Shopping -- Not Your Local Nieman Marcus....

If you are really into shopping (and bargaining), Morocco is a great place to be -- especially in the medinas. Tim is actually very good at bargaining. He could walk out of a stall in disgust with the best of them -- usually to have the vendor chase him down and give him his price. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to tackle that on my own -- something I'm sure the vendors are banking on when they see westerners....

One of the gates into the Old Medina (built around 900 AD)

Shopping in the herbal pharmacy



An amazing cloth place...





Fes is famous for its leather goods. Here they are drying the skins on the roof after they have been cured (in a vat of something that contains -- are you ready for this? -- pigeon poop. You KNEW there was a reason for pigeons, didn't you?)



The dye vats. The color is changed once a week.



Pottery and ceramic tile "factory." This guy is tapping out the little pieces of tile. I got one that is one of their eight-sided stars.

Pottery making. Tim thought this was great. Decided this man was a bit better at it than he is!

Fes is also famous for its fountains which are absolutely everywhere in the medina, but which are mostly dry now, and filled with garbage. This is what they look like when they are just made. These are to be sold to the wealthy to put in their homes as decorations.


Fes' famous "Blue Gate." This is actually quite close to Tim's part of the medina.



We aren't quite sure what was IN this "Chicago Boutique" buried on a very dark street in the medina.

Yep -- you read it right. This is "mint-flavored" CRUST toothpaste. Tim just HAD to buy a tube. Actually tastes like bubble gum. Cheap bubble gum.

If you really want it, you can get your own camel head. Or buy camel meat. I wonder if it tastes like chicken...

The display of fruits in the square in Marrakech beat Jewel's any day. On the other hand, I've not seen too many flies on the fruit in the Jewel.



Back in Fes J'Did which is the old new town -- the jellabahs were VERY fancy.





Give it up, Tim. They just don't MAKE a size 13 in Morocco!! The young vendor kept assuring Tim that they would grow to fit his foot.



Nope -- this ain't Nordstroms! On the other hand -- the prices ain't Nordstroms' either!! :>D