Past POIs - Jemaa el-Fnaa [Marrakech, Morocco]

When you visit Marrakech, you should visit Jemaa el-Fnaa which is an open area market during the day and at night. During the day you will see it as a fairly open area with a few temporary stalls and while we were there, there was a group of snake charmers. Note, if you are not interested in snakes, try to avoid walking too near, the snake charmers we saw were throwing snakes over passerbyers' shoulders in hopes of soliciting pictures which ends up being them asking for money from you.

At night, the square transformers and there are rows upon rows of stalls that pop up. Some that sell you food and snacks, others that sell you souvenirs and much more. Best of all, it is free!

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

Past POIs - Icefest [Toronto, Ontario, Canada]

Bloor-Yorkville Icefest is a free event that takes place in Yorkville and has been happening every year for the last few years and happens on one weekend in February.

In 2017, it happened on February 25-26 and we went on February 25 which was unusually warm and you would visibly see that it was too warm for the ice sculptures and they were melting a bit.

The event is free and during this year, TD Bank was there to provide everyone with free cookies, David's Tea was giving out free samples and there were a few other companies that were there to sell some items if you wanted to try them out. Also while there, there was a free scavenger hunt which was really for advertising for Yorkville Village but with a completed scavenger hunt form, we were given a free waffle each at Wafelbar which clearly underestimated the demand since it took about 15-20 minutes to each get our freebies. In Yorkville Village itself, there was a Miele pop-up shop which had a section for free cookie decorations as well as free coffee (lattes, cappuccinos, etc) which was nice.

If you are in the area, I would say that it is a nice walk that might be worthwhile, but I wouldn't go out of your way to come since it is fairly small and you can likely see everything in about 15-20 minutes.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

Past POIs - Leather Tanneries of Fez [Fez, Morocco]

When you visit Fez, you should try to visit the leather tanneries there. Leather is a big industry in Morocco and when you visit a leather tannery, you realize what is actually involved in the leather tanning process and it is quite remarkable. You don't realize how poor the conditions are for the workers there, you cannot smell it through my photos, but it will definitely hit you once you get there.

If I remember correctly, there are two types of vats. One for helping to remove the fur from the skin and one for dyeing the leather after. Each of the vats hold a different colour dye for colouring the leather and you will see at the top how they hang the skin to dry.

Unfortunately, I did not keep many details when I was on this trip, so I don't recall which leather tannery we visited, but it seems like you cannot go wrong with going to any of the big three leather tanneries in Fez.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!