The next morning I got a nicer picture of the medina before we
embarked upon new adventures.
We departed Fes and headed in the direction of Rabat, but along the
way we planned to visit the ruins of a city called Volubilis
established on the fringes of the Holy Roman Empire in about 40 AD.
Before heading into the ruins, we stopped for lunch at a nearby
hotel. From our table, we could see the entire site, inconspicuously
set among rolling fields of green.
They had an aquatic theme going in the tiles of this bathhouse.
There were neat stone archways. The near arch is about four feet tall,
the further one about two feet tall. I'm not sure what went through
the arches, but I don't think it was Romans.
There were your standard Roman columns.
This was the front of the Basilica, a government building.
Here Yang does his best impersonation of a Roman bureaucrat.
Here we see the triumphal arch, built in 217 AD to celebrate the
city's triumph in reaching tax exempt status.
Here we see the triumphal donkey, keeping a watchful eye over the
ruins. In actuality, I think this donkey belonged to the guy that sat
in the middle of the ruins and blew a loud, annoying whistle when
anyone looked like they were going to do anything against the rules
like step over a rope or stand on something.
From Volubilis we drove onward to Rabat, arriving at night as was our
strict custom by this point. Casablanca was only another hour or so
drive and it was via the one freeway they had in the country, so we
decided to press onward.
We arrived in Casa and promptly got hassled by the police for
running a stop sign. They wanted 400 dirhams for an "on the spot"
fine, but I was the only one with cash and I had only a 100 dirham
note. We gave them that and gestured to the effect that we had no more
money. They seemed satisfied and sent us on our way with a smile that
said "Welcome to Casablanca".
