Tuesday 9 October - Fez

Breakfast was fun with the four girls, after which we all went our separate ways for the day. This was to be our last cruisy day here because tomorrow we have decided to make a day trip to historic Meknes, a town an hour away, plus two other places along the way. Hence, today we wanted to make a few small purchases, and an omelette for lunch somewhere. Things got off to a good start when I immediately found a belt and a purse. The prices were so reasonable we didn't even bother bargaining with the shop owners. 

After seeing a bar where we’d had a mint tea earlier in the week, so headed straight there to repeat the exercise. In the event, John downed another soft drink instead – his second in about 20+ years. He needed the energy boost. We are both still flagging. I have come down with a bit of a head cold but John is finally feeling 100% for the first time since we arrived here.

We enjoyed sharing jokes with the guys at the bar/cafe and set off again feeling refreshed and in great spirits. John mentioned casually to me that he liked the particular style of some of the carpets here. I thought the same and agreed with him. BIG MISTAKE. Why not just have a look at this stall right here… John spied a rug hanging on the wall that he quite fancied. Yes, I thought so too. Oh no. ‘What is your best price sir? I give you a democratic price. Just for you, a great price……’ We both sighed, had a look at some other rugs, shrugged our shoulders (though caught each other's eye behind the guy's back because we both liked it), suggested less than a quarter of the asking price, and, after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, oops, we’d bought it (for 1/4 price). How did that happen? We do both really like it and are pretty pleased. It is nothing like any of the other rugs we have at home, and it’s quite small. Just as well - we now have to get it home. Chatting with the Moroccan guy who we'd haggled with, it turned out that his girlfriend was, as he termed it, an 'aborigine' (meaning Maori) from New Zealand. He said he was excited to have sold to some NZers, and he really did seem genuine about it. 

One of Fez's lovely public fountains

Time and again we have been impressed by how friendly and kind the people are here, and not just those you happen to buy from. It’s across the board – those sitting on the steps outside their stalls, those you chat with over a mint tea, waiters, people you ask directions from, anyone. There is no hardsell pressure to buy in the stalls either. If you say 'non, merci', then they will invariably wish you a very good day and with a smile too. It is different from our experience in Marrakesh, though it really wasn't too bad there, and many other tourists we have talked to say the same thing. It really has been a very pleasant experience.

We did eventually end up having a Moroccan omelette for lunch, and very tasty it was too. It is essentially an omelette with diced tomato and onion, but with a good handful of French fries thrown into the mix. It costs the equivalent of around 4E. When I heard someone next door asking for a coffee, my ears picked up immediately. I’ve only had one during the last week, so have been very restrained. I made the mistake of asking for a coffee (John had bought a soft drink earlier in the day after all). Of course it wasn’t up to much (though had caffeine) but when we got the bill found out it cost 3E, almost as much the omelette. It will keep me going until we get back to Spain though.

For the first time since we have been here it has rained. The days have been clear blue skies and hot, but Tuesday had dawned rather cloudy and the temperature a much more bearable 28 degrees. Thunder rolled around the skies in the afternoon and it was lovely to hear the raindrops, especially when tucked back up in our room. In fact, it ended up being a pretty impressive rainstorm, with decent thunder and lightning to boot. Great fun. This was enhanced when the power went out, and we ended up having our bread and cheese/tom/peppers dinner by romantic torchlight.