I have just had the most glorious week in Fes, Morocco, visiting my friends' Sandy and Suzanna's Riad Zany, an ancient riad which they are renovating with incredible patience, careful adherence to the original and traditional techniques and meticulous attention to detail.
Riad Zany's courtyard, before and after renovation
On the first night of my stay a huge surprise awaited me : A special evening of traditional music was arranged in my honour to celebrate my birthday! All afternoon the riad was brought into
readiness, with chairs for 70 guests arranged around the courtyard, plastic sheets stretched over the open roof in case of rain, caterers coming in with delicious food and bunches of mint
for the tea, while a few of the musicians practised for the performance, filling the space with their hauntingly beautiful music. I picked a few lemons off the tree under which we were sitting and offered freshly squeezed lemon juice with ice cubes to soothe the hard-working voices and Ben Ali, the base player, presented me with a signed copy of his latest anthology of love poetry, and translating the Darija -- Moroccan Arabic -- of a couple of the exquisite poems for me. 
At about 8pm a couple of helpers went down to the nearest medina gate to guide the guests through the maze of narrow alleys to the riad and slowly the court yard filled with the excited buzz of the guests. The performance was opened by the angelic singing of Anas and then followed by five different kinds of traditional Moroccan music performed by 12 musicians, amongst them the grand masters in their individual genres.
The evening was a brilliant success and the guests seemed reluctant to finally leave -- but everyone in agreement that this was an evening of exceptional quality and that they would love for similar events to be repeated again and again.
My birthday treats continued day after day with watching the sun set over the medina whilst sipping champagne on the roof terrace of Riad Laaroussa, the stunningly beautifully restored riad of Frédéric Sola (but more about this lovely man's creative and bold spirit later...), a demonstration of my 'sabrage' techniques to the nervous horror of the spectators, unforgettable meals at Thami's, a little one table!-cafe near the Bab Boujeloud (the blue gate to the medina)where you may share the meal with anyone else who happens to come along and join you at the table -- such as Radek, the handsome young intrepid traveller from Poland, Kate and Wayne from New Zealand -- who had just travelled 8 hours through the desert, Louis - originally from Norwich but now proud owner and restorer of one of the most unique homes in the medina, Barbara - who aims to make Fes the venue for the most exotic weddings on offer, David - the master of master restorers......and the list goes on...., walking through the medina revelling in the sounds, colours, smells...... I cannot wait to get back!
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