According to Rick Steves, Tanger is no longer ‘the Tijuana of Africa.’  But according to the Moroccan guy in the carpet store in Tanger, “You should really spend some time and go south, because that is the real Morocco!”  So, picture some place between those two descriptions.  Not the cleanest, but not a complete slum; a place of interest, but not at all representative of the rest of the country.

Either way, Tanger is all you get if you want a day trip from Spain.  At some point I would love to take a longer trip to go deeper into Morocco, but for now we just got a small taste.

With the high speed ferry from Tarifa, Spain, which takes about 35 minutes, we were in Africa in no time.  We had done a lot of research in advance, and read plenty of reviews on whether or not to hire a *official* guide, how to do so, etc.  The common thread we recognized was that no one really felt like they had done things right the first time.  We heard tons of people say things like, “We did this, but if I were to go again, I’d do it this way…”

Part of the culture in Morocco is to negotiate.  I don’t think haggling is one of my strengths, so part of me always feels like I’m being taken advantage of.  Based on the various blogs & forums we read, I don’t think I’m the only one that feels that way.

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I found out first-hand that Tarifa is the wind capitol of Europe.  It’s a cool little town, but not quite a “destination” for most people, unless your goal is to windsurf, kite surf, or find the fastest way to Morocco.  We were here for the latter.

Most people don’t go out of their way to visit Tarifa, but it’s worth a look if you’re in the area.  Not to mention it’s faaar better than Algeciras, which is another common gateway to both Morocco and Gibraltar.  That place blows too, but not because it’s windy.

Tarifa sits on the southernmost tip of Spain, and you can actually see Africa from there.  I’m not sure if the ferry we took across to Morocco was actually a high speed, or if it’s just fast because it gets blown between Continents by the strong off-shore winds.

We arrived mid-afternoon and hit up a rooftop beach bar for a late lunch.  We had just come from Cádiz, where the beaches were completely full before noon, so we couldn’t figure out why the beach in Tarifa was pretty empty – especially on a Saturday afternoon!  Well, after we finished our lunch we decided to park it under an umbrella for a bit, and that’s when we discovered our answer.

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I think we only heard English once the entire time we were in Cádiz.  It was awesome.  Its beaches are definitely a tourist destination, but mostly for the Spaniards.  Cádiz, the oldest continuously inhabited city in western Europe, is only connected to the mainland by a small strip of land.  It’s pretty far down there and the public transportation is terrible, so most backpackers or foreign tourists don’t make their way down… but we did, and it was well worth the trip.

Getting into Cádiz isn’t too difficult (especially if you’re coming from Seville), but getting around the town stinks.  The train is used a bit like a Metro/subway system, as you can use it to get from one end of town to the other.  The problem is that the trains only go once an hour (in Barcelona we complain if we have to wait more than three minutes for the next Metro train).  The buses are just as bad.  The good news is that taxis are cheap, so it’s a good option if you just missed the train and don’t want to wait another 59 minutes.

Depending on where you stay, many things are within walking distance.  Both the train & bus station are near the Old Town.  There are also beaches in that area, but “THE” beach, Playa Victoria – the greatest beach in all of Spain – is a bit of a hike away.  We opted to stay near that beach, and go into town for the day, but you could also do it the other way around, depending on your priorities.

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We can now say that we have seen the three largest Cathedrals in the world: St. Peter’s Basilica (Vatican City), St Paul’s Cathedral (London), and Catedral de Santa María de la Sede (Seville).  I’ve lost track of how many bell towers I’ve climbed, but it seems we never pass up the opportunity, and this was no exception.  However, one of the most unique things about this particular Cathedral is that it houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus (known as Cristóbal Colón, in Spanish).

While we were waiting in line to enter the Cathedral, I couldn’t help but overhear an American who apparently lives in Seville, and was temporarily reducing himself to this level of tourism only for the sake of his friend who was visiting.  When someone came through the line passing out flyers for a flamenco show, he began to ramble, “Oh look, you can pay to see flamenco.  Why would anyone do that? I would never pay to watch flamenco, blah, blah, blah.…”

We were aware that you can easily find free Flamenco shows in bars and restaurants, which is really fun, and usually pretty good.  However, it’s also possible to find free live music in the streets, restaurants or subway tunnels around the world… but that is not the same as going to a professional concert.  All options can be great, but the paid show is just in another league.

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As much as I’m a city girl, I’ve found that the biggest cities (or capitol cities) are not always my favorite, just because there is more of everything… more to do, more commercialism, more traffic, more slums, more expenses, etc.  I am glad to report that this was not the case in Madrid.  I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the city. It had some beautiful architecture (although I must say that Barcelona still takes the cake on that), lots of interesting sites, and really friendly people.

One thing I really loved about Madrid, is that people let me try to speak Spanish to them.  Even if they could tell that I’m American, and they know how to speak English, they still humored me and allowed me to butcher their language.  One guy at a café even tried to help me by correcting my pronunciation, which I think is way cool, except that to my ears it all sounded the same.  Jamón.  Jamón.  Yeah, that’s what I said.

A few of my favorite sites/activities in Madrid were:

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My friend Melody studied abroad in Ireland when we were in college.  There she met Allan, who introduced her to Niall, who introduced her to Neil.  Niall & Neil spent the summer after college in the U.S., so we were part of the crew responsible for showing the Irish boys a good time in California.  That was a great summer.

Over the last several years, we’ve all done some back-and-forth and met more of each other’s friends.  In 2003, Niall, Jay & Dave made the trip from Ireland for our wedding, and now, it was our turn to go celebrate the marriage of Niall and his beautiful bride, Karen.  Of course, Melody (along with her mother) also made the trip from California for the big day.  Even though I only lived a few hours from Melody in California, I hadn’t seen her in years, so this was going to be a great reunion all around.

Unfortunately, the Spanish postal service is not known for its efficiency, so our invitation never arrived.  I finally got the “are you coming?” email from Niall a couple weeks before the wedding.  “Of course we are!  I already have a flight & hotel booked!  So where exactly is the wedding?”  The directions I got in response were something like “leave Dublin, turn left at the split, and go around the pub.”

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Just a quick update about some of the things we’ve been up to in and around Barcelona…

Bon Jovi: The Lost Road Leads to Spain
C’mon, you know your jealous.   I’ve been a Bon Jovi fan for the last couple of decades (more last decade than this decade), so when we found out they were coming to Barcelona we couldn’t resist.  I convinced myself that the 56€ tickets were an early birthday present.

The concert was at the Olympic Stadium on Montjuic, and I was surprised to see how full it was.  I tried making friends with people around me, none of whom spoke English, but all of whom knew every word to the songs, so we all sang together.

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After I got our Croatia itinerary mostly ironed out, it occurred to me that a day trip to Montenegro was within reach.  I asked Scott what he thought about the idea and he said, “I’ve aaalways wanted to go to Montenegro!!!”  What???  When I asked him why he’s never mentioned this lifelong dream, he jumped up and dug out a magazine that he purchased in the airport as we were leaving the U.S. in September (I think “always” meant “for the last 8 months”).

The magazine was called “Budget Travel”, and on the front was a picture of Montenegro.  That settles it. We’re going.  We decided to rent a car versus taking the bus, so we could seek out the location of the photograph on the cover of the magazine. (Also, with 4 of us, renting a car was about the same price as bus tickets.)

I had read a comment in an online forum that said going into Montenegro makes Croatia feel like the west.  I suppose by “the west” the writer was referring to development of the land, economy, tourism, etc.  By that definition, I thought that Croatia felt very “western” even before our visit to Montenegro, but I still get the writer’s point.
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