Blue walls of Chefchaouen for Gen

[SandiF]

Spent a good portion of the past 2+ weeks in Chefchaouen. My 2nd time in Chaouen but this trip more time was spent visiting the blue walled city and surrounding areas. The trip was marred with a bout of the cold...constant coughing as the weather shifted from warm to cold, sunny and wet. Constantly hailed up as "hey Jamaican woman" or "Jamaican woman welcome to Morocco".... How they knew I'm Jamaican is beyond me but the town has a love for Rita Marley and all things Jamaican.

Two plus weeks in Casablanca, Fes, Meknes, Chefchaouen and Tangier... just relaxing and chilling with friends. Just a few pics..

Blue walls of Chefchaouen

[SandiF]

the blue walls are inside the medina...walled city

[SandiF]

outside the medina

[Gen]

SandiF thanks

All that blue is amazeballs.

i told the lady at the dry cleaner that you gone again

[SandiF]

There is an ethnic Berber group from the Rif mountain areas. Their features are strangely a blend of European, Oriental and Arab... short in stature with wide eyes and bronzed faces. The older women wear tattoo marking on their forehead or neck that denote them as being traditional Berbers of the Rif mountains. The traditional clothing for the women is colourful... aprons, shawls and head wear that looks like a Mexican sombrero with ribbons and pom-poms fringing the edges. Actually, I found the women bearing many similarities to the ethnic people in Peru... even the rugs and poncho they make reminded me of the ones that I'd bought in Peru.

SandiF thanks

All that blue is amazeballs.

i told the lady at the dry cleaner that you gone again

[Peasie]

Gorgeous blue walls with skies to match!

[Peasie]

Alleys

[Marielle]

Beautiful!

It's in the Rif, isn't it? Went through there once on the bus from Nador (Melilla with the boat from Spain) to Tangier, but it was during the night.

Would love to visit it, as would love to go to Ouazarzate (sp?)....

[SandiF]

Hi, Marielle... you ran cross my mind the other day... your trip to Mali and wondering how the conflict there is affecting your family and friends there.

Yes, Chefchaouen is in the Rif valley.

Beautiful!

It's in the Rif, isn't it? Went through there once on the bus from Nador (Melilla with the boat from Spain) to Tangier, but it was during the night.

Would love to visit it, as would love to go to Ouazarzate (sp?)....

[MsExced]

love the pictures Sandi you have more

[Jazz]

Beautiful SandiF - you and Marielle have the most amazing adventures...
looks like someplace I would love to see.

THe mister and I decided that once we leave this side of the world we are going to really see Europe now that the girls are big enough to appreciate holidays that don;t involve a pool and a beach.

[Pepper]

Sandi,

The photos are lovely. Thanks for sharing.

Can you tell us about the history. meaning, reasons behind the blue walls?

[Xavier]

Sandi,

The photos are lovely. Thanks for sharing.

Can you tell us about the history. meaning, reasons behind the blue walls?

Nice pictures. Would love to know the history behind the walls.

[SandiF]

Thanks!


Chefchaouen is a wonderful town in Morocco with its white-washed houses and the distinctive medina with its walls painted in various shades of blue. The story that I'm told is the blue walls was started by Jewish settlers who saw blue representing spirituality and being a symbolic colour of the sky, heaven, and God. Every medina has a "mellah" which is the Jewish side of the old town. Inside the medina you'll see shops with containers piled high with blue pigment in different shades and each spring the entire medina is re-painted in shades of blue.

Chefchaouen1.jpgChefchaouen3.jpgChefchaouen2.jpg

[Gen]

SandiF, did you catch the 1 hour feature on Tangier ? on CNN last Sunday ? It will probably repeat later tonight. It was interesting to hear what the current expats living there had to say about the city when they first moved there years ago.

http://www.cnn.com/video/shows/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown/episode5