Our eagle-eyed story scouts were amazed and bemused when they came across an article in the "Chronicle of Higher Education" by one Mark Levine. He had penned a piece for the "Chronicle" under the headline Muslim Metal
Bands crank up multiculturalism in the Islamic world
By MARK LEVINE
The first time I heard the words "heavy metal" and "Islam" in the same sentence, I was confused, to say the least. It was around 5 p.m. on a hot July day in the city of Fez, Morocco. I was at the bar of a five-star hotel with a group of friends having a drink — at $25 a piece, only one —.
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Now stop right there! $25 USD for a drink in a bar in Fez? Hang on, let's just check that out...At today's currency rates that is 182.174 Moroccan dirhams. Yes, one hundred and eighty-two dirhams! Now, when we last checked you could buy about five or six bottles of wine with that money, nine beers and... well, you get the point. We once had a kir in a five star establishment that was 80 dirhams...
We tried to find out more, but The Chronicle of Higher Education wanted a $40 subscription....
COCKTAIL COMPETITION
We would love to hear from readers as to what drink in the great city of Fez costs 182 dirhams?
So let your imaginations run wild and design us a Mark Levine Cocktail. (oh, and let us know what it costs)
The winner gets a 20 dirham Flag Special at the Batha.
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
5 comments:
A shot of blue label Johnny Walker in one of the 5* hotel's in Fes is 320 Dh.
Do we get 2 flags seeing as its nearly double Marks drink?
The most expensive drink at Riad Fes' delightful bar is a glass of Calvados, or Armagnac or Grand Marnier, all imported from France, at Dh100 a shot.
Quote
"one hundred and eighty-two dirhams! Now, when we last checked you could buy about five or six bottles of wine with that money.."
Just to clarify, the only place where you can get wine at this price is at the supermaket, for the cheapest 'but drinkable' bottles.
A bottle of wine will cost at least 100 dhm in a bar and probably more in a hotel. Perhaps Lumen could tell us the price of a bottle of wine at Riad Fes.
"Just to clarify, the only place where you can get wine at this price is at the supermaket, for the cheapest 'but drinkable' bottles."
Anon, that was the point - our "Mark" spending $25 US on a drink and then complaining he could only afford one was the silly thing the article was pointing out.
Now, it may be that one could spend that money - but you would have to try hard! And you can get wine quite cheaply at other places than the Majane supermarket.
Indeed I can. The cheapest bottle of wine at Riad Fes is a Guerrouane or Siroua for Dh120. Their middle range is Dh150 for Gazelle de Mogador or a Halana Syrah. If you really want to splash out (and still stick to Moroccan wines) you can order a Medaillon at Dh260 or even the CB Initiale or Coteau d'Atlas for Dh560.
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