October 19, 2024

Tour of CHEFCHAOUEN, MOROCCO

Chefchaouen was founded in 1471 by the Berbers. It's a little over a 2 hours drive inland from Tangiers. A territory surrounded by the Rif Mountains, where the Moors and Jews expelled from Spain by the Catholic Monarchs, took refuge. it is believed the City was painted blue by the Jews fleeing Hitler in 1930. A couple other theories exist, but regards several other countries have copied the idea. The women are the ones who paint it with a white lime wash that has a blue pigment (made from a local plants leaves) mixed in. The women don't use ladders, so there are some interesting breaks in where the color starts and stops. This BLUE CITY of MOROCCO became popular, after a Red Bull commercial filmed there in 2001, showing motor bikes racing up and down the blue streets. We encountered many motor bikes as we climbed up and down the steps throughout the city, crazy on these narrow walkways.


Thirteen of us went by way of Mercedes Mini Bus, for this day tour. The drive there was broken up by a stop for a traditional Moroccan breakfast - mint tea, pancakes & bread and dipping sauces - the ground almond one was delicious. Then we were met by our guide Mohamed, who was recently married, and he walked us through all 5 sections of the city. Oldest to newest. He filled us in on all the wedding details - it's a 3 day affair and he is doing is doctorate studies on the history of the Blue City. So was extremely interesting. 

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  • Main Entry into walled city

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We spent about 3 hours touring and then a brief break for shopping before we had to dead back to Ship to sail out at 6 pm.

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KOH SAMUI, THAILAND - Final Day

By Pat Patrick • July 14, 2026
I really enjoyed my first trip to Thailand! On our final morning here we went to try breakfast at this spot, down the road, we had been hearing rave reviews on, King Of Bread . The hype was correct, the breakfast was delicious and they had some unique choices. I had eggs benedict on a croissant, in lieu of the standard english muffin and Bosco had it on Milk Bread, which was equally tasty.

KOH SAMUI, THAILAND - Cooking Class

By Pat Patrick • July 14, 2026
We love having authentic experiences with locals to really get a chance to see how they live and thrive in the Ports we visit. So when I found a cooking class, by a local woman offered in her home, we were excited to book. Um ( our teacher) picked us and brought us back to our hotel along with the family of 4 from Sydney, Australia, that had also signed up for this afternoon class. Um's house, which has a lovely open air kitchen, garden and dining area, was about a 30 minute drive and turned out to be on the beach, right next to the Grandparent Rocks.

KOH SAMUI, THAILAND - NIGHTLIFE

By Pat Patrick • July 14, 2026
The nightlife scene doesn't really get going till after 11pm and goes till 5 am in the Chaweng section of Koh Samui . We made our way over to the club district, and one of the hot spots called the ArkBar a little past 10pm to have some dinner, while watching the beach fire shows.