Getting There - Aneel's Travelogue

It was lightly raining this morning. We decided to explore "New Fes" (Fes Jdid), which is only "New" compared to "Old" Fes (Fes el-Bali), where we've spent almost all of our time to date. The "New" city dates back to the 13th century. It was originally the Jewish quarter of the city, and is unusual because the balconies face out onto the street, instead of being around a central courtyard in the middle of the building. We spent some time finding the Jewish cemetery, and then looked for a restored synagogue, which turned out to be closed when we arrived. We ran into some kids, who Tinny made friends with, and they showed us to a neighborhood restaurant, where we had lunch.

Our plan for the evening had been to go out to the Merinid tombs for sunset. They're up on a hillside above the town and offer panoramic views. We waffled a bit, because it had been overcast on and off all day and the clouds were rolling in. In the end we did go, but got caught in traffic. Our cab driver was enraged that people were not going when the light was green, and that some drivers were cutting in front, and that the parking attendants were trying to get cars to let parking cars enter the lot. He got out of the cab to yell at someone at one point.

We ended up being dropped off at the Hotel Les Merinids, rather than the tombs, and we went out to their terrace to take some pictures of the sunset. After sunset proper, we walked over to the tombs. We were on top of the hill when the calls to prayer from all over the city started sounding. The calls overlapped and echoed oddly.