Day 16: Traveling to Fez

Saturday and Sunday were free days with no scheduled work meetings so six of us from our team decided to plan a trip to visit Fez.   Fez is one of the four Imperial cities in Morocco (Casablanca, Marrakech, and Rabat being the other three) so we were eager to visit it.

Tracey's Client at the Women's Network actually owns a Riad in Fez so we made reservations during the week.   It was a bit of splurge for us but the four girls decided to share a room together.   We woke up early on Saturday morning so that we could arrive at the train station for our 7:50 am train.   The train ride was a very nice experience and a great way to see much of the Moroccan country side.

The pictures below capture our train travel to Fez and our arrival at the Fes Yamanda Riad where we stayed in the Fez Medina area.

Arriving at the Rabat train station to catch the 7:50 am train to Fez.  It was about a 2 1/2 hour train ride to Fez.

Austin, Karen, and I on the train.

Rahul, Mihoko, and Tracey in the same compartment on the train.

When we arrived at Fez, we had to call a guide from the Riad to meet us and take us through the maze of alleyways to get to Riad.

Arriving at the Fes Yamanda Riad.

This is the view of the lobby when you walk again.   Riads were older homes within the Medina (center of the city).  Some families still live in these while others have been purchased, renovated, and turned into small hotels and restaurants.    Our guide told us later in the day that it was not uncommon for investors to spend over a million dollars renovating an individual Riad.   Fes Yamanda was very beautiful.

Mihoko and I sitting in the lobby of Fes Yamanda.

We were greeted at the Riad with min tea.

You could walk to the top of the Riad up some very narrow stairs to reach the terrace on top.   Great views of the city of Fez.

This is a picture of Rahul's suite.

This is a picture of the suite that the four girls stayed in.  The beautiful stained glass windows overlooked the lobby of the Riad.