Chefchoeaun

Chefchoeaun 27-29/2

Up early 0745 to have breakfast (this time the greedy Ozzies come with nuts etc to put on 2 plates of cereal with pastries) in time to get to ttubees (bus) station. 1000 bus is in fact at 1200?! Time for (another devine) coffee and people watching in the nouveau ville (the otherside of Moroccan culture - strugglingly modern but why be a woman? Fancy big bus for 3 hour scenic trip to anticipated mountain city. Women colorful demur jewels in coarse, ugly surrounds; men smoking, women not allowed to; house proud only on the inside, washing hanging out always. Men with always smart, very neat & stylish hair with loads of product; kids enjoyed their "really cool " books; becoming more undulous green and fertile; cars becoming less frequent - more donkeys; the color aqua green on most white buildings (colour of Islam); Berber women roadside with herbs & pottery, Chefchouen!

Packs on back , we were pointed up the mountain toward the medina. Whilst the Moroccans continue to display incredible language aptitude, here they just speak Arabic, Berber, French, Spanish & bits of German - less English ?! Blind walk with vague idea. Asked our way to a GORGEOUS more relaxed, open medina with things painted as many contrasting hues of blue possible  ( purple,green,pink & baby,pastel sky blues ). - prettier than I could have imagined even haven seen pictures.  Hostal Guernika - 5 stories of delightful, cosy wee rooms, ornate decorative mosaic tiles pretty up every nook - none of which match but the varied tapestry of beautiful floors, skirtings, cornices,alcoves,showers, basins, light fittings , mirrors,small stools & tables make for an overall impossibly stylish finish. Leapt gaily from our room into the medina, confident to stroll, look about & a buy a dinner of goats cheese, olives, hot bread, toasted & flavored nuts, strawberries etc from the souqs to bring home and eat on the courtyard roof with a view to the surrounding mountains, the medina & it's minarets below. Cold shower, cards & bed.Kids in teeny room next to our teeny room - couldn't quite all squeeze in one. Can tap through the walls to each other!

blue town

Laundry - in the stream

Blog by Wil. 

Secret 4 knocks on wall when Kel & I awake - hop in bed together whilst wait for parents.

Started with a game of cards♠, lasted forever.

Straight out for a brekky of omelettes & toast, pithy OJ & coffee & hot chocolate - cold!!

Kel had a vegetable🍅 omelette, Dad, a traditional French🇫🇷 one and Mum🐧 had a fish🐟 one (not surprising , knowing Mum). My toast was freshly baked and warm, spread with traditional Arab honey, a sort of runny, sweet, not quite normal honey, there was definitely something else in it. Maybe cumin, orange blossom, a touch of thyme, I don't know. Well, to put it simply, a divine breakfast.Mum reckons way short on the fibre however, so back to our flavored, hot nut man for papercones of mixed delights. Munching, we walk mountain- bound for a bit but pull up in a lush garden beneath the kazbah wall to soak up sun, parents chat on bench whilst Kel & I spot, count & play  chasey with stray cats. Kel counts now 111 cats & names her favorite one Scaredy. We walk up the mountain, Jebel El- Kelaa,resting close to the top at a mosque with a leaning minaret and play with baby goats. Great view back over our favourite blue medina.Privileged to watch an old Shepard Berber woman with her flock. We talk about her livelihood selling their fine coats, prized soft cheese & milk before maybe selling one for meat.We trudge a little further up into the farmland area & rest in the shade of a tree, imagining the life of these local sherpherd boys my age. There's a curious monkey🐒 sitting near the tree-top. His name was Wilsen. The area is a resting place for a goat-herder and she had a "talk " with Mum who was trying to learn about her traditional skirt .Whilst resting, some boys with laden donkeys 🐴 rode past. The donkeys honked loudly, sounding like un-oiled seesaws .

On the way down, we scramble up a rocky path leading up the mountain toward a saddle.There is no top, Mum wants to keep going, Dad wants a coffee, time to turn back. We have some much needed water in a cafe adjacent to a small waterfall that has been fashioned into the town's open- air ,quite beautiful but environmentally disastrous laundry. Mum and Dad have a pretty average coffee. We head back to the square ,admiring the aqueducts through town .

Home for a shower and rest.

3 o'clock, time for an early dinner. Mum & Dad haggle for a beautiful blue silk bedspread  - final price - $20!  We find a suitable sunny cafe for a tajine. Morocco is a cold land with a hot sun - boiling in no time. Ok food but want to street eat for dessert. We wander the town into alleyways & plazas picking up almond pastry delights to walk with. On our way back home we spy a bakery where we stop for coffee and more Moroccan pastries. Parents enticed  into another man's amazing carpet shop ( who like all others speaks every language & has family / best friends in Australia) where we watch an old man on a loom. Full, we make for home, clean up, play cards & learn about our next destination - FEZ!