Today we had a few places that we needed to visit on our route to Fes. We first passed through large areas of cork trees and about halfway on the 2 hour trip the area became hilly with some great scenery.

Our first stop was in Meknes, where we took a guide who showed us the major things we wanted to see, all close by so it was good walking exercise. We went through the Medina, parts of which are being renovated through funds from UNESCO. There were also very nice doors and mosaic work at some of the many mosques in the area. 

We then went to the imperial palace and mosque with mausoleum of Moulay Ismail who ruled Morocco in the late 1600s to early 1700s.

We stopped off to look at some unique metal and silver work that they say is unique to Meknes (who knows if its true).

We then left Meknes and headed for the Roman city of Volubilis, which reminded us so much of the Roman ruins in Tunisia, especially Dougga and Bulla Regia. The city is spread over a large area and a few of the houses have mosaics which of course are no longer in great condition, but interesting nevertheless. We had a quick lunch of baguettes (which we bought at a boulangerie before we left Kenitra) with marmite & cheese and salami.

We then set off for Fes, taking the shortest, non-Toll route that google maps gave us, which went through some beautiful valleys and hills. 

We are staying in the Medina in Fes which means we have to park the car outside the Medina and walk about 500 metres to the hotel (Riad). With the very narrow and windy streets, we had difficulty in finding the place. We asked at a restaurant if they knew the place we were looking for and after some checking with locals, they were able to give us some indication where to go. Slowly but surely we wound our way through the narrow alleyways and found the place. 

Once we had checked in, we headed back to the car to fetch some of our essential baggage. We missed the turn in the Medina and so ended up a little way from where we wanted to be but it was easy to reorient ourselves and find the car. On the way back we saw a Chinese restaurant and stopped there as Charlotte was craving for vegetables. The portions they gave us were huge and we took half of it as take-away for tomorrow 😜.