Field notes from a life in transit ●  currently: Chefchaouen, Morocco

Sofia Costa

Places  ·  Morocco

Chefchaouen

6 frames · 29 June to 1 July 2026

Chefchaouen, blue before breakfast

Chefchaouen is painted in so many blues that after a day my eyes stopped arguing about it. I walked the medina at dawn, when the only people out were a baker, two cats and a man repainting a doorstep the exact color it already was. The light here stays soft. The mountains see to that.

In the afternoons I sat still, which the town encourages, and bought a Rif blanket I had no room for. For sunset I climbed to the Spanish Mosque on the hill and watched the medina turn from blue to grey to gold. Blue hour was tea on a rooftop, the Rif going dark behind the houses. Dinner was quiet. Most things here are.

Field notes · Chefchaouen
  1. Walk the upper medina between sunrise and 9 am, before day visitors arrive, for empty lanes and even light on the blue walls.
  2. The Spanish Mosque is a 20 to 30 minute walk uphill from Ras el-Maa; go an hour before sunset for the view over the whole town.
  3. Try the local goat cheese from the Rif and a bowl of bissara, fava bean soup, at a small restaurant in the medina.
  4. Two nights is right, since the bus from Fes or Tangier is long, and always ask before photographing people, especially women and children.
Blue-painted stairway in Chefchaouen medina with a cat resting on a white window ledge, flat early morning light, shot on 35mm film.

Chefchaouen at Dawn: Walking Morocco's Blue Medina on Film

№ 83 · 29 June 2026
Hand-painted ceramic plate with tagine and torn bread on cushion floor seating in a small Chefchaouen medina restaurant, warm Moroccan lantern light.

Dinner in Chefchaouen: A Quiet Night in Morocco's Blue Medina

№ 84 · 29 June 2026
Stacks of striped wool blankets in earth tones against blue-painted medina walls in Chefchaouen, soft morning light filtering through a narrow lane.

Chefchaouen Medina: Buying Rif Textiles in the Blue City

№ 85 · 30 June 2026
Blue rooftops of Chefchaouen cascading down the Rif mountainside at sunset, warm golden light fading over the blue-washed town, no people in frame.

Chefchaouen at Sunset: Morocco's Blue Town from the Spanish Mosque

№ 86 · 30 June 2026
Central square of Chefchaouen Morocco with blue-painted walls and mosque fountain in soft morning light, a family walking past cafe tables.

Morning in Chefchaouen: Sitting Still in Morocco's Blue City

№ 87 · 1 July 2026
Blue rooftop terrace in Chefchaouen at dusk with a glass of mint tea on a small table, navy-blue walls fading into the Rif mountain valley behind.

Blue Hour in Chefchaouen: Rooftop Tea and the Rif at Dusk

№ 88 · 1 July 2026

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