Today we are headed to Chefchaouen, the famous “Blue City”, and a must see if you are in this part of the country, but first we must endure yet another breakfast buffet. I must say that this one excels in quality, and does not focus on putting out massive amounts of food. Selections are beautifully prepared and presented, but when it comes to the baked goods and sweeties, this place is over the top. I said hello to the chef responsible, but like so many others here unless you can habla or parlais you are shit out of luck if you want to have a conversation, but his work is truly brilliant.
We have a car and driver booked and it should be about a 90 minute trip up into the Rif Mountains at 2,000 ft elevation. The Rif region around Chefchaouen is a centre of cannabis production in Morocco, and this has replaced to some extent other traditional crops such as almonds grapes and figs, although olives are still the main crop grown in the area. About 50,000 people living here with huge crowds visiting in the summer……glad we are here now as it is very quiet. A guide hits on us as soon as we get out of the car, and he will give us the abbreviated tour for 300 dirham…….sold.
The pictures tell the story, but bottom line this is another medinah tour, except on this one you will see what happens when Sherwin Williams has a huge overstock and puts gallons of blue paint on sale. Why blue?…..our guide gives us the modern response which is that it keeps the reflection and heat transfer levels lower than traditional whitewash, and now that it has been introduced the locals keep up the tradition. Historical theories are that back in the 1930’s Jewish refugees fleeing Europe settled there and started the blue paint thing symbolizing the sky and heaven…….a spiritual reminder of God’s power and presence, while Islamic symbolism has the blue representing sky, water, peace, and tranquility. Whatever floats your boat, but it is a tourist magnet no matter what version you like. It is an interesting tour, but much of it we have heard before in other medinah’s. Pretty tricky walking some of the streets and alleys……fairly steep in parts, and the rain has put a slick coating on the stone……being very careful. A worthwhile visit, because now we can say we have been there.
Our guide asked our driver for us (he doesn’t habla parlais or anything) to stop at the liquor store on the way home to get some room supplies. He pulls into a big Carrefour the heads down the alley beside the building…….no sign, just a plain door, but inside is a pretty good sized store……beer, wine, liquor, which is obviously not allowed in the main part of the store. All stocked up and we will have some seaside vino before dinner tonight.
Somehow we misread the Cole’s Notes on where to eat while staying at the Sofitel, because we chose the dining room next to where we had breakfast, thinking it had fantastic reviews and would be amazing, when in reality those reviews were for a hotel owned restaurant location a few km into town out on a pier……..I think we could have all jumped off a pier after dinner. Passable I guess but not great. We will fix that tomorrow.
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