From the blue gate to the blue town... 'Mab travels to Morocco - Episode III: Chefchaouen'



I see blue. I see blue streets and blue stairs, winding up and down the mountainside. I see blue paths ending with blue doors, some only half-closed, whispering 'come closer' and 'look inside', but we don't, we're too polite to invade someone's home, no matter how tempting it might be to see if the walls inside are painted the same sky blue colour, and whether the tiles on the floor match the patterns on the windows.
I see lemon trees and fig trees and mullberry trees, and cats regally walking on the narrow walls of the roof terraces, all painted, of course, in blue.
I see street kitchens, with huge pots of boiled corn on the cob, and my hunger awakens from the nap we took on the bus from Fes. The mountain peaks hug the town of Chefchaouen like a favorite blue teddy bear, and the setting sun calls forward the street lanterns with their yellow glow. From the roof of our small hotel they look like fireflies, nesting all around us for the night. The name 'Chef Chaouen' in Arabic literally means 'look at the peaks', and we do that a lot the following days.
The main square is decorated with christmas lights and there is even a christmas tree in the middle, right in front of the Kasbah. While we eat dinner that we share with the local kittens, we find out that the queen visited the town a few months ago, and the decorations were just left there, because they shine so nicely.
















I see blond hair and hear English, and the guys at the next table invite us to join them for late breakfast. Christa and Rig are sisters from Norway, and Daniel is from Australia. We talk to Mohamed who works at the restaurant, and at the hotel they are staying at. He wears beautiful silver Berber rings, and a henna tattoo on his wrist. He tells us about his grandmother from a Berber village in the mountains, four hours on bus and two on horseback to visit her. We agree to meet up later for a hike to the Spanish Mosque above the town, and Sebastian and me set out to buy a djellaba, the traditional overcoat of Morocco, which instantly  transforms us into almost native jedis. Chefchaouen is known for the skilled artisans and handwoven fabrics, and we pass several workshops where the striped fabric comes together on wooden weaving loom behind huge blue doors.
Djellaba might be my favorite piece of clothing. It is wearable air-conditioning, and fulfills my stripe obsession, the hood is big enough for all my hair, and I can go out to buy breakfast in my pyjamas! I am thankful for this idea to the MarocMama blog where I found a guest post about them and knew I had to get one!












A few jedi photos and one hike later we find ourselves at the edge of the city, where women bring all their household to wash and dry, stomping on the huge carpets with bare feet and washing out the soap suds in stone sinks. No pictures, one old lady says. We photograph cats instead, and boys playing in the shallow pools around the waterfalls. Then we climb the narrow alleys right to the uppermost point, where a single blue staircase leads to a single little turquoise-blue doors. The doors to the sky, and the stairway to heaven, I found the soundtrack to the pictures.






We are invited for homemade tajine to Mohamed's hostel, and meet Ossama, who is the owner, and as it turns out, also the author of several amazing photos that are hanging on the walls of the house. His cat is lounging on the ottoman and we feel the same way, tired and content from the day.

The Kasbah fortress opens its doors for visitors, and we wander through the rooms with museum expositions, traditional clothes and old photos, then up the stairs, reading the informational boards along the way, and piecing together the view through the windows of the tower. A little boy is running around, incredibly excited by the trip with his family, and his joy is so contagious that we all soon wear wide grins and laugh with him.






In good mood but hungry, we go on a hunt for galettes, potato pancakes, and buy cheese, vegetables and figs, to have a royal feast on the terrace. It is then I discover my favorite taste of Morocco - fresh goat cheese and equally fresh figs wrapped in a fresh baked galette... there is a market opportunity right there, and see if I open a small shop when I come back to Vienna, where I make exclusively this kind of  'Moroccan pancake'!

Goodbye blue town, we're off to Tangier. With love, your striped jedis.




Sleep: we stayed at Hotel Ouarzazate, 2 mins from the Bab Ain right at a small square with a lamp post in the center (Narnia!) double room 120dh
also recommended Casa Amina, 2 mins from the main square, cute little hostel with awesome english-speaking owners and international travelers.

Eat: Dalya Snack Cafe at the same little Narnia square, coffee tea tajine they have it! Coffee&Tea 6dh and you can take it to the hotel and bring the glasses back later ;) 
Ali Baba restaurant right opposite the Kasbah at the main square. Berber breakfast with fresh orange juice, coffee and yummy eggs and cheese for 30dh



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