We were surprised to wake up to a breakfast, filled with fresh orange juice, coffee and a selection of breads.  Our plan for the day was to visit the Medina.  While you could very easily wander through the Medina on your own, we opted to have Abduul escort us as it is difficult to find all the key sights in the maze of the Medina.

The Medina was bustling with activity, with people and donkeys laden with produce all jostling for space in the narrow streets. We saw the meat and produce markets, metal markets, artisians working and the shops. The highlights for us included climbing up the narrow stairs to the hidden roof terrace with spectacular views of the Medina and the tanneries, where the curing of camel, cow, sheep and lamb skins and subsequent dyeing process is carried out (yes, it smells, but it is worth seeing!)

After a late lunch, we left the Medina and went in towards Adbuul’s home, in the new city, Fes-el-Jedid, which dates to the 13th century.   The new city was still old, but it seemed so modern compared to the Medina. We walked around the 5 Avenida, a typical French boulevard and through the main streets, but the highlight here was coffee with Abduul at his local café followed by some local, street food.  Again, the typical Moroccan soup along with some bread, but this time, we were offered kebabs and sandwiches, and of course, it was dirt cheap and really tasty!

Finding a petite taxi home was an experience in itself.  There were more taxis than cars, but there were also more people than petite taxis.  Fex operated a taxi sharing scheme (e.g. a taxi  can hold 3 people, so if there is an open seat, it will pull over anywhere on the road to take along another passenger, provided they are heading in the same direction), but it was still impossible to find an open seat.  I was really missing Addison Lee.

We finally found ourselves a taxi to the old city and wandered back into the Medina for dinner at Thami’s.  We are not sure if Thami is really famous or not, but he did a great job of marketing himself.  We were convinced to join him, in his little cafe for dinner.  The meat and egg tangine was piping hot and flavourful and the kebabs were tender and savory.  Thami is a real character too.