The beautiful story of how Chefchaouen came to be called the Blue City: In the 1930s, Jews were fleeing Hitler’s growing reach, and some came to Morocco. Choosing to paint their homes blue came from the Jewish tradition of weaving blue thread into their prayer shawls to remind people of the sky, the heavens, and a gentle nudge toward the spiritual side of life.
We took a day trip from Tangier to Chefchaouen, which takes a little over two hours with a coffee break. The Moroccan countryside is very pastoral, with olive groves, some grazing sheep and cattle, small villages here and there, and lakes and rivers. Entering the oldest part of Chefchaouen, the medina, is surreal, because you are thrown into a blue labyrinth of tiny walkways, as well as offshoots into other walkways or, more likely, another cluster of homes. Some houses are blue on the ground floor only, while others embrace the color up to the rooftop. It really is quite something to see.
For sale along the way are all of the usual souvenirs – small golden camels, tote bags bearing the city’s name, hundreds of carpets, blankets, and djellebas, and some beautiful artwork depicting the Blue City. We visited a communal bakery, where an older man was baking the community’s breads and tagines. For lunch, our tour group enjoyed traditional couscous and a chicken tagine served with crusty bread. One woman in our group, Andrea, got a lovely henna tattoo on her hand, which took about 15 minutes. You can see it in the photos below.
Andrea is a young American woman who works in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. She said she had been to Morocco many times and was in love with it. Andrea said she had given a lot of thought to buying a home in Morocco and retiring there. We have spoken to other locals about foreigners buying property in the country, and they said there is no problem doing so. It appears that Morocco has made itself open to travel and retirement by foreigners more than many other countries. It is one of the most visited countries in Africa, and works hard to encourage tourism. It was obvious as we were walking around Chefchaouen. As an example, when our group was watching the man baking bread in the photo below, he kept stopping his work and encouraging individuals in our group to take photos with him, but not asking for money for it.
Vendors weren’t very aggressive until we got to Uta Hamman Square, and there, surprisingly, it was young men employed to fill the restaurants and cafes. The same men must have asked all of our group five or six times each if we wanted to eat at their restaurant. When we replied that we had already eaten, their reply was – Come in and have a drink! And when we said we didn’t drink, they said: But we have nice beer!
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