The Blue City

Although we went through the city last night, it was only a brief walk and didn't have the markets, restaurants, people, or any of the liveliness that we would get today. This, plus the daylight and our tour guide, meant that our experience was considerably more comprehensive. We began at our hotel and wandered through the streets, much like we did last night, but with our guide being sure to take us to the bluest and most photogenic locations. Although the city isn't enourmas, we managed to go a completely different route from the previous night and so got to see a good portion of the city. Although the town is obviously notorious for the blue colours, the city itself is beautiful with a unique arrangement, lively atmosphere, and green thumb. The only thing more beautiful are the people who love to chat, have a laugh, and show you the different parts of their town. As such, our guide took us to the town washing area, the local bakery, and the markets to experience how the locals live. As we continued, he explained that the blue originated from what is essentially a confusing and poorly planned urban design. Tourists, who have been coming from all over for decades, would get lost in the city, and so they painted the streets blue if they would take you to a dead end. Meaning that every other road would eventually lead to the city centre. This became a calling point of the city, and a clever man decided to embrace this new tradition and painted his guesthouse blue as well. The results are clear as the rest of the city followed in his footsteps to try and copy his success. Thus birthing the blue city, Chefchaouen. We continued to wander through the city before we emerged at the city centre to have some lunch. We then checked out of our hotel and began the 4 hour drive to Fes. Not much was done in Fes, but we did have a local cooked dinner within a families fiad. This is essentially a house with a courtyard in the middle. This is closed during the winter and was where we were seated for our dinner. This arrangement is adopted by Muslim people to ensure privacy, a crucial component of their religious beliefs. They do not have balcony's or front porches and instead have an open area in the middle of their house for fresh air and ventilation. The lady was beautiful to us and treated us so well, as well as made a fantastic meal for us all.Lue lisää