Like the Hat

Fes was our first foray into a large Moroccan city and it didn't disappoint.  We stopped first at a pottery where we saw them throwing Tagines (the dish of the national dish) and more importantly (or dear to my heart) they were making the most beautiful mosaic tables I'd seen.  The work was so labor intensive and amazing I could have stayed all day watching them make them.
After a couple of other stops at an overlook and the royal palace, we headed into the Medina (or old part of town) where an enormous variety of goods, meats, and materials can be purchased.  Fes was founded in 789 and still boasts the oldest functioning university, located right in the city center.  We were led through the souks (market stalls) in the medina as there are thousands of roads in this area that are largely unmarked and very narrow. It was a feast for the eyes, ears, and nose to wander through the medina here.  We saw many, many merchants selling textiles, leather, meat, food, fresh fruit and veg, live chickens, and probably anything else one could think of.  We had to listen for oncoming 'traffic' in the forms of donkeys and mules.  We were told that having a donkey in this area was as valuable as a truck, as they are used to to transport purchased goods to the main part of the city.  As we neared it, the smell of the leather tannery wafted through the narrow streets.  When we arrived, we retreated to an upstairs viewing area after we each received a fresh sprig of mint to guard against the smell. 
The sight before us were many tanning and dying pits used to treat the leather.  All around these, hung out of windows, or laid on rooftops, hides dried in the afternoon sun.  It was easily the most strange site I have beheld, and I was eager to join the brave souls on our trip to get a look at the area on street level.  Not wanting to know what was beneath our feet, we headed down to the pits, equal parts admiring and ogling at the many workers standing waist deep in the muck and the dye, and the skins.  It was nothing short of amazing.

When we had our fill (which didn't take long) we headed back through the souks clinging to the smells of fresh bread and spices enticing us away from the insanity of the tannery.  The whole area is difficult to describe.  It was labyrinthine, confusing, and busy to the point of chaos.
Everything I saw was equal parts fascinating, disgusting, and entertaining.  I could have spent days wandering the streets there, but I fear that is what would have happened if I had become separated from the group.