chefchaouen (part two)

 

are you ready for a lot more pictures of blue buildings, doors and alleyways?!? chefchaouen has got to be my favourite travel destination to photograph ever. 

we set an alarm for 7am, just after sunrise, on our last day in the blue city (and in morocco!) and decided we’d wake up, check the weather, and go back to sleep it if it was still raining. but come dawn: no rain!! we quickly headed out, a bit drowsy but so excited it was dry, through the magical streets towards the spanish mosque that sits on a hill overlooking the town. there was a picture around every corner and it felt like we had the whole quiet, beautiful city to ourselves. 

after a wonderful final moroccan breakfast on the spectacular terrace at our guesthouse, most of the shops had opened and so we enjoyed browsing and then finally buying a rug. (our quest for purchasing a moroccan rug turned into a kind of crazy ordeal and we ended up getting one that really wasn’t what we were looking or hoping for … but it was cheap and it’s now in moses’s room and we really like it :) ) when it was time to leave chefchaouen i was melancholy because i had sooo fallen in love with that place … but also we were soooo ready to go home to our little moses. we actually went back to london via gibraltar in an effort to check off a bucket-list item for ian. 

the “blue pearl” will always be a lifetime travel highlight for me…!


^^ the views in first light of day from our guesthouse terrace. a lot less misty/foggy/rainy than the day before! ^^
 
 
 
 
^^ even the fire hydrants in chaouen are painted blue! (although this one seems to be reverting to red with time :) ) ^^
 
on our little hike to the spanish mosque it felt really good to be in open space / nature … after ten days in morocco’s bustling cities. the rif mountains are really beautiful! 

 
 
 
  
 

 
 
^^ isn’t this breakfast setting just dreamy?! love, love, loved it. ^^

 
 
^^ lots of east asian tourists in chefchaouen. most of the time we felt like we had the city to ourselves but every once in a while we’d stumble across a big group of people furiously snapping photos. i certainly can’t blame them!! ^^
 

 
 
 
^^ the guy who sold us our rug was called mohammed and had just one grey tooth coming out of his top gums. he was really fun to chat with and bargain with and he made a good sale! ^^

our journey home to london was long and by the end of the trip i was sooo itching to get back to my baby. but we kept it an epic adventure to the end. we had a car ride from chefchaouen to tangier med ferry terminal, then a loooooong wait for a delayed boat, some snickers and pringles for dinner due to not many options from the ferry cafe, a wildly pitching ride across the strait of gibraltar followed by a late arrival in the random spanish town of algeciras, and finally a taxi ride to a random cheap hotel. the next morning we went to church and then ran (literally) to catch a bus to gibraltar. because of windy weather conditions, we couldn’t ride the cable car up to the top of the rock of gibraltar as hoped, but we explored the town a little and had some pizza for lunch before getting on a plane to london. then it was just immigration, customs, tube ride, walk, and finally arrival at our cozy flat! 

we went home this way because ian has always randomly dreamed of crossing the strait of gibraltar and seeing the rock of gibraltar. gibraltar is such a unique, peculiar place i would never really think to visit. ian takes me to those kinds of places with some regularity, and i love it ;) 

^^ views from the bus ride. that rock is pretty cool! and we could see morocco looking the other way across the strait. ^^

^^ strolling through the town of gibraltar. the minute we crossed the border there were so many familiar signs of england. fascinating little spot of earth. ^^

^^ we walked right across the runway to the tiny gibraltar airport. and ian was pumped to have fulfilled his random dream. ^^

aaaaaand that’s a wrap on morocco posts! Suuuuuuch a fantastic place. so so glad we were able to experience it.