Unmoored

Hundreds of photos later, I think I can only give you a very limited dose of what we're seeing here.  On our first day we walked through the souk and searched for the Medersa Ben Youssef, an ancient abandoned Koranic school that has been opened to tourism, unlike mosques and other religious buildings, which are barred to non-Muslims.

The medersa's ground floor level is covered with brightly colored tiles called zellij and with gorgeous carved plaster designs setting off graceful arches and ceiling vaults.  The cool central courtyard with its tiled pool is deserted where once it was home to students living in the cell-like rooms on the upper level.  One could spend hours sitting quietly here, sheltered from the overwhelming bustle and noisy demands of the souk just steps away.