13 April Dar Mystere, Fez

The rain has stopped, although there are still black clouds around. I don't think Fez is much warmer than London at the moment. Lack of sun doesn't really matter too much as I shouldn't think much penetrates the maze of small streets and alleys even in high summer. I should think it might get a bit oppressive and stifling then, though.
We enjoyed a good night's sleep last night. It's very comfortable here and it was nice after a couple of weeks travelling to know that we were completely on our own. One of the amazing things about the house is how quiet it is, here right in the centre of the Medina. I don't think we realised just how central it is until we started to do a bit of exploring this morning, we are literally just a step away from some of the busiest souks and surrounded by so many small 'dukas' selling all basic essentials. The Riad we stayed in in Marrakesh was very nice but much larger, Dar Mystere is much more like a family house, compact and secure.
We spent the morning exploring and browsing in the Medina, just wandering, strolling, taking it all in. Once again John's extra antennae were on top form and we didn't get lost at all, we made one or two diversions down small alleys, sometimes finding ourselves at a dead end, just to see what was there, but he always got us back on track again in no time. We visited a merdersa, which was quite fine, but maybe not as architecturally striking as one we saw in Marrakesh. Interestingly, we didn't have a guide, we learnt quite a lot about it by standing next to a tour group with a guide who spoke Greek so nicely and clearly, presumably it was his second language and he didn't have a regional accent, we had no problems understanding him. As it is Friday most places started to close down around midday, so we took a lunch break to review and preview. We decided to take a look at the Mellah, the old Jewish quarter, this afternoon as we thought maybe that would not be so affected by the fact that it is Friday, we don't know whether it was or not. We went into one of the synagogues, which was just like most other old synangogues we have been in, but the view from the roof was rather fine, looking out over the outskirts of Fes, we also strolled around Al Andalous. We walked past an enormous and magnificent mosque, resonating with the voice of the speaker within. We could glimpse in through open doors and see that it was packed with people and many others were sitting outside, on steps and next to walls.
We ended our day at a cafe/restaurant which comes 'highly recommended', he told us 'Lonely Planet, but he is in our Rough Guide as well as several of the information books we have found here. It was a very good meal, we shared a large plate of mixed vegetable starters. It wasn't on the menu but we managed to explain what we wanted. We had seen the various vegetables in a cold cabinet, maybe to be added to other dishes. So it was a bit like a Greek 'mezethes'. It was also very filling so we shared a 'shakshouka' which was also exceptionally good. We haven't seen the word 'shakshouka' on a menu here, it tends to give a description and call it 'tajine with meat balls, tomatoes and egg'. I guess that just about sums it up. It's a dish we got hooked on in Siwa. We both agreed that tonight's could hold it's own with those in Siwa, even though interesting as the people watching was, we ate outside, the ambience of Siwa could not be duplicated.
Fez is good, certainly less tacky than Marrakesh. It has a much less commercialised feel to it. We've only had one day here so far so really can't say more, but if you want to visit one city in Morocco then Fez would be a good choice. The only thing against it, and this has to be just in the Medina and the areas around it which we have visited, is the stockpiling of rubbish. It's not as bad as in most Egyptian cities, but still pretty dire. What we saw today was not just one or two days rubbish which hadn't been collected lying beside the alley, it was longer term discarding of refuse into pieces of  unoccupied land, between buildings.
Both of us have spent time in different large towns in sub-Saharan African countries and seen how clean they are kept. Most times I was in Arusha or Moshi I stayed in a 'guesti' in the Maasai (poor quarter) of town rather than the tourist/safari hotels as I was usually with local work colleagues. First thing every morning the (unmade-up) roads and alleys were swept and all the rubbish piled up and burnt. OK, maybe not too environmentally friendly as they burnt everything on the spot. John says the same thing about the places around him when he was in Nigeria. When we were in southern Africa, particularly Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, admittedly we weren't in large urban areas, everywhere was clean and clear of rubbish, people sweeping the dirt surrounds of their houses each morning and burning the rubbish. What's with North Africa?