Morocco: Fez!

My "travel style" is such that when I have the opportunity, I like to really delve into a new country as much as possible during a visit. I try to learn local customs, pick up a bit of the language, research foods, et cetera. To really get a good "feel" for a place, I like to try and stay a bit longer than just a day or two. That's why when longer school breaks roll around, such as fall break, it's fun to use the extra time to really do some exciting, exploratory travel.

This fall break I went to Morocco with a fellow Sciences Po exchange student...and it was amazing! Morocco was high on my list for a few reasons:

• It's cheap. Being a student on a budget, cheap is key. We were able to stay in riads (Moroccan guest houses/boutique hotels) for only around 20-30 euro a night. The food was reasonably priced, and you can get amazing gifts in the souks for a steal (if you're willing to haggle). 
• It's warm.

  

  40s and grey or 80s and sun...hmm...

• It's convenient. I've been looking at flights in March to Marrakech (you can tell I liked it) and have found some out of Charles De Gaulle direct to Marrakesh for under 100 euro. The flight itself is less than 3 hours. Although I don't know much Arabic or any of the Berber languages, I do know French, which turned out to be key for getting around in Morocco (many moroccans speak french as a second language).
• It's beautiful. I can't tell you how amazing it was to see the gorgeous fountains, the mosques, the minarets, the gardens... I could go on and on. The same high quality of work and attention to detail is also found in the goods available for sale in the markets. The landscape itself is also very beautiful. The snowcapped Atlas Mountains served as a wonderful backdrop in Marrakesh, and the train ride from Fez was a great opportunity to see the rolling, olive tree-covered hills of the countryside. 
• It's different.  STUDYING in Europe, doesn't mean STAYING in Europe. Europe is great and all, but if you can expose yourself to diverse, rich cultures just a few miles away, why not?

As you can see, it was an easy choice. So much awesomeness deserves two posts, and since I'm on fall break, imma treat y'all. I'll be splitting up the posts by city: this one will be the Fez post, and the next will be the Marrakesh post.  Check out this article for a quick primer on some of the differences between the two cities. So throw on your comfiest, sparkliest abaya, sit back and let's go...to Morocco!

Luckily, I had the excellent fortune of befriending a classmate that had lived in Fez for 2 years with the Peace Corp the night before I went to Morocco. We went for drinks after our Friday class and he gave me some great tips, as well as information about some of the work he still does in Morocco for Human Rights Watch. One of the best tips he gave me was to watch out for "false guides"; guys on the street that will tell you something is closed so that they can "guide" you somewhere else, and then demand payment. He also told me that I had to visit Cafe Clock in Fez. Both of these pieces of information turned out to be solid tips, indeed.

We left Paris on Saturday afternoon and took a pretty long bus ride out to the Beauvais airport. Our flight was a direct one, but bad weather in Fez meant that our plane was forced to land in the capital city of Rabat. The 30 or so minutes it took for us to find out we were going to wait out the rain and fly back to Fes were pretty stressful, to say the least. Luckily, after a short delay we were back in the air and soon after we landed in Fes. The driver our riad sent for us was waiting at the airport with a sign with my name on it. We checked in late that night, but out of one of the windows I saw buildings situated on lightly undulating hills in a sort of valley, with yellow electric lights illuminating certain patches and throwing others into relief. Very beautiful.

Nighttime in Fez meant golden light illuminating the dark alleyways

The next day was our only full day in Fes, so we decided to use it to tackle the medina. Our awesome concierge, Aziz, arranged a guide for us. All of the websites we checked said that finding one's way through the Fes medina without a guide is near-impossible. The word "labyrinthine" popped up on more than a few travel sites, shall we say. Had we had more time, I would have suggested that we go it alone, but we thought having a guide would be the best bet for getting the most out of our limited time in the city.

While we waited for our guide to arrive, we decided to go check out a gate to the medina that was right next to the alleyway in which our riad was located. We crossed a large courtyard and then entered a narrow walkway which lead us onto streets lined with shops: the medina proper. At every turn, we heard shouts warning us of donkeys coming down the street next to us. The streets are too narrow for motorized vehicles, but handcarts and donkeys are constantly going to and fro on the narrow streets. Although foreign women are not required to do so, I decided to cover my hair in order to show respect and to remain as incognito as possible. We didn't have to go too far into the medina to see beautiful cookware, copper pots, scarves and jewelry, all made by hand, and often on site. Although some of this no doubt is for the benefit of the tourists, there seemed to be a ratio of about 8 locals to every 1 tourist.

Fes el Bali (Old Fes) from the top of our riad

Medina gate

Satisfied by our quick penetration of the medina, we headed back to the riad to meet our guide. Her name was Milouda, and she made fun of me for wearing my makeshift hijab. We started off our tour by walking down the medina's food market. The offerings were as "exotic" as any American could hope for: bags full of living snails, thin oily bread cooked on dome shaped hot metal, bundles of fresh herbs and piles of spices, and so on. I was impressed by the rich variety of the offerings. Like any good millennial, I looked up information about Fes online before the trip and saw all of the traveler's photos posted on TripAdvisor. I realized we must be on the tourist circuit when Milouda stopped by a butcher's shop and tried to get us to take a picture with a severed camel's head. Severed camel heads are even grosser in person than they are on TripAdvisor, fyi.

After that we went to Medersa Bou Inania, one of the best tourist sites in the whole of Morocco, according to Rough Guides. It is hard for me to explain just how cool this site is. A medersa (or "madrasa") is a building which houses students and is designed to create a space for study and contemplation. We could look up from the courtyard and see the windows to the student's cells. And apparently this medersa is where they used to send underperforming students before they were about to get kicked out of school! Certainly a perk to being a bad student, being able to live in such beautiful digs.

Milouda showing us the difference between written arabic and the calligraphy-style arabic used on the walls. 

The medersa also evidenced the robust trade between Morocco and other parts of the world back in the 1300s. Milouda told us, "We gave the Italians sugar for their marble. They ate the sugar, we still have the marble". Important lessons here, kiddies.

After the medersa we walked by the University of al-Quarawiyyin, which unfortunately was closed to the public at the time, so we couldn't go in. Fun fact: this is the world's oldest still-running university. AND, it was founded by a woman. That's whassup. We also visited the Nejjarine Musuem of Wooden Arts and Crafts. No photos allowed of the exhibits, but this is what the courtyard looked like:

There were lots of gorgeous instruments, bellows, cribs, tools...all made from wood. Again, the craftsmanship was very impressive. One of the best parts of the tour was visiting the local co-ops specializing in various artisan goods. We visited a weaver's co-op that made scarves on looms, a rug co-op that made handwoven "classical" and "berber" rugs, and a leather co-op that over looked the famous Fez tanneries.

View down into the tanneries. Pits of various chemicals for leather processing. Skins hanging on the right. 

Mint to cover the smell...

The ones on top are Berber rugs. The dunes represent the sand dunes in the desert.

As was noted on trip advisor, they do expect you to buy things when you visit, so perhaps offer your guide an extra tip beforehand to avoid some of the high-pressure sales tactics (we forgot to do this). That being said, it was still a great experience, and we learned a great deal about the fabrication of each product.

We had Milouda drop us off at Café Clock, and it was all that was promised, and more! Super lively vibe, a group of berber women played traditional music on hand instruments downstairs. Great mix of people, from young "hip" moroccans, to various students and tourists from around the globe. There was even a mini-movie theatre on the second floor. The food was also good and super reasonably priced. Two thumbs up.

Café Clock wall art

The next day we had to hop on the train in the early afternoon, but we decided to take a quick trip via taxi up to the Merenid Tombs. The hilltop ruins offered a great view of the city below. It was a great way to end our stay in Fes. 

The Fes train station. Next stop...Marrakesh!

And there you have it. I have more videos and photos on my Insta (lazeez90). Marrakesh post coming soon!

"Fall Culture" and Gallery Saturdays

It's freezing, y'all. It is real, real cold. And it seems like it came out of nowhere. We had about 2 and 1/2 weeks of Fall, and now winter is not just coming...winter is here*.

Il fait froid!!

The high today only reached the forties, and it was gratifying in a schadenfreudian sort of way to see that the rest of Paris was as ill-prepared as I was for the temperature drop. Many people covered their faces up to their eyes with heavy (though impeccably fashionable) scarves to brace against the cold. Hungry would-be lunchers had to jockey for position inside filled restaurants, or huddle underneath tepid heating lamps suspended above once-welcoming terraces for warmth, unable to take their winter garb off while they dined. Some cafés tried to entice customers by laying out blankets for those brave enough to sit outside, though the tactic didn't seem to be working.

Nice try, bucko.

I've done Paris winter before, and I'm sure I'll survive (barely), but I'm a little miffed about my Fall being unceremoniously yanked away from me. I have yet to see a pumpkin and nary an apple cider, though I did see some people in "costumes" walking down Boulevard Saint Germain today (costumes only count if they're full body...some face paint and cat ears aren't gonna cut it, honey). America has the best Fall...and though I have yet to experience a full fall season anywhere else, I'm gonna proclaim it b/c I'm american and that's what we do. Two of the best holidays, a myriad of fattening seasonal treats, the colors of the foliage, the crisp air...Summer is obviously the best, but Fall is a pretty sweet consolation when the golden rays start to fade. That being said, living in France isn't all crêpes and air kisses. Ya gotta take the good with the less-than-ideal. Before the weather got all "eh", I finally did a self-guided gallery tour around my neighborhood and it was awesome.

Laeticia Casta

(Message me if you would like the names of any of the galleries featured above)

I'm a southern gal, and I don't like the cold, so indoor activities are going to be right up my alley. I did a quick walk through of Galerie Vivienne the other day, and it looked pretty neat. I'll have to  do a more thorough visit on a day when I don't feel like doing things outside (such days will probably be plentiful in the coming weeks).

All in all, my feelings about Paris Fall remind me that life is all about making the best of whatever situation you're faced with. My complaints about a lack of a discernable "Fall Culture" in Paris are nothing compared with the incredible opportunity I've been afforded by living in Paris, during the Fall or any other time of the year. And while I may have trouble finding apple cider, there's always chocolate viennoise with  new friends.

Got this from the school CROUS. Lotta chantilly there, but not really complaining :)

*If you don't catch this reference, you and I cannot be friends. (Hint: It's from GoT).

Holland at ya girl!

Normally, I like to blog soon after an experience so all of the impressions are "fresh", but I hope you all will excuse my tardiness this time! I went to Amsterdam last weekend (gosh, that's all?) and since then I've played hostess to one of my good friends from college/on-the-rise fashion and lifestyle blogger during his first few days of covering Paris Fashion Week, as well as keeping up with the normal (which lately has been somewhat manic) pace of work to be done for class, et cetera, et cetera....

Anyway, Amsterdam! As with most awesome things in life, this opportunity came at random and literally about a day and a half before I decided to go. I went to see Marguerite with Liz and Mel, two girls also doing study abroad at Sciences Po. After the move, I am asked: "What are you doing this weekend?". I thought it was a typical niceties-type question, perhaps to be followed up with an invitation to grab drinks, go to a pique nique, or the like. Instead, the follow-up is: "Wanna go to Amsterdam with us for 24-hours?" The plan sounded not unlike a military operation: we were to be conveyed in via Megabus to the drop zone (Amsterdam) at exactly 6:30 am, at which point we would engage in various agreeable activities until 6:40 am the next morning, at which point we would take the Megabus back to Paris. No hotel/hostel. No sleep (except whatever you could manage on the bus). The low fixed cost aspect was very appealing. I think my round trip ticket was only 22 pounds. The spontaneity of it all was also a selling point. I got the ticket, and Friday night after our 9:15pm class, we grabbed an uber from Liz's place and made our way to the bus depot.

I remember waking up at some point in the night hours before we were scheduled to reach Amsterdam, reading street signs in....Dutch, maybe?...and feeling very disoriented. Turns out that the bus had a stop in Brussels on the way to the Netherlands. For some reason, it hadn't really dawned on me that I was actually leaving France, and all that that would entail. Even though I'd packed my passport, the short duration of the trip made me think of it more as an excursion rather than a foray into a foreign land. Eventually we made it to Amsterdam (or the 'Dam, as I like to call it), somewhat tired, but buoyed by our excitement!

Normally, I like to do my research before heading to another country, but the time constraints on this trip meant that the extent of my research consisted of watching this hot Dutch dude say a couple of phrases. Luckily, everyone we encountered knew english and didn't seem to mind speaking it even though we didn't know Dutch (*cough*cough*). The trip itself was great. We were able to do a lot in a relatively short amount of time thanks in large part to Liz's "The Dam Plan": an expertly-crafted document which outlined our activities hour by hour.

The Metro stop where we were dropped off after the Megabus. Obvi a good sign. #werunthistown

Goudaaaa

ermagerddd stroopwafel and currant tart...so gewwwd

Bikes on bikes

More sweets, b/c #priorities

A Van Gogh painting of tulips and windmills...doesn't get much more Dutch than that...

Some highlights:

• Bloemenmarkt (Flower Market) off of one of the canals. Beautiful dried flowers hung from the ceiling in one of the shops. Bulbs and wooden shoes everywhere!
• Von Gogh Museum
• "I Amsterdam" sign
• Canal cruise
• The Amsterdam Tulip Museum
• Some place that claimed to be an Amsterdam Cheese Museum, but really just seemed to sell a lot of cheese (hey, free samples, so no complaints here...)
• The Redlight District
• Lanksroon for amazing stroopwafel
• Doe maar market
• Concert at Het Concertgebouworkest

Things I'd like to go back and do one day:

• Rembrandt Musuem
• Ann Frank House
• More stroopwafel

There you go, my summary of the ultimate "day" trip. Travel via Megabus is not for the faint of heart, but ideal for the shallow of pocket. Amsterdam is a beautiful city, and I look forward to going back one day...preferably with a hotel stay involved haha.