CHEFCHOUEN, MOROCCO + TARIFA, SPAIN
Greetings again from Tangier!
To start with a very basic comment, the weather here is perfect. Hot, but dry, and cool in the morning and at night. Getting some sun intermittently throughout the day on the terrace while looking out at the ocean has been one of my favorite things. The house is really comfortable, and all the food we have had here has been really good. Interestingly the kefta (kind of like a meatball) tagines here and in Casablanca seem to be beef and a tomato sauce vs. when we had kefta in the south and in Marrakech (which was lamb, spices, cumin). We grabbed a burger yesterday, too which was nice.
Maya visited and we went to Chefchouen, which is impressively just as blue as all the pictures you have ever seen. Other than that, we mostly just lounged around, read, talked a lot, drank mint tea, walked around, and introduced Maya to tagines, pastilla, and other standard Moroccan fares. We also had nougat glace - which is like ice cream, but not; really an amazing invention. For anyone who has seen the Bourdain Tangier episode, we were able to go to the locally beloved fish spot featured in the show - the fish was cooked very well and our waiter was a character. Expectations exceeded. We also stopped into the antique shop, Cafe Baba, bought an egg sandwich from the omelet guy, went to the market - all spots shown in the episode.
Actually, that episode gives a pretty good view of the surrounding area we are in and some of the places we have been or frequently go to. The kasbah/medina area of Tangier where our house is is not huge and pretty easily navigatable. There is not really a large souk area similiar to Marrakech or Fes. The fresh fruit, herbs, and veggies are all delicious. The goat cheese Bourdain buys in the market is usually found in our fridge - great on salads and with eggs. If you are curious about what Tangier is like, that episode gives a great overview!
Tarifa, Spain was lovely - the weather was great, the town was cute and not too crowded, and we had amazing chicharrones and a really delicious tomato and Roquefort salad. The chicharrones were so good we went back to the restaurant later in the evening for round two.
