The Sahara where donkeys roamed

Ok so we weren’t exactly in the Sahara but our driver was going to drive there the day we left. And there were plenty of donkeys to be seen in Morocco. With that said, our trip to Africa was definitely an experience.

We spent 5 nights in the city of Fez in Morocco. We stayed in a palace. We also lived like kings. Literally, the service and accommodations at Hotel Al Dar Andalus was truly amazing. Small scaled on the exterior, the interior space was that of a Dar style (enclosed courtyard). As contrasted to the rest of the urban fabric around it, the hotel was spacious in terms of both public and private spaces. Following the idea of the “Dar style,” it was relaxing to stay at such a space where the interior is introduced with the exterior. Even more, we were helped with any needs we desired by our two friendly bell hops. However, despite the luxury of the “inside,” the outside appeared very free and ‘out of this world.’ The Medina. We were fortunate enough to have our tour guide Mo-mo bring us around the very old and dense city of Medina. What’s very interesting about this city, regardless of its messy-ness, is the scale of the city in comparison with the individual. Following the idea of the Islamic faith, architecture in Fez is built around that idea of ‘finding one-self.” Where one wall ends, it connects to another. In this sense, each wall is supporting that neighboring space. Similarly, the complex circulation throughout the city can almost be justified as intentional. “Finding one-self” becomes a theme, where the individual must first get lost in order to find “place.” In a sense by getting lost within the narrow streets of the Medina, scale becomes a major element. With nothing but the sky on top and white plaster walls on your sides... you just have straight ahead to look forward to.