Salam, from Morocco!
Chefchaouen, Morocco is also known as the “blue & white city” because of the colors of the buildings! It took us almost 2 hours to get to Chefchaouen by bus from our hotel. We spent a great deal of the morning winding through the beautiful mountains of Morocco!
When we arrived in Chefchaouen, we got a tour from a local guide! He explained that the buildings are painted blue to keep the bugs and mosquitos away. We also learned that Chefchaouen means “between the bulls horns”. This is because the city lies between two mountains.
There’s our tour guide!!
Now let me share some pictures from our walking-tour!!
Hi Kayla!
Donkeys instead of cars? Normal.
Inside a bread-bakery in Morocco. We got to try a piece of the fresh bread!
Moroccan “barbed wire”
Traditional clothes for men & women.
What used to be two sheep…
The whole gang!! Kristina, Kayla, me, Jess, Ally & Stef! Love them!
Since we finished our tour earlier than expected, our tour guide had the idea of taking us to the old mosque!! Little did we know, the mosque was halfway up a mountain!!!
See that tiny building up there? That’s where we went…
So we’re hiking…
& climbing… to get tot this mosque! But let me tell you, the view was worth the hike!!
Sitting on top of the world!
The girls and Santi, our Discover Seville guide!!
And what goes up, must come down…so we hiked it back down for lunch!! Here’s a view of the mosque when in the city!
Above is with the zoom… & the picture below is without. Yes, we actually hiked all the way up there.
Our tour guide!!
Time for lunch at “Casa Aladin”
Traditional Moroccan salad!
Rice, fries and chicken!
My friend Ally ordered a Coke at lunch…looks American but what does that say?
And here’s my water…
Just thought that was cool!!
Pictures of inside the Moroccan restaurant! Such a different atmosphere!
After lunch, we had free time to bargain and shop!! Our tour guides explained that bartering is like a sport for the Moroccans! We were able to use Durams, their currency, or Euros. (1 Euro = 10 Durams). For the sake of this explanation, I will talk in terms of Euro since it is easier to comprehend the prices.
This is basically how it works… Nothing had a marked price, so you ask the store keeper, “How much?”…then, they say some ridiculous price: “20 Euro”, and you say some ridiculously low price, about 1/4 of what they say, “How about 5 Euro?”…Then they laugh and say “No, No, I have a family to feed, I can’t do that…and they say, “how about 18 euro?”. You shake your head, and say I can’t do that, and start to walk away. Then they say, “Okay Okay, Special price for you, special price…15 Euro”. Then you say “How about 8 euro?”. They say they can’t do that, so you walk away again. “Wait, wait, okay special price: 12 euro…” And it keeps going on until you get to a middle ground, like 10-12 euro. Honestly, it was a lot of fun bartering with the locals!! It really was like a game! You have to be sure to drop the price to 1/4th of what they offer you and walk away at least twice in order to get what you want! It was a great experience! Turns out, it was really fun to bargain and I got some very good deals (I get that from my Dad)!
I would tell you what I got in Morocco, but some are gifts for my family/friends who follow this blog!! I promise I will do a souvenir/present post at the very end of my trip! Here are some pictures from the streets/markets we shopped in!
The above picture is for my brother…it’s a motorcycle with a trailer attached to it!
My friend Jordan got Henna done from one of the women in Morocco and it came out beautiful!!
Even the Taxi’s were blue in Chefchaouen!!
After a long day of exploring, hiking and bargaining, we were all tired and ready to head back to the hotel for the night! We had time to relax, then enjoyed another 3-course meal!
What’s dinner without some entertainment?!! (The pictures are a little blurry because they were dancing and moving around, but it was really fun!)
After dinner, Discover Seville had a little get-together party for everyone on the trip, since we weren’t allowed to leave the hotel! There was free sangria and music! It was a lot of fun!
I want to end this post by saying Chefchaouen was one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been to! The people were so kind, funny and full of life! They might not have the best conditions, but they certainly make do with what they have! I will never forget my day in Chefchaouen, where I hiked to a mosque and bargained with locals! I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to visit this wonderful city and country!!
Travel: It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.
xoxo
Spring in Seville 