Well, the ferry ride was fantastic. I love transportation; really I do, and there is nothing better than a ferry ride especially when it takes you to another country. Nothing out of the ordinary but just knowing you are leaving Europe and about to step foot on the continent of Africa is quite the experience. The ferry from Tarifa to Tangiers is very classy and cost 38 Euros (a bit pricy for a 30 minute ride). Once on board you can grab a coffee or a snack and wait in line to get your passport stamped…very cool!
I had read in quite a few places that you are inundated with touts and chaos as soon as you step foot off the ferry in Tangiers. To our great surprise Tangiers was totally chill and laid back. Only had a couple taxi drivers tried to give us a ride and offer us hotels. Told them we already had a place and even gave then the name of a resort I had seen in a guidebook. Several drivers told us that our hotel was shut down. I assumed they were saying the hotel was closed in order to get us somewhere else; the ‘your hotel is closed, stay at my friends hotel’ is a tried and true taxi driver technique. As it turns out that hotel was shut down and everyone was just trying to help us out. In the month to come we would learn that many of the usual rip off trips just don’t happen in Morocco. Oh, those crazy honest Moroccans.
We walked ourselves out into the kind, mellow streets of Tangiers on the hunt for a hotel. It didn’t take us long to wander close to our first Moroccan medina (the ancient walled city that most of the action is in any Moroccan city or town). Our hassle free wanderings lead us quickly to a clean, comfortable and centrally located hotel called Hotel Miami…and cheap to boot. We dropped our bags and headed out to get lost in our first medina.
My first medina, like many travelers, is in Tangiers. Medinas are the old quarter of a city in Northern Africa. Tangiers medina, like all medinas, is a maze of small roads, alleys and walkways lined with simply shops and homes. We learned quickly that the action in Moroccan cities is within the walls of the medina. Wandering around a good souq (covered market streets) while trying to find the Kasbah or mosque are just some of the good times to be had in the medina. We had a list of places we hoped to check out but spent most of our time lost within the walls of the medina, which by the way is part of the fun of travelling in Morocco. Tangiers medina is a tangle of alleys on a hillside and we did manage in out lost state to find a killer view of the city with the ocean in the background.
Food and Morocco go hand in hand. No matter how picky you are Morocco is a culinary delight. If you are coming over to Tangiers for a quick visit from Europe and want to dine an as many Moroccan delicacies as possible then hit up Hamadi in the medina. It is designed for tourists but the food is top notch and the entertainment is well worth getting your ‘touristy’ on. We dined on kebabs, harira, pastilla, and mezze while dancers contorted around us.
Now, you always hear the most about the happenings in the medina but the Ville Nouvelle (new city) has heaps to offer. The Ville Nouvelle in many cities is like jumping forward several hundred years. In the bigger cites like Marrakesh, Casablanca, Fez and of course Tangiers the Nouvelle is a fantastic place to chill out with the ‘suite and ties’ over a mint tea and watch the modern world blend with the old world.
There are literally hundreds of cafes to choose from in Tangiers but one stands out as a must go spot. Café de Paris is like stepping back in time; in fact, it has been around since 1927. The dim lighting, dark wood, and smoky atmosphere draw businessmen, tourists, and the old world Moroccan men. The mint tea comes in a tall glass half full of mint leaves and is served on a silver cup tray but a tuxedo-wearing waiter. This watering hole is often full but it is worth waiting for a table to open in order to spend an hour or two taking it all in while you wait for your ‘Bogart’ to walk through the door.
I am quite use to spending the better part of a day parquring bus or train tickets even in Europe. I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to walk into the CTM station (CTM is the best and most reliable bus company in Morocco) and buy tickets. We walked in, didn’t wait in a line, asked for tickets to Chefchaouen, and got them. It was a new phenomenon to me. By the way, the bus and train system in Morocco rocks. The USA should send someone from the FAA, Amtrak, and Greyhound over to get schooled!
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