time. We did stop at the leather shop for a long time and a silk/fabric shop. I'm sure those were the ones giving kickback to the guides. Tour group after tour group came in and they did their little demonstration for each group. They make silk from the agave plants, that was interesting to see. April was proposed to at the fabric shop. The guy kept referring to her as his girlfriend and asked me to help him win her over. He offered 2,000 camels, a car, and half his shop-- or something like that. I thought it was a pretty good deal. ;) We saw lots of cool doors, lots of donkeys, lots of things I can't even remember.

We ate lunch at a cute little restaurant in the medina as well. It was a long day. I think if I wasn't with the tour I probably would have allowed for 2-3 days to explore the medina. Needless to say, I have a ton of pictures. I did my best to restrain myself, so here's what I picked to share.

Fes

above the palace doors

the palace doors

doors with the Moroccan flag

pottery place- obviously

I think that's leather

it got tight in some places

some escargot escaped.... 

so sad-- I don't want to see the face of the meat I'm eating.
April decided to become vegetarian after this trip. 

I never did figure out what this was. 

they were dying clothes in this area

notice the 49ers hat :)

I like the light on this one

at times it was totally crazy crowded

and other times it was not

these jeans were all the rage in Morocco- every guy was wearing them

mint

shoes!! (these aren't the really cute ones I wanted)