Thursday, February 13 – transit from Gibraltar to Tangier

I’ve booked a ferry from Tarifa, Spain to Tangier for early this afternoon. There are two ferry departure options to travel from Spain to Tangier: Algeciras and Tarifa. Algeciras is closer to Gibraltar, but I chose Tarifa because its arrival point in Tangier is close to the City Center (and my hotel). It’s also the faster boat!

To get to Tarifa, I first had to make the 15 minute walk from my hotel to the Gibraltar-Spain border (near the airport).

I was the only person walking across at the time; took two minutes to pass through immigration.

I had originally planned to take a bus (with one transfer) to Tarifa. But after doing further research, it became clear that the Spanish bus system tends to be unreliable. Now, if my final destination was Tarifa, I probably would have went for it (get there eventually). However, I have a ferry to catch, so I really don’t want to risk being late. Therefore I ended up taking a taxi (a taxi stand is located adjacent to the border crossing). I know, feel free to mock me! The 40 minute ride cost €64. I will say that the driver was a nice guy; even made sure I didn’t leave anything behind in the taxi.

I arrived a little early at the port, so decided to do some sightseeing…

I’m happy that I was able to check out this small slice of Tarifa (on such a beautiful day)!

The line on the left is for Moroccan immigration. That’s efficient! The ferry ride took an hour, so I just waited in my seat for the line to evaporate, and then made my way to the immigration desk.

The ferry trip cost €42 (less than the taxi ride; just sayin’…)

Travel Note: I noticed that the Moroccan officer placed the immigration stamp on one of the back pages of my passport. That seemed odd (lazy) to me, as they usually fill in the pages from the front. It turns out though that it was intentional, because whenever I had my passport checked in Morocco (a few times), the officer would immediately turn to the back of my passport. Kind of clever…

It’s a beautiful afternoon. Let’s get out and explore!

Travel Note: Today is the first time on my winter escape that I will be wearing both shorts and a short sleeved t-shirt. Whoo hoo!

I’m heading back towards the port, to visit the Medina (old town) of Tangier.

Walking through the Medina is like entering a maze. But it’s fun to explore! To exit, basically just walk downhill.

I am now in the Kasbah of Tangier, which is situated in the upper part of the Medina.

I was a little gullible as I walked through the Medina. I let a local kid start talking to me. That was his in to direct me to a shop in the souk that I later figured out he had ties to (I’m a little slow!). The shop had a lot of stuff, but I was led upstairs to where the rugs were sold. The merchant started showing me different types of rugs at a non-stop pace. A little overwhelming! There was actually one rug I kind of liked, but had no intention of buying. When I expressed my interest, the merchant offered it to me for €600. Yikes! Well, after going back and forth for 20 minutes, I finally decided to leave the shop. As I made my way out the door, he dropped the price to $90! (the poor guy, apparently his father was ill)

And there waiting for me as I exited was my new “friend”. He wanted to start taking me to another shop, but I politely declined (I’m slow, but not completely gone!). He then asked me to pay him for his guide services in the Medina. I don’t think so!

Friday February 14 – Tangier

I probably don’t have to tell you what I’m doing today, but just in case: roaming, roaming, roaming…

This will mainly be a day of visuals; I’ll provide comments where helpful.

“The Gran Cafe, gracing the corner across from Morocco’s French consulate since 1927, has plenty of seats outside, where locals chatter, watch the traffic and smoke (they smoke inside, too) over cafes au lait,” from a 2018 article in the Telegraph, “the 50 greatest cafes on earth”.

The American Legation Museum was a pleasant surprise for me in Tangier. The building was presented to the United States in 1821 by Sultan Moulay Suliman. It is the first property acquired abroad by the United States government, housing the United States Legation and Consulate for 140 years, the longest period any building abroad has been occupied as a United States diplomatic post.

A beautiful little oasis in Tangier!

I like the Moroccan tea! I’ll have to try making it at home (can’t be that tough, but remember who we’re talking about!).

I finished the day by walking around the marina that’s across from my hotel…