Ceuta, Spain (Spanish Morocco) - Chefchaouen, Morocco - April 14

Originally the itinerary here was to visit Gibraltar, but it was changed very early on after the itinerary was posted for whatever reason. While disappointed not to visit the Rock of Gibraltar, Ceuta is quite interesting as well. It belongs to Spain, but is on the Continent of Africa. The Straits of Gibraltar separate Ceuta from European Spain. 

Ceuta is an ancient city - it has been continuously inhabited since its founding by Carthage in the 5th century B.C. Over the millennia, Ceuta has been ruled by Carthage, Rome, the Moorish Kingdom of Granada, Portugal and, since 1580, Spain. From 1912 until 1959, the city was also the capital of Spanish Morocco, a colonial protectorate created when France and Spain divided that kingdom during the "Morocco Crisis" of 1912. Generalisimo Francisco Franco launched the Spanish Civil War from Ceuta in 1936. Today, Ceuta boasts an easy-going charm and a cosmopolitan mix of cultures. The city is also a gateway for Morocco proper and the dramatic landscape of the Rif Mountains.

In antiquity, the Straits of Gibraltar were referred to as "The Pillars of Hercules." Ceuta faces the Rock of Gibraltar across the Straits, and some modern geographers insist the city's Mount Hacho forms the African Pillar as counterpart to The Rock.

We took the opportunity to take a tour across the border into Morocco. I wasn’t finding many private tours here and with us wanting to cross over the border from Spanish Morocco into Morocco it seemed safer and easier to take a ship’s tour. So, this was our second ship tour with Princess on this world cruise. Plus, it’s about 5 hours of just travel round trip and we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss the ship.

 sail in

OK, we woke this morning to see Ceuta only to watch the Captain sail away, then he comes around again and sails away. This wasn’t looking good. For a while we seemed to just sit and spin slowly in circles.  After breakfast, we headed to the Cabaret Lounge where Princess has people check in for their tours. On the way there, we ran into friends who said we weren’t making port today. No announcements had been made, but the staff were telling everyone there was no sense waiting in the lounge since it didn’t look like any tours were going to run today since it was too windy to bring the ship in. 

Like Yap, this is one port most people were really looking forward to. We went out on deck and saw the Rock of Gibraltar (visibility was poor) and Ceuta in the other direction. We hung out for a while out there and finally the Captain came on and said after several attempts it just wasn’t safe to dock the ship. He also said that he needed to fuel up here or we couldn’t make it all the way to Bermuda. He said he would keep us informed if the weather changed and we could go ashore, since we had to wait to take on fuel, when the wind calmed down. 

We were up in the Pacific Lounge watching the Captain take another shot at docking. The wind shifted and we made it! So, we were over an hour past our time and we assumed all the tours to Morocco were canceled and we would be able to walk around Ceuta on our own. Then, the cruise director came on and said all tours would operate as scheduled, except the afternoon tours would start an hour later. 

Then, the Captain came on and said the port had allowed us to stay an extra 2 hours and we didn’t have to be back until 7:30 instead of 5:30! Whoo Hoo! So, we headed to the Cabaret Lounge to meet with the rest of the ship’s tours. Yea, Captain J.P.!!

 trying one more time to dock the ship

We got on the bus and Hamed, our guide was double checking everyone’s paperwork as we had to have our passports and a couple of forms filled out to give to the border crossing people. He got all of that collected and then in counting the passports he saw that he was 2 short. So, after he finally found the couple that hadn’t submitted theirs, we were finally off for our almost 2.5 hour drive to Chefchaouen. Founded in 1471, the town is considered holy, and began to prosper with the arrival of Muslim refugees who came here to escape the Reconquista of Spain. It was this conflict that made El Cid a Spanish hero and drove the Moors from their beloved city of Granada.

 views from the bus

 Hamed

We got to the Spanish Moroccan border in around 15 minutes and then went through Moroccan immigration. The Moroccan countryside was beautiful. Green rolling hills and terraced farms and the towering and dramatic Rif Mountains. goats, donkeys, horses and sheep were dotted across the landscape.

We stopped after an hour or so for a bathroom break. There were 2 buses of around 50 people each and there were 2 stalls for men and 2 stalls for women. The guide says we have a 10 minute stop here. Seriously???? Anyway, we eventually got everyone back on the bus and we proceeded to Chefchaouen. On the way we drove through Tetouan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which was another tour to choose from Ceuta.

 the rest stop

 outside the window while waiting in line

 views from the rest stop

Arriving in Chefchaouen, we were to follow our guide to the Medina where we felt like we were in some fairy-tale Arabian village. Nearly everything is painted blue in this stunning Moroccan hamlet, hence the name "The Blue City." Spanish, Berber, Arab and Jewish neighborhoods thrive side by side in the four main quarters. The long hooded robe is called a djellabas and we saw it often. Men and women wear them, but the woman at home wears a caftan that does not have a hood.

 walking to the village

 entering the village

 walking the narrow streets

 

 no, this wasn't lunch....

 dried pigment

 dried pigment

 dried pigment

 dried pigment

Since we were running later in the day than our original schedule, we followed the guide past many side streets and archways to get to Restaurant Casa Hassan for lunch where folkloric musicians played music for us while we ate.  Lunch was very good. They brought out bread and of course there was olive oil. Then, they brought out a tasty soup and a salad. The main course was a huge platter of roasted meat (probably goat) in a kind of stew with tons of different vegetables cooked in it. Very tasty! There was mint tea and cookies for dessert.

 going into the restaurant

 Monica & Herman the dance instructors on the ship

As soon as I finished eating, I rushed downstairs to pick up my magnets at the stores just outside of the restaurant before we had to leave. The guide was trying to keep everyone from leaving the restaurant, so no one got lost. 

After we waited for everyone to finish dessert and get a bathroom break we followed the guide through the Medina taking in all the beautiful shades of blues on the buildings. The guide led us through the Andalusian quarter to the waterfalls of the Ras el Maa. From there we took twists and turns until we reached Uta el Hammam Square, the large plaza at the heart of the Medina.

 I think she ate too many of the orange things....

 selfie time...

At this point we had passed so many stores in the souk and people were grumbling about not being able to shop as we raced past each one. It didn’t feel much like a tour, just running to get from one place to another. 

Once we got to the square, the guide gave us 30 minutes of free time and we were told to meet back at the center of the square. I had seen some hand-woven items a couple of stores back and we went in search of it. I really hate to bargain, but it’s expected and often you get the best deal just by walking away. He kept trying to sell me a throw in all the pretty shades of blue of the Medina, but I said it was too big, I wanted the one hanging, but asked if he had it in a throw pillow size. He didn’t, but he did show me some different styles of pillow covers, but none had the name Chaouen stitched on it. So, I decided to buy the larger one on the wall. We bargained over prices and I walked away a couple of times. We agreed on a price and he kept wanting to throw in the larger throw for just 20 euro more. I walked away after I paid for the wall hanging and eventually he chases me down to say how about 15 euro. (it started at 30). It was pretty and I figured I could use it in the RV and since he worked so hard to sell it, I gave in.

 Bill & Fran chillin'

It turned out to be a really hot day and Greg and I found a place to get a cold Coke and relaxed a bit. It was almost time to meet the group, so we headed in that direction.

 walk back to the bus

 exiting the Blue City

Then, it was time to get back on the bus for the ride back. The bus was comfortable except the A/C was not cold or plentiful.

 views from the bus

On the ride back after we got through both border crossings, they handed our passports back. The guide started to read off our cabin numbers so we could claim them, but he got 2 numbers out and I guess the people thought he was reading the passport number and yelled, “We don’t know our numbers, call by names.” Well, he couldn’t pronounce names and for some reason he wasn’t using the microphone so that was a disaster. There was a chaperone on the bus who did nothing to help all day long. The dance instructors on the ship were on the tour as passengers, but Herman offered to help. He read off the cabin numbers and then names and it went pretty quickly with his help. We had our biggest laugh of the day when Herman reads his own cabin number out loud and his wife says “that’s yours dear”. I think everyone on the bus needed a good laugh!

 back at the port of Ceuta

 from the ship

 sail away

 sunset

While everything was not “bad” with the Princess Tour, it did remind us why we prefer the smaller groups. On the bus in both directions, passengers complained about this or that. While on the tour they complained. The people who couldn’t walk well complained about stairs etc. The tour stated quite clearly that you must be able to walk 2 hours over tough terrain. One lady fell down. 

One fellow passenger kept telling people they couldn’t take photos. The guide had said you could take photos, but some of the people wouldn’t want their photos taken and please respect that. The walkways were narrow and crowded and it was impossible to take photos without people in them. (Locals or Princess people) Two people he yelled at were taking photos of each other (with no one else in the background, just the pretty blues of the walls). Yikes!

At one place, I was shooting up an alleyway that had the beautiful shades of blues and that guy put his hand in front of my camera lens and says “NO PICTURES!”. I said I didn’t think it’s your job to manage me. He said someone has to, since you can’t manage yourself.

Then, the people around us said what’s wrong with him, we all just ate lunch no one should be cranky. Passengers don’t have a right to confront other passengers. The guide said it was OK to take photos unless the people don’t want you to and of course no photos were allowed at the border crossings. 

We were raced past everything and in such tight spaces it was hard to keep so many people together. It just kept reminding us why we don’t take ship tours. Takes forever to get that many people on and off a bus, takes forever to go to the bathroom and you spend very little time actually seeing things. Of course, sometimes all is not perfect with small groups either, and always the worry of getting back on time, even though most of the guides are good at knowing how long it takes from point A to point B, there is risk that you get a flat tire or a traffic jam. 

We skipped dinner in the dining room and grabbed food upstairs. We also skipped the show since it was too late to go. (and we were sure we had already seen it earlier in the cruise)

We do get an extra hour of sleep tonight before our next port of call which is Portimao, Portugal on the Algarve Coast.

Another landmark today was that this was Day 100 of this voyage. Only 11 more days to go and 2 ports. Hard to believe!