This post was a little delayed because I (finally...I knew it had to happen sometime) got sick...but here it is. We went to Chefchaouen this weekend, and stayed in a gorgeous riad (the traditional style house with a courtyard and fountain in the center). I'm not sure if it's online, but if you can find pictures of Riad Yazin, that's where we stayed. Each room had a different theme, and the center was open, with no roof. There was a rooftop terrace with a view of the city and the mountains, which was where breakfast was served. The first night, we didn't get in until pretty late at night, around 11 o'clock, so we just dropped our things at the hotel and then went to eat at Cafe Aladin, which was delicious. We had dinner up on the terrace looking out over the Medina's main square. Alexis and I shared goat cheese salad and an omelette as "appetizers" if you can call them that, and then I had a really good bastilla (pastry dough filled with chicken and almonds, with cinnamon on the outside) - this one had some vegetables and I think some shrimp on the inside also. Then for dessert there was chocolate mousse and oranges with cinnamon (mine never came, but there was plenty to go around among everyone else).
After we got back to the hotel that night, I talked to Helen, and we (me, Carrie, Corina, Corina's sister Danielle who is visiting for a week, Ann, and Caity) met up with Helen and her friend Andy in the square of the medina for dinner. We had some more delicious bastilla, and then tea and cookies. It was interesting to hear their first impressions of Morocco. I think they will like it better after they see some of the other cities, because they started in Tangier, and I've heard mixed reviews of Tangier. After dinner we all went back to the riad to hang out on the rooftop terrace. It was fun to see Helen again, and I really like Andy. I'm glad Helen got to meet everyone, too. So they went to leave around 12:15, and the door was locked. I nearly got them locked in! I had to wake up Madiha and the hotel owner, which I felt really bad about, but I had no idea that the hotel was going to close and lock!
The next morning, some of the group went on a 3 hour hike leaving at 8:00 (I wanted to do this one, but Helen and Andy wanted to go on the shorter one), and the rest of us were supposed to meet at 9:30 for a 40 minute hike. We met at 9:30, and after Madiha talked to our guide (to tell him not to take him on the same hike as the day before), he told us, 40 minutes is no time for hiking. So when we said, what about an hour? He said, one hour is just time to get out of the medina. So then he agreed to take us on a hike, and as it turns out, took us to the same place as the day before, by a different route. When we got to the mosque, some of us stayed behind, while Addie and Mariella went back with the guide. We climbed the minaret again, and met a man who asked Andy if he wanted to come to his house and make hashish...The view from here was gorgeous, though, so I didn't mind going back again. I found myself taking the same picture of the city over and over again...but it was just so pretty!
The ride back was long (5 hours-ish), and once we got there, it got pretty frustrating. The van that I was in had a driver who was from Casablanca and didn't know Rabat well. We spent more than 2 hours dropping people off in Rabat. About 45 minutes of which was spent sitting about a 5 minute drive from my house. One thing we say about Morocco as a joke is that it's "purposely inefficient." And it really is. The driver could easily have gotten directions from the other driver, who knew exactly where we all lived, because Madiha had told him, but instead, we spent an hour and a half being lost and attempting to meet up with the other driver so that they could switch vans.
The trip was a lot of fun, Chefchaouen was gorgeous, and it was a lot of fun to meet so many friends and family members (Steve's parents, Corina's sister, Helen's friend Andy). Helen and Andy will be in Rabat on Thursday night, and hopefully I'll be able to show them around, and hear about how they liked Fes (I haven't been yet...we're going on the 18th) and Casablanca (mainly the mosque, the rest of the city isn't very exciting). Hopefully they will be able to come to my host family's house for couscous on Friday afternoon. Then Saturday, I think we are going to go to Asilah. I'm not entirely sure whether or not I'm going with them, but I loved Asilah, so I probably will. Until next time, inshallah, I hope all is well at home :)
Kira, Every time I view your photographs, read the descriptions of your travels, or absorb the insights you have provided, I tear up. I was especially moved by the farm family who seeem happier than their more advantaged counterparts in the city. It is so wonderful to hear about all of it, and I can't wait to hear more from you when you return. Love, Terry Two other things: how can it be that you look so slim, when it seems that you've been eating non-stop (and such delicious-sounding food!) since you arrived overseas...and, I just have to tell you that you look like a young Liz in the picture with the pom-pom sombrero!
Hello again,
ReplyDeleteThis post was a little delayed because I (finally...I knew it had to happen sometime) got sick...but here it is. We went to Chefchaouen this weekend, and stayed in a gorgeous riad (the traditional style house with a courtyard and fountain in the center). I'm not sure if it's online, but if you can find pictures of Riad Yazin, that's where we stayed. Each room had a different theme, and the center was open, with no roof. There was a rooftop terrace with a view of the city and the mountains, which was where breakfast was served. The first night, we didn't get in until pretty late at night, around 11 o'clock, so we just dropped our things at the hotel and then went to eat at Cafe Aladin, which was delicious. We had dinner up on the terrace looking out over the Medina's main square. Alexis and I shared goat cheese salad and an omelette as "appetizers" if you can call them that, and then I had a really good bastilla (pastry dough filled with chicken and almonds, with cinnamon on the outside) - this one had some vegetables and I think some shrimp on the inside also. Then for dessert there was chocolate mousse and oranges with cinnamon (mine never came, but there was plenty to go around among everyone else).
Saturday morning, we took a short tour of the old medina, then walked up past the stream to an abandoned mosque where we could climb the minaret, and there was a view of the entire city. There were shepherds letting their sheep, donkeys, and goats graze on the hill, and of course, men selling hashish nearby. After this walk, we had some free time, and we went out for lunch in the square in the Medina. I had a really good avocado salad (by that I mean some lettuce and tomatoes with an entire avocado on top, and some dressing that wasn't mayonnaise), and some very disappointing jus panaché (usually a mix of juices like orange, strawberry, and banana - it's delicious - but this one tasted like just orange, and it had seeds in it). Afterwards, we met back at the hotel, and drove for about an hour to a farm in the mountains (I got carsick, so this part was pretty unpleasant). When we got there, we hiked through the village to the family's farm, and had tea and oranges with them. The tea was incredible (orange blossom and mint) and they were incredibly friendly. We asked them questions about what it was like to be a farmer in Morocco. The man we spoke to told us that very few women attend high school, and very few men or women attend university. He also told us that they sell what they grow at the local weekly market, which is 5 km away, and they take everything on donkeys, because they have no car. They had a clinic nearby, which his mother (I think, maybe aunt?) helped to start, that is now closed because they did not have enough funding. It was really interesting to hear all of this, and to see it through the eyes of Madiha's husband Steve's parents, who are visiting for a couple of weeks. There was a funny moment of miscommunication: Steve's mom, Sue, has a very thick Boston accent, and she asked, Do you have a cah? And the man replied, A cow? But Sue, who was very outspoken, a chainsmoker, and seemed like a "typical" American, made friends with one of the Moroccan women, even though neither spoke a word of the other's language, and when she left, the woman put her veil on Sue. The most remarkable thing about the whole experience was that this family seemed much happier than any other family I have met in Morocco. After tea, we hiked up to a hill with a pretty view, and they played drums and sang for us, and we all danced and climbed trees until the sun set.
After we got back to the hotel that night, I talked to Helen, and we (me, Carrie, Corina, Corina's sister Danielle who is visiting for a week, Ann, and Caity) met up with Helen and her friend Andy in the square of the medina for dinner. We had some more delicious bastilla, and then tea and cookies. It was interesting to hear their first impressions of Morocco. I think they will like it better after they see some of the other cities, because they started in Tangier, and I've heard mixed reviews of Tangier. After dinner we all went back to the riad to hang out on the rooftop terrace. It was fun to see Helen again, and I really like Andy. I'm glad Helen got to meet everyone, too. So they went to leave around 12:15, and the door was locked. I nearly got them locked in! I had to wake up Madiha and the hotel owner, which I felt really bad about, but I had no idea that the hotel was going to close and lock!
The next morning, some of the group went on a 3 hour hike leaving at 8:00 (I wanted to do this one, but Helen and Andy wanted to go on the shorter one), and the rest of us were supposed to meet at 9:30 for a 40 minute hike. We met at 9:30, and after Madiha talked to our guide (to tell him not to take him on the same hike as the day before), he told us, 40 minutes is no time for hiking. So when we said, what about an hour? He said, one hour is just time to get out of the medina. So then he agreed to take us on a hike, and as it turns out, took us to the same place as the day before, by a different route. When we got to the mosque, some of us stayed behind, while Addie and Mariella went back with the guide. We climbed the minaret again, and met a man who asked Andy if he wanted to come to his house and make hashish...The view from here was gorgeous, though, so I didn't mind going back again. I found myself taking the same picture of the city over and over again...but it was just so pretty!
On the way back, me, Kat, Carrie, Andy, Helen, and Steve's dad, Jim, walked through the medina. We got lost, but it was small enough and we had no plans, so we weren't too concerned. Once we found our way back to the hotel, we got lunch in the square (tomato omelette, and some real jus panaché), and then went shopping. We found some funny hats, kind of like sombreros with colorful pom-poms all over them(see the pictures) which I guess are a Chefchaouen thing, because I saw them everywhere and I haven't seen them anywhere else in Morocco (even Helen's hotel room key had one of them on it), but I also didn't see any of the locals wearing them...
We found some really pretty earrings for 10 dirhams each in one of the shops, and Ann bought a pretty hand of fatima necklace, and then it was time for us to leave. I said goodbye to Helen and Andy (until tonight!), and we started driving toward Ras el-Maa. About 20 minutes in, people decided they didn't want to add the extra 3 hours to our trip, so we just stopped by a river and waded and sat on the rocks for about an hour before going back to Rabat.
The ride back was long (5 hours-ish), and once we got there, it got pretty frustrating. The van that I was in had a driver who was from Casablanca and didn't know Rabat well. We spent more than 2 hours dropping people off in Rabat. About 45 minutes of which was spent sitting about a 5 minute drive from my house. One thing we say about Morocco as a joke is that it's "purposely inefficient." And it really is. The driver could easily have gotten directions from the other driver, who knew exactly where we all lived, because Madiha had told him, but instead, we spent an hour and a half being lost and attempting to meet up with the other driver so that they could switch vans.
The trip was a lot of fun, Chefchaouen was gorgeous, and it was a lot of fun to meet so many friends and family members (Steve's parents, Corina's sister, Helen's friend Andy). Helen and Andy will be in Rabat on Thursday night, and hopefully I'll be able to show them around, and hear about how they liked Fes (I haven't been yet...we're going on the 18th) and Casablanca (mainly the mosque, the rest of the city isn't very exciting). Hopefully they will be able to come to my host family's house for couscous on Friday afternoon. Then Saturday, I think we are going to go to Asilah. I'm not entirely sure whether or not I'm going with them, but I loved Asilah, so I probably will. Until next time, inshallah, I hope all is well at home :)
Kira,
ReplyDeleteEvery time I view your photographs, read the descriptions of your travels, or absorb the insights you have provided, I tear up. I was especially moved by the farm family who seeem happier than their more advantaged counterparts in the city. It is so wonderful to hear about all of it, and I can't wait to hear more from you when you return.
Love,
Terry
Two other things: how can it be that you look so slim, when it seems that you've been eating non-stop (and such delicious-sounding food!) since you arrived overseas...and, I just have to tell you that you look like a young Liz in the picture with the pom-pom sombrero!