Fez – Morocco’s oldest city.

The long ferry ride from Santander in Spain and Portsmouth in England is a good place to catch up on the Moroccan blog.

Fez was my major city experience in Morocco. I couldn’t neglect Morocco’s oldest city, home to the world’s oldest University in the labyrinthine Medina.

Fez is a big bustling city and here I encountered the motorised tout. The motorised rides along besides you on a nippy scooter talking away about where you from, how long have you been in Morocco etc etc. Meanwhile I’m trying to navigate the Moroccan traffic and follow the directions instructions from the GPS. Just as your totally bamboozled the the key question comes. ‘Which hotel are you staying at?’ I divulge the name and next thing the full loaded Mighty Breva following a little scooter nipping through the streets of Fez.

At the hotel, next morning at the cafe across our registered guide will be waiting to lead a private tour of the old city.

He was a great guide and navigating the old Medina without a guide would really be a challenge in navigation and interpretation.

The leather dying vats are an iconic part of the old city.

As is the camel butcher.

The copper smiths

The fabric sellers

And the winding alleyways and heavy doors that the porte to Mosques, Synagogues, residences of the rich and poor

Of course one of those doors leads to the oldest university in the world.

From the high points of the city you can gain a view of the Medina by day

And by night

Inside the Medina the roof of the carpet seller gives a good view across the roof tops.

Did I say carpet seller??? Whoops I bought another rug!!

Fez was the Moroccan city I really wanted to visit and if didn’t disappoint. Maybe a different city next time.

Porto

It’s hard to know what to write about Porto I’m sure many many words have written about: the wine, the amazing River Douro gorge that the city is built around, the buildings and the churches.

Agh the churches. I think I’ve had enough of them. Another catholic evangelistic warlord going off and subduing and plunderingzx happy and peaceful first nations people all in god’s name.

But I did visit some churches. But I think too many European cities I am suffering Church Fatique. (Unreported visits to Barceona and Madrid laid the grounds for church fatigue!)

Luckily to conteract the Church Fatique there was a Banksy exhibition.

But as a boy born and bred in Melbourne, Australia. A city famous for its trams. A tram ride along the Douro River to the beach was a must.

The mouth of the river is quaint with a smallish beach and the Atlantic Ocean is still cold!

The tram ride is a scenic tour in itself along the river…

I have an observation developed over time. If you want to have something to eat with the view don’t expect anything to exciting food wise. The best food is most often without a view. This rule played out in Porto. The resturaunts with tables along the river offered the same blend of ‘traditional’ Portugese cuisine. But on the riverside in the in amongst the wine caves there is the little municipal market building. Here there are stalls of fresh produce and traditional and modern Porttugese food. But no view!

The best resturaunts are up the steep hills away from the river. The food fresh and fantastic.

But book if you want to go to a great place like Maria Rita or you will be queueing with locals and tourists alike waiting for a table to become free. Inside there is not a rush and a great selection of wines from.the Douro region and local produce.

So what is the must do thing to do in Porto?

Get your photo taken with the city as a backdrop. Lol

UPDATE

Thanks to a a follower an update. I should mention the Railway Station and its murals. They are impressive.

Some beautiful scenes of rural and river life.

But even in the railway station you can’t escape the glorification of the conquering and enslavement of peace loving native people in god’s name!

Setubal and Coimbra – Smaller cities in Portugal worth a visit

Setubal is a small waterside city just south of Lisbon where the Rio Sado meets the Ocean

Across the estuary is the is the holiday area of Troia. Coming up from the south it’s a beautiful ride along the Peninsula with a car ferry trip to Setubal.