We started our day today with a little 3 mile run along the Moroccan coastline. Then, after getting ready for the day it was time for an amazing breakfast at our riad. So many treasures! Fruit, breads of various varieties, jams, honey, juice, tea. Good stuff!
Our first stop for the day was the home of two attractions in Rabat: Hassan Mosque and the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. The Hassan Mosque was begun in 1195 but never finished. So you see lots of cool pillars and a big open space. We also went inside Mohammed V's tomb and that was a very impressive space.
After our Rabat stops it was on to Meknes. We did a short guided tour of this city and got to see a few of the sites. We first saw this great statue of a water carrier.
Then, we went inside the Heri Es Souani, an old siege-proof fortress that had monstrously big storerooms and some really amazing architecture. We then went to our first handicraft co-op. This one was for embroidery and this cool technique of using silver string and hammering into metal. I got a great pair of earrings that you might see in later pics. We then walked over to "the most beautiful gate in Morocco" and took some pics. There was also a market across the street from the gate that we glanced at.
Next, we headed to the Roman ruins of Volubilis. This is a 2000 year old Roman city at the southern edge of its vast empire, with some amazing mosaics that are somehow still intact! The French apparently attempted to reconstruct some of the city at various points in the 20th century, so not everything you see is original, but a lot of it is! Mary Grace became our personal translator/tour guide when our original tour guide abandoned English upon discovering MG's proficiency in French, so that was cool. :)
Then, we drove up the mountain to see the city of Moulay Idriss, named after (and founded by) the creator of the first Arab dynasty in Morocco. This is an amazing city perched upon a steep hill, similar to Machu Picchu but not ancient.
We arrived in Fes with time to explore the city a bit before dinner. Michael led us into depths of the medina aided only by sketchy GPS and we checked out the street market. Luckily we didn't get lost, like so many apparently do. We then enjoyed a lovely dinner at our riad complete with our first bottle of Moroccan wine! Due to some, confusion with where we were staying when, we ended up with two rooms at this riad, so Mary Grace had this amazing triple room to herself and Michael and I had a nice room up on the 3rd floor. A busy, but exciting day!
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