If you’re reading these in order, we left off with Lunch on
Saturday. If you’re not reading these in order, catch up here:
Day 2, Part 2: Fez
After lunch it was back out to explore the city (Without siesta! Shocking! Actually though, the Spaniards on our trip complained.) of Fez. Our first stop was an artisan metal-working shop. The precision with which these men work is astounding. They make intricate geometric designs entirely from memory. There were beautiful platters, elephants, tea sets, genie lamps, and more. At one point, the lights went out and it was actually pretty scary. I hadn't realized until that moment that we were in an underground cave. The men that ran the shop assured us that it was normal, but it felt like the beginning of a Scooby-Doo episode; when the lights go out there are five, but when they come back on someone has disappeared into a revolving wall. Kayla and I linked elbows and held onto our purses until a couple of the guys we were travelling with found us with their cell phone lights. We left pretty darn quickly after that, but everyone was fine and had everything.
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Aladdin Lamp! Taken during the
blackout. |
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Elephant!! If she hadn't been ridiculously expensive she
she would be coming to live with my other elephant since
they were the exact same size. |
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| Treasures everywhere! It felt like Ariel's grotto down there! |
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| Step 1: Throw the clay and make a base |
Next on the agenda was a pottery studio that specialized in mosaics. They walked us through the whole process; from throwing the clay to store-ready. There were really cute kittens.
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| Step 2: Make a thing and separate it from the base to dry |
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Step 3: Double fire- the bottom kiln is for the first
firing, the upper one is for the second |
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Step 4: breaking the fired ceramic pieces into
the shapes you want |
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| Step 5: laying the tiles face-down in the design |
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Steps 6 and 7: cover with cement, let harden, then when dry,
flip and clean it up |
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| Final products! |
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| Kitten in a fountain!! |
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| more finished mosaics |
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| Hand painted designs done between firings |
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| There are a lot of cats and doorways in this blog... |
Unfortunately by the end of that tour it was already sunset so we had to go back to the hotel. How weird that felt in comparison to Spain, where 80% of life happens after dark! Since we had opted out of the dinner show we fended for ourselves at dinner time. We had an interesting experience trying to find someplace that had women there- I was definitely glad to have some company! We spent the rest of the night in the hotel room enjoying Thé Menthe (the best tea EVER! Think sweet tea made with mint.) and books.
Day 3: Chaouen and Tangier
Sunday was another day dominated by long stretches on the
tour bus, but I think it was still my favorite day. The scenery was amazing!!
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| The view coming around the bend above Chaouen |
Chaouen was my favorite city in Morocco by far- there were so many more women and children around, and it felt a lot safer. It also felt cleaner and the people seemed nicer. Another reason I loved Chaouen was that the whole city was washed in shades of blue. It actually reminded me a lot of Greece. We walked all around the hilly little city with our guide, and then got to take a couple hours to explore by ourselves. Kayla and I literally took off running so we could get the most out of our time. No lunch for us, too much to explore! We discovered spice shops, bakeries, and more, and the more I saw, the more I fell in love. At one point I saw a little boy taking bread out of a stone oven and I followed him to his parents’ bakery so I could buy still steaming Moroccan flat bread. (I guess you can call me Aladdin; always one jump ahead of the breadline;)) Another interesting thing about Chaouen is that tons of people speak Spanish there, yet until 1920, it was prohibited to enter the holy city on a hill.
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| Kitties e'erywhere :) |
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Community bread oven building- you could feel the heat
coming out of it in waves! |
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| street artist painting the doorways and vibrant colors of Chaouen |
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| "The boutique of Aladdin's Grandma", an adorable spice shop! |
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| Inside Grandma's |
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| dyes for clothing, cosmetics, food, etc |
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There's so much geologic history in Morocco
that they practically give this stuff away |
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| Homeward ferry |
After re-convening at the bus we drove for another three hours or so until we reached the ferry in Tangier. We had to get there a couple hours early since the customs coming back into Spain were so much stricter than those leaving, but it still wasn't long until we jumped back into the modern world of Sevilla. Hasta luego Chaouen, te echo de menos.
Day 3: Chaouen and Tangier
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