Visit to Tangiers

   Another cold, rainy day, temp. only reached 6C this afternoon. I was out early to work the coffee bar at the Senior's Centre, then stayed there for bridge with Ron, Diane and Maria. I had terrible hands and the only one I played, we went down one. So not a successful afternoon. Swam 16 lengths at the pool and had a long soak in the hot tub as I am quite achy - probably due to the damp weather.

    While in Portugal we had a side trip to Spain and from there got a ferry to Tangiers in Morocco. We had spent the night in Algecira which is a half-hour drive from the port of Tarifa where the ferry departs. It had been raining torrentially that morning and we were all pretty well soaked when we boarded the ferry. The rain stopped once we were in Tangiers but it was still quite cool, especially in our damp clothes! 



Entrance to the Kasbah inside the city walls.

Interior of hotel where we stopped for coffee.

    Tangiers is very hilly so we were glad of the bus tour of the city, both the affluent and seedy sections. We stopped at the beach and some of us had rides on camels (not me, I was still too wet, plus I rode a camel in Egypt). Then we started a walking tour of the Kasbah,  an array of winding, narrow streets, followed by a traditional lunch, complete with traditional musicians and a belly dancer. Then more walking to the medina which is an open air market - it had started to rain again so we did this lickety split! 



Some interesting doors in the Kasbah.



Notice the jerry-rigged wiring!

   The street vendors were particularly persistent and annoying, especially if you showed the least interest in their wares - they would not take "No" for an answer.! I guess this is a lean time of year for them. The ferry ride back was much more pleasant as the sun was setting and we had a good view of the sunset. Back in time for dinner at the hotel and some dry clothes!