Sacred Music Festival

We entered Fez in the afternoon, a very different vibe in the oldest medival city in the world. We headed for the old Medina to locate our Riad.
We thought our place in Marrakech was wonderful, then we walked into our home in Fez. The mosaic tilework is awesome. Fez is the blue city, it is apparent in the tile work on the floors and 1/2 way up the walls in many Riads. This is a great place to buy ceramica.
The Sacred Music Festival, run by Sufis, is held in Fez each year from late May into June for 10 days. It is not an old festival, about 15 years in existance.
I learned about it from a friend who fell so in love with Fez, she packed up her life and moved there permanently. She was a great help locating affordable Riads at festival time. She can be found at Fez Riads.com
She sent me the festival program, translated from French, which gave us a chnace to go through it and decide in advance what music we wanted to experience. Concerts ran every afternoon and evening. Each evening a huge free concert is held in a square for the locals who can't afford the price of a concert ticket.
I chose Ravi Shankar, and at 85 he could still play an amazing Sitar. There was beautiful Baroque played in the courtyard of the Batha museum under Barbery Oaks in the late afternoon. We enjoyed Senegalese music like that of Ishmail Lo, and ancient Indian and Japanese music and dance. Outside Fez are Roman ruins which were the backdrop for an all women's group singing acappella music of the mountains.
The medina in Marrakech was difficult to manoeuvre, but the Fez medina was a maze like no other. Had we not had a guide we'd still be trying to find our way out!
The food...let us not forget the food. Have you ever eaten a "Tagine"? It is a spicy stew made of chicken, beef, or lamb with preserved lemon rind, apricots or prunes, almonds, and olives. Olives are presented everywhere and every souk large or small has olive sellers. Huge green, medium sized green, black, and brown olives mixed with hot spices, mild spices, lemon rind, garlic, and for me the olive lover, a complete orgie of flavors.
Pigeon pie dusted in cinnamin and powdered sugar had a unique flavor, and a delicious experience. The food is spicy, but not necessarily hot spicy. Hererra soup means soup of the countryside. It is similar to a thick hearty minestroni with lots of cumin. Tammi's, sitting on the corner as you enter the medina, is an experience not to be missed. For great lamb burgers try The Clock, both in Fez.
The Fez medina has a wonderful honey section for you honey lovers.
On the coast you can sample a variety of fresh fish from the Mediterranean. The souks also sell all the dainty pastries made of nuts and pastes of almond, hazelnut, pistachio, and then there are the chocolates.
A walk through the food section of the Fez medina is an experience even if you don't love to cook.
For you lovers of Rose oil Morocco makes some of the best, and far cheaper than Indian or Bulgarian. It's available in many herbariums.
Argane oil has become famous due to the recent attention from the exclusive skin care companies in France and Switzerland. The French culinary world has toasted it and it reminds me of a blend of peanut and toasted sesame oils. You can buy pure cosmetic grade oil to take home, like I do, and add it to your face creams. Buy the soaps with Argane oil and feel the difference in you skin in only a short time.
It isn't cheap, but available to us.
Into the Rif mountains and the amazing blue city of Chefchouen. (Did you know mossies and flies don't like the colour and vibration of blue?)This small picturesque city nestled in the mountains became the home of Muslim immigrants and then the Jews who fled Spain in the 15th century.
The intensity of the blue in this city is mezmerizing. Every door is painted a different shade of blue. Often the walls, and sometimes even the paths in the medina are painted blue.
Another friend is on the coast south of Tangier in Asilah. He has restored a small Riad in the medina. After my group headed for home I headed there for a short visit. I spent my last days in Morocco eating Spanish influenced paella, fresh anchovies and sardines while basking under the clear African sky.
I found the Moroccan people easy and friendly. It is ment to be the most liberal of the Muslim countries. Maybe the influence of the Berbers, the French, or the expats who flock to Morocco's extotic cities. Whatever creates this feeling of ease I am pleased it exists.
Although we couldn't visit any mosques in Marrakech or Fez, we peeped through doorways and could see how beautiful they were. Never did any of us feel unsafe. We stayed in the medinas and wandered about without a problem in the evenings. I was pleased to discover how easy and safe it was for women to travel in Morocco.