When I arrived in Meknes, it was already dark, and although I had selected the riyad for its beauty, I couldn’t fully imagine all the scents, the light and the sounds of this special place.
In the morning, emerging from the dark room covered in beautifully sculpted cedar wood with its aromatic and grounding scent, joining the rooftop terrace felt like seeing the world with different eyes. Everything was so bright and colourful suddenly!
Breakfast was served right there in the sun. Little metallic tagine plates contained jams, honey and olive oil, to eat on bread or baghrir (or, as they often called them, “pancakes with a thousand holes”). An omelet and a couple of sweet pastries, in addition to a fresh orange juice and lots of sweet mint tea, and the perfect breakfast was complete.
Right as I was enjoying yet another baghrir, what felt like hundreds of storks were suddenly soaring high above me in big circles through the air. Not having noticed them coming, I was now observing them landing on taller buildings like the mosque next door, where they sat down to rest and clean their feathers.