We just visited Fez, which is why I decided that I had to pick this book up when I saw it at The Book Barn. I love to read books that take place in cities or countries we'll be visiting. It helps me prepare for the trip.My boyfriend first floated the idea of visiting Morocco in the winter. We've gone on a few vacations overseas before, but always to Europe, so the idea of going to Africa was really exciting. First we spent a week in Spain, then took a boat to Tangier, and a bus to Fez. I finished this book during our first couple of days in Spain, and left it in the hotel where we stayed in Cordoba on the communal book shelf.
Before setting foot in Fez, I will say that it was hard to picture exactly what this author was talking about. She and her husband are Australian journalists who spent time in Fez and found that they missed it so much when they got home that they decided to buy a house in the Medina and fix it up. This was basically like Fixer Upper, Morocco-style. If you like to read about home renovation but get bored when things seem to mostly go smoothly, this book will keep your attention.
They buy a house in the medina. Before we arrived at our hotel in the medina, I really didn't appreciate how complicated it really is.
The medina is truly a dizzying maze of dead-ends and cobblestones. Most of it is covered. Take ten steps in the wrong direction and you're hopelessly lost. Duck your head, go down this passage and through a door that looks like it will just lead to another dark lane, and suddenly you're in a gorgeous riad (a large house) that is covered in gorgeous tiled walls and serves as the carpet shop. Go down another road and you're in the middle of merchant stalls, where people sell everything from dates and figs, spices, shoes, bags, ceramics, jewelry, and fish and meats. We literally came face-to-face with camel heads. Just the heads, hanging there. Stray cats dart in and out between your feet. People yell out to you to buy this and that in Arabic, French, and English. It's overstimulating and claustrophobic. Thank God we hired a guide for a couple of hours; otherwise, we would still be lost in there. Since cars can't get in there, goods are brought in by donkey. On the morning we left, it was garbage day. A man was leading his donkey up the street with a huge box on its back, collecting garbage from people's front doors.
All of this is to say that it's really hard to imagine buying a riad here to remodel and bringing in all the building materials, but they really did, via donkey. Suzanne and her husband ran up against some cultural differences, including a plumber who shows up when he feels like it, layers and layers of bureaucracy, and language barriers. You get to know some of her employees, but I really wanted to know more about them. What kinds of homes did they live in? What were their lives like? I'm hoping she writes a sequel at some point.
Meanwhile, her husband Sandy maintains a blog, The View from Fez. Here you can keep up with some of their adventures.
