Tangier

I would love to share the 50 or so really great pics we took today, but the internet is so bad that it took upwards of 45 minutes to try to upload ONE picture only to be kicked off the server. I cannot begin to tell you how fucking frustrated I am. Once we get to Europe, I'll do a gallery post.


Anyway, here's Tangier in words...hardly justification.


We pulled into dockside this morning at 7:30ish, and as I looked out our window, I was surprised...not at all what I expected. Tangier is a large city that's spread all along the coast, with little exception. It's a good thing there's a big coast. About 800,000 people live here. Arabs, Africans. Spanish, French...they all converge here. Religions too...Muslim, Jew, Catholic/Protestant, all here. And soooo many languages. Fortunately almost everyone speaks English.


Our guide for the day, Adine, is an American citizen (his sister lives in Houston), but he is Moroccan. And hilarious! He is a good shepherd for his mostly American sheep.


We started off driving around the French and Spanish quarters, then headed to the Kasbah - the meeting place. It's an old area of the city where everyone who was anyone used to live. If you wanted to meet someone, you would go to the Kasbah to find them. Movie stars, secret agents, the rich and famous, and those doing dirty deeds all could be found here. We hopped off the bus and started walking through little neighborhoods. It's mainly lots of little intertwining streets with small markets and a few cats. Morocco's national insect is a hawker. They are everywhere, trying to get you to look at and ultimately buy their wares - fezzes to pottery to jewelry to full on rugs. They swarm you and will not leave you alone. We found the best way to get them to move along was to put up a hand and firmly say, "No!" Although that didn't always work. Note to self, next time bring pepper spray.


From the Kasbah, we walked down to the Medina - a shopping area with tons of markets. Fabrics, pottery, jewelry, leather. It's a total assault on the senses. There's so much color and so many things to see. Beautiful tile work is everywhere, and doors are intricately carved or painted. Spice stores and racks with buckets filled with herbs are everywhere, filling the air with pepper, lavender, and exotics scents. Music spilling from doorways, along with the hum of sewing machines. The salt air and the lingering taste of mint tea on my tongue. Hard and irregular stone steps, making me really work to keep my balance, and pashminas so soft to the touch you can barely feel them. Pushy salespeople, but I get that at Macy's. It's really overwhelming, but you want more!


Interconnected to the Medina are the Grand and Petite Succos - more marketplaces. The Petite Succo was sort of a hippie spot back in the 60s. Adine said he could confirm that was true. Ads for just about anything you want compete for position above beckoning entrance ways. Cafe's line the streets, crammed with folks taking a mid-morning break. Signs for the cafes, hotels, and sundry shops are in Arabic and either French or English.


After shopping a bit, we got back on the bus and headed for Cap Spartel - where the Atlantic and the Mediterranean meet. The water was gorgeous. and the beaches, empty. We really wanted to go down and play in the water. There's a beautiful sun-washed lighthouse at the point, and the sea rushes blue green toward the shore while whitecaps spray the gulls with skiffs of windblown seawater.


Our last stop was the Grotto Hercules. It's said to be the spot where Hercules rested before carrying out his 12 labors. It's a beautiful cave that looks out onto the sea. Here, the cave is cool and dark, and we are finally out of the wind. The opening out to the sea splits the darkness with a brilliant blue view, and you can hear the water rushing through the blowholes around and beneath the landing. Of course there's a hawker.


We headed back to the ship...amid dozens of hawkers...and said our goodbyes to the mysterious, bustling, overwhelming Tangier. I'd love to go back and spend a day or two wandering through the markets, overloading my senses, and then relaxing with a mint tea at the Continental Hotel overlooking the ocean.