Our bus from Marrakesh pulled into Casablanca city centre around noon on Monday. I kept an eye out for Humphrey and Ingrid, but it seems the days when Casablanca was an exotic destination and stuff of dreams have long gone. Now it seems a relatively modern city you might see anywhere - international company and brand names top the buildings facing the thoroughfares lined with tall palm trees leading into the city. We stopped only briefly to drop off a few passengers before inching our way through the traffic and back out onto the modern expressway, bound for Fez.
Like Marrakesh, 1,200 year old Fez, one time Moroccan capital, still has an ancient medina at its core, surrounded by a modern city (bonne nouvelle). And as in Marrakesh, we based ourselves in the medina in a riad (traditional Moroccan guesthouse), within the warren of narrow winding alleyways crowded with people and laden donkeys passing up and down, maintaining the rhythm of life that has existed here for centuries. Home to 150,000 people, this medina is the world’s most ancient and still has a decided medieval look and feel about it.
A morning’s wander will take the shuffling goggle-eyed tourist upfront and personal with oncoming donkeys laden with produce and building materials, and past small shops of all description; butchers, fruits, vegetables, tinsmiths, stone engravers, leather shoemakers near the smelly tannery, food stalls, juice makers and traditional clothing, to name a few.
Within the medina walls there are several mosques and even a 700 year old Islamic theological college, Medersa Bou Inania, recently beautifully restored. Further down past Place an-Nejjarine is Kairaouine Mosque & nearby centre of advanced learning, claimed to be the world’s oldest Islamic university.
Of course, these explorations required fuel and there was no shortage of places to sit down and enjoy a glass of freshly squeezed juice or mint tea or coffee, with something more substantial like a Tagine boeuf or chicken kebab with tomatoes, olives and bread.
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
