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Volubilis

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Yesterday,  we visited the Roman ruins at Volubilis - about an hour and a half drive from Fes. This site was active from about 100 BC to 300 or so AD. At its peak, the population was around 35,000.  The site is a long way from the sea but was chosen as it offered fertile land, good water supply and rock formations sufficient for a quarry. Mosaic floor still in good shape after 2,000 years! The main drag "Appian Way". Seward ran underneath. Aqueduct remnants.  Very hot here so we spent about an hour touring the site. Afterwards, a short drive and a climb up many steps, brought us to the private home of Mike - an expat from Yorkshire. Mike was born to host and he owns a couple of establishments in Fes as well as hosting groups such as ours in his home. Quite eccentric,  actually.  A big spread of Moroccan food. View from his patio. Many steps inside his home too. The town in which ...
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Fes

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Yesterday was the second full day of our tour featuring several stops in this ancient city. It's a good group we have; 20 travellers in total (all Americans except for us). All are around our age and in reasonable shape except for 2 mobility compromised individuals - 1 walker, 1 cane. Surprised they signed up for this tour as the literature was quite clear that this is not a wheelchair friendly place. Anyhow, the day began with a tour to a pottery shop - quite large. The clay here is particularly suited for pottery.  Once fired in a furnace fueled by olive paste (cast off from olive oil pressing), items are hand painted. Mom and I bought a tagine - a conical cooking vessel seen at right in above picture. We next visited the Medina of Fes - the historic quarter. This large area is a maze of narrow pedestrian laneways.  We visited a number of craft shops topped by a visit to a tanner. All natural tanning and dyeing methods - lime, pigeon poo, ...
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Chella

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We met up with Barb and Don for breakfast around 8 am - and enormous spread offered by the hotel. It became obvious that thete are many tour groups staying here.  For the morning activity, we walked over to the Chella necropolis - about 40 minutes from the hotel. This is a large walled historical site. It's believed the Phoenicians established the settlement in the first millennium. Roman's came after and built on top of the original site.  Inside are ruins from the various occupants.  Kinda hard to make out but below are Roman ruins. Quite a few storks had made nests on the remnants of a mosque from a subsequent period.
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