Hello, Fez! Friday, 10/29/21

As the morning sun rose over the blue-rinsed buildings of Chefchaouen, our bus pulled away, heading south toward the third-largest city in Morocco:  Fez (or Fes).  Each person in the group claimed a seat (often the same one every day), eyes glued to a window.  Suddenly the microphone Nabil uses would ping and in his cheerful voice, he'd sing out, "salam alaykum," to which we'd reply,  "wa alaykum salam."  Peace be upon you.  A nice give-and-take greeting.  We'd hear more about our day and then he'd turn off the mic.  Then we'd doze, or chat, or click cameras at a scene outside the window.

On many of our bus days, Nabil would give a "lecture."  Not long and drawn out, and always with a topic to hold our interest.  Fer instance, today was Health Care System in Morocco.  Others have been:  Issues and opportunities in Northern Morocco, and Islamic arts and architecture:  from tradition to modernity.  We all admire his willingness to answer any and all questions we have about Morocco.  We quiz about education and women's rights and poverty and more.  We are learning ....

Anyhoot, we don't ever just drive to an ultimate destination:  We Stop On The Way!  Today, we'd stop in Ouezzane, to visit the mausoleum of Moulay Abdellah Cherif, and have lunch hosted by our new friends from the Rabat CCCL.  Want to know what we ate?  Fava bean soup, baked chicken with green beans, and the best sliced mangoes I've ever eaten for dessert.  Very delicious lunch!

I love watching rural Morocco go by. We pass a lot of small sheep flocks with herders near the road, and see donkeys carrying panniers filled with goods or pulling carts, people either riding or leading, and those scenes look idyllic.  I do realize their lives could be a hardscrabble existence, and I can't romanticize the simplicity of what I'm seeing.  A throwback, maybe, yet I love traveling rural Moroccan backroads.

We've been really lucky with the weather.  Sunny and warm, no rain, a few clouds in these foothills, but generally very pleasant.

Alla time nature calls.  We drink buckets of water (literally speaking) and coffee, too, so we Stop at Stations that have public restrooms.  This day, it being a Friday, we got to see tajine being made, one with lamb and the other vegetarian.  Notice the meat cleaver on the chopping block, top left?  Bottom right -- red hot coals are being added to cold coals, and the tajine pot is placed above.

Lamb left, veggie on the right.  Atop the lamb are raisins and onions.  Pretty tasty.

How pretty is this fountain area in Ouezzane!

The villa where CCCL operates in Ouezzane.

A view from their large patio.

Jimmy and his little friend.

I believe he was part of our guide team. 

Back on the road, as we were passing a school, I thought:  kids are the same everywhere.  Girls gathered in a group and boys on the wall (where they can eyeball the girls).

Can you believe this?  Our bus got stuck behind these two yahoos hauling hay, top left.  So durned overloaded, they could hardly get up a hill.  We were sure the truck, top right, would tip over going 'round this curve (but it didn't).  And guess who was waiting for them a little further on?  Yep.  These two dangerous vehicles were pulled over by the cops.  How about the load on big truck, bottom right?

The fields are plowed and farmers are waiting for rain to plant.  But, no rain's in sight, yet.  (sounds familiar)  No, that's not a burned field, just good soil showing dark in the pic.  We saw where some lands were using irrigation, but where none is used?  Hello, rain?

And miles of olive trees.  Oranges, as well.  A word on olives.  I like black olives from a can.  Not green ones.  Or used to. That's changing big time!  I've tried so many varieties of both black and green olives in Portugal, Spain and now Morocco, and I've grown quite fond of the green ones!  Small dishes of olives are usually placed on a (restaurant's) table when you're seated.

Stork nests are gigantic!

They like to use cell towers for nests.

Or minarets!

Ahhhh, we made it to Fez!  Staying high on a hill overlooking the city, at Hotel Les Merinides.  What a view.  We're right beside a ruins, too.  Teal-colored pool directly below our room looks soooo inviting.  Shame the water is cold.  

We'll have some exploring to do tomorrow.

Till then, good night!