Here I go again talking about what other people are doing.
The number of internet sites popping up with 'Fez experts' standing by to answer a reader's every question is alarming. Most of the experts are not Fassis, not Moroccan and a significant number of them seem to be selling lodging or real estate. Once in a while a Moroccan will respond, but they too, seem always to be selling something despite numerous avowals by administrators that the site's information is strictly non-commercial and unbiased.
People always want to know why they should visit Fez and what is there to do if they should visit. The replies by internet experts always supply frantic lists of sites and restaurants and palaces that are not to be missed. There are instructions and references and plans sometimes down to the last detail. Judgements are passed and taken as if there could be no doubt. Go here, avoid that, don't make this mistake.
Why anybody would go on the internet and take the word of a total stranger (even mine) about their vacation plans is really beyond me, but this is a big phenomenon right now. The sad part is that Fez is one of those places best visited with no expectations. Anyone who imagines they can tackle the medina with a guidebook and a preconceived plan to knock off all the monuments in a single day is going to miss the best of Fez. Acting on the advice of a foreign internet expert is guaranteed to make the experience even more sterile.
One could retort that practicalities require us to plan our stay, we need a place to eat and sleep, and precious time is limited. If one is to see all there is to see then each minute counts. The problem with this idea is that Fez doesn't work that way. Fez requires time. And time moves slowly here. It may be for that reason and no other that the medina has survived for ten centuries.
To really see Fez, look past the crumbling architecture and the historic monuments. Forget about sleeping in fantastic palaces or seeking spiritual renewal or engaging in strange customs. Seeing Fez is not about finding a new identity or running around with a checklist of monuments and a shopping list of souvenirs. You would do better to do nothing. Sit still until time slows and you no longer feel the urgent need to accomplish any of the tasks on your list.
When you look around again you see people in the streets going about their daily lives. They are businessmen, farmers, students and housewives. Some poor, some desperate and most average. To them, Fez is simply the place where they live and work. The great monuments are a legacy left by generations preceding them, but they are only objects. Instead, it is the sense of longevity and survival that makes Fez great. Fez has existed since the beginning. Change happens, decay and renewal cycle around, but for over one thousand years generation after generation has walked the same streets, worried about the same things, struggled for the same things and taken pride in the same things. Because of that, we can believe it will be the same one hundred years in the future as it is today. Some buildings will fall, others may be saved, more could be added, but life will go on in spite of it because without life, Fez would have no reason to exist.
To me, that is what the 'Fez experience' is really about.
