Notes from Fez 2026

2026-09-29

I'm in a riad in Fez, and it's so quiet that it's ringing in my ears.

I took Hawaiian shirts to Fez, but upon arriving I realised that it's not a good fit. Luckily, I had other options packed too. It was but a jape, to come off as a tourist, but I'll switch to blending in more from tomorrow on. I'll wear jeans, too. But it's too hot for shoes.

A curious thing. There are many people in the streets who try to guide us somewhere else. They claim that we're going in the wrong direction and try to steer us another way. One guy told us there is only a mosque down the street and we shouldn't go there if we're not Muslims (it was not true). The other one simply tried to convince us "there's nothing there" (again, not true). I'm completely not used to it. I think I'll start replying to them in Polish to confuse them.

Revolut turned out to be useful. Not only was it possible to create a Moroccan currency account on the fly, but also buy an eSIM card (3 GB for 30 days for 10 euros). I thought I wanted to get lost, but it was too much. Eight years ago I had no problem with it but I must've changed. I prefer to have Internet at hand now. You travel — you learn about yourself.

2026-09-30

On average, Moroccans are rather slim people.

Street vendors in Fez are not aggressive in their sale approaches when compared to Marrakech ones, who would literally take a glance at their shop or stall as a beginning of a transaction. You already decided you're taking it, now we're discussing the price, Ali Baba; and let me start with the most offensive price. I know that's their drill and culture and all, but it's tiresome for me. Now, in Fez they're much more tactful and leaving you a breathing space.

2026-10-01

We went to our riad's rooftop yesterday to watch the sunset. It turned out to be a bust due to architecture: the sun was setting behind a wall. And when I tried to look around it, there was another building there with another wall. But we stayed anyway. The host made mint tea for us and it was generally pleasant.

And that's when the final adhan, the call to prayer, happened. I heard it earlier yesterday but at the ground level where you're cut off from multiple sources. You hear the closest speaker and that's it. But not on a rooftop. My wife said she'd imagine they're synchronised better, but there was a slight delay between each, which made them overlap to a somewhat musical effect. And so I was sitting there and listening to this unexpected emergence.

Fez's Medina is the largest car-free zone in the world, or so I heard, and it's partially due to very narrow streets. Courtesy of its very old origins. And the experience is one of the kind. I wrote about the silence earlier, but it also creates a mazelike communication. You cannot see past any corner and at the same time there aren't that many dead ends, so wherever you go, you will get somewhere.

There's more to it. With buildings tightly packed, you cannot see the real size of any building. When we got to one of the madrasas, we could see a mosque from a window on the upper floor. And it was just humongous; which you could tell by the same rooftop. But from the street level it's impossible to say.

I've played many Doom maps, and it didn't prepare me for that.

We went to see the King's palace today. You cannot get inside but it's still worth seeing. The concierge at our hotel told us it's vastly unused. Anyway. On the way, a Moroccan joined us and started talking stuff. He gave us a little tour around the less touristic area. I was wondering if we were supposed to tip him afterwards, but he split on his own at some point. He was surprised to learn that stork is considered a Polish symbol. As it's Moroccan as well.

The guy told us also that he had a Polish friend and even showed her contact on his phone. (I can confirm that she had a Polish last name.) He told us then that she, or Polish tourists in general, tend to take pictures of cats in the streets. "Even the dirtiest ones," he added half surprised.

I saw a bookshop today and most books in English were those that people buy at the airport on their way to the airplane. Then they leave them in riads. I was curious if I could get something interesting cheaply but nothing came to fruition. There was Haruki Murakami's "Hard-boiled Wonderland and The End of the World", but I've read it. In Polish but neither language is the original. Could've been interesting to compare them still. But anyway. I didn't take it, so there's that.

2026-10-02

On our way to the airport we saw two packs of dogs in the streets. It was five in the morning. There aren't many during the day. I wanted to take a picture but didn't have the right angle. The first pack was eating garbage.

2026-10-03

We ate in three restaurants and two of them played Cuban music. But the food was superb.

They had really good hummus.