Morocco 2023: Fes

Today there was no long journey – we’re staying two nights! But first here’s a panorama view I took last night, of Fes from our hotel (available much bigger if you click on it):

Today we explored the city, starting with a tour of a pottery which was quite interesting, take note for example of the muted colors applied to the raw pots, which brighten during the firing process:

Our tour continued into the narrow “lanes” of the medina, including a visit to Al-Attarine Madrasa which was quite beautiful!

We ended the tour at Chouara Tannery, with its very distinctive smell (!) and famous view of the vats where leather soaks to soften and dye it …

Tonight ended with Margaret and I having pizza and burger in the hotel (apparently we’d already reached tajine overload from Moroccan food!)

Morocco 2023: Chefchaouen

Today was a few hours coach travel from Tangier to Chefchaouen the “Blue Pearl” of Morocco (though I expected much more blue than was actually present!); we stopped to break the journey in Tétouan but didn’t tour it due to rain – we just had a nice coffee stop with others in our group …

Continuing the journey, we arrived finally at Chefchaouen which is the first of a number of “carry in/out” stops where the coach can’t get close to where we stay – it’s required to pack an overnight case/rucksack while the big luggage stays on the coach! So we walked up to our “riad” to drop bags, then explore the town: