Salads from Sefrou for feasting in Fes

After eight hours on our feet yesterday, today was much gentler. We left our Fes riad about 9am for the one-hour drive to nearby Sefrou, a town of some 70,000 people. Sefrou was a Jewish town before Islam was introduced in the eighth century. Today only a handful of Jews remain and it is sad to see that many of the old homes that have lasted for up to twelve centuries are now too dangerous for habitation and are being demolished. The good news is, we are told, that they will be reconstructed in the same style. Sefrou is known as the “cherry” city and has many festivals throughout the year to celebrate different stages of cherry cultivation.

We strolled through the old Jewish quarter, inspecting the caravanserai where the caravans of camels, horses and donkeys were sheltered during their stay at this market town, and spying a couple of storks in their nest up above. We also had the opportunity to inspect some of the trades that are still carried on in Sefrou – the old blacksmith, the furniture restoration centre, the silk-button making shops, and the gold traders – before we visited the local market to buy the ingredients for a picnic lunch, each couple buying something different – bread sticks, salad vegetables, nuts and cheese. We bought fruit – plums, nectarines, grapes, bananas and a kilogram of figs (the figs cost eight dirham - $1.25!!). We then returned to our Fez riad and had our picnic feast – scrumptious!!

The afternoon was free to do as we pleased so we chose to do some exploring on our own in the nearby markets. We took careful note of a group of turkeys for sale, a wonderful breadroll display and occasionally photographed a land mark to ensure we were able to weave our way through the crowded narrow lanes back to our riad. Dinner tonight was again in the riad, a hearty soup, followed by chicken and apricot tajine, and capped with platters of grapes and watermelon. Tomorrow: the long drive south to Er Rachidia, as we make our way into the heart of Morocco.

P.S. Our Optusnet email has not been working for several days, so if anybody wants to contact us please use johnliz20@yahoo.com.au.