Roosters are perched on the street. Cats are running around everywhere. Signs are in French and Arabic. The set of fruit stalls quickly because a set of socks stalls down the block. I must be in Morocco.
I was first drawn to Fez because the old city is the largest urban car-free zone in the world - probably around 4 square km. Then, I read Suzanna Clarke's A House in Fez, the story of an Australian journalist who decided to purchase a house in the walled city. It almost seems inappropriate to use the internet right now, because this city seems to be lost in the Middle Ages. At first glance, it resembles Jerusalem's walled city, but one can walk around Jerusalem in an hour. It would take the bulk of a day to walk around Fez. Good thing I have a week here. And good thing that there are plenty of kids who are happy to make about USD$2 by guiding me back to my hotel when I get lost.
It's quite amazing how, after centuries of urban planning, the Western world has come to adore the suburban dream, a car-centric utopia where streets sometimes don't even have sidewalks. And here in Fez, the streets are filled with more street culture than most suburbanites will ever see.
This blog has some excellent information on Fez in English:
http://riadzany.blogspot.com/
Time to get lost again!
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