Meknés, Volubilis - and a change of plans

We went for a quick walk after a very yummy breakfast of omelet and black olives, bread, the most delicious fresh orange juice, and coffee. It was extremely chilly but lovely out as the overnight rain had freshened things up and the sun squeezing out through the clouds was most welcome as we had had dire predictions for the weather today! But we made a mental note to rug up more with a thermal before heading off today, very prescient as things turned out.

Meknés is a very rich agricultural centre: cereals, olives, wine,

citrus fruits. The streets are lined with orange trees; the blossom water is used in cooking and for fragrance. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Meknés is one of Morocco’s imperial cities having once been the capital in the time of Sultan Moulay Idriss in the 17th century; when the Sultan died in 1894, the family lost everything including the palace which passed onto the powerful Al-Glaoui family. 

The medina has the longest wall in Morocco: 42kms long. We passed into the medina through the Thursday Gate (there is a market here each Thursday) through to the Jewish  quarter (mellah). Sultans protected Jews who paid them a Tax but they were also valued for their skills; they came here from Spain after the Inquisition.

We visited the royal stables and granaries from the 17th century; then went for a wander through a market.

The palace (built by another sultan) was very impressive - from the outside; you can’t go in. It is huge with a long long corridor of street running around its perimeter.

We then drive onto Moulay Idriss where we had a most wonderful lunch at a home-stay of couscous and vegetables with harissa and preserved lemon. We watched the couscous being cooked (they steam it for 2-3 hours!) and also bread being made in a community oven.

Then we visited the nearby Roman ruins at Volubilis - in the rain! The ruins are situated in the middle of a flowery meadow, especially so today as it is Spring. Volubilis was enormously prosperous thanks to its precious olive oil trade.

The structures have been well preserved and are decorated with colourful mosaics, frescoes and statues.

We got wet but it was very picturesque. 

A 3-hour drive then to Chefchaouen. The road is flooded in parts and Walid our driver does a good job negotiating the water. 

Oh dear, I have spoken too soon. Around the corner, the road was cut completely and we had to turn around.

We drive to Fez instead of Chefchaouen, water gushing across the road in several places as we retreat: the water has nowhere to go on the flat plain.

So our plans change: we will spend our 2 nights in Fez and then go onto Chefchaouen.

By the time we got in, we were done for the day so we retreated to bed early and had soup sent up to the room for dinner.