Archive for July, 2013

In a crowded bookshop in Fes, Morocco

A bookshop in Fes, Morocco

I didn’t see many books or bookshops during our meanderings in various cities and towns of Morocco. We probably didn’t go to the right places.

This one in the medina in Fes was a small shop in comparison to most bookshops we have here in Australia. It was, however, rather large when compared to most retail outlets in this part of Morocco. Space in the medina is limited, so the owner of the shop crowded as much material as possible into the available space. It looks like a very efficient use of the shelves he had to store the material. It all looks neat and tidy to me.

As I couldn’t read the language I can’t say with certainty what the books were about, but some of the covers indicated to me that the emphasis was on Islamic materials almost exclusively. It’s probably the equivalent of our church run bookshops here in Australia.

Sights of Fes in Morocco

Toy shop in Fes, Morocco

The streets of Fes in Morocco – like all cities and towns we visited – are a constant delight with the many sounds, colours and aromas we are just not used to here in Australia. It was hard to take it all in, take photos, avoid bumping into the milling crowds everywhere AND keep one eye on our tour guide and the rest of the tour group.

In today’s photos I feature a soft toy shop (above), a dentist’s sign (below) and several street scenes (below).

Dentist sign in Fes, Morocco

In Fes, Morocco

In Fes, Morocco

Shopping in Fes, Morocco

Fish shop in Fes, Morocco

While wandering the streets of Fes during our visit to Morocco I was constantly surprised by the sights: the colours, sounds, smells and the wide variety of items for sale. Near where I took the photo above of fish for sale there were vegetable stalls, a butcher shop, another selling glasses and watches, yet another selling umbrellas and a few steps away one specialising in chickens (see photo below).

I was actually intrigued by the chickens in the photo below. They seemed quite docile and content to just sit on the scales until they were weighed. If you look closely you can see another one trussed up in a plastic bag. I’m not sure if it was still alive or not.

Chickens for sale in Fes, Morocco