Tangier

Tangier

Tangier a place always protrayed as as a town of iniquity and intrigue... and possibly still is but we found it all rather splendid and a delightful place to end our trip to Morocco. 

Sadly it was a short stay but worth getting up and out early for as the Medina was very pleasant... mostly not open as it was so early but we had a coffee in the Petit Soco cafe - famous for being the haunt of lots of famous people like William Borroughs and spies and secret agents.. in its time it was the place to be seen... or maybe not if you were a spy!

  We met some people from the ship who got caught out with no cash so we bailed them out... 

As the shops started to open we just wandered around the medina which was a very different experience to the one in Casablanca.  This was much more westernised but still had a very clear Moroccan style. 

The little shops were all much of a muchness but the shop keepers were friendly and mostly not pushy. We went in a carpet shop and the chap was very pleasant and showed us loads of carpets even though we were clearly not buying.   They were very lovely but not for us this time.  We bought a leather belt and some tea glasses - very restrained really. 

We didnt really get lost this time.. one it was just easier and more pleasant to navigate and also it was on a hill and we only needed to go up to get back to where we wanted to be.

There is however this low level of anxiety I get about missing the bus back to the boat and getting left behind... probably not so bad if you can walk back to the boat but niggles if have rely on shuttle bus. 

We were pleased that Tangier left us with a pleasanter idea of Morocco.... Casablanca was just s big corporate city and would have needed a week and more research to orientate and find the enjoyment in it and Agadir could have been any coastal resort in southern europe. But Tangier has allure and green spaces and an immediate connection. 

Back on the ship we danced our way out of port again at the sail away party and back out to sea... meeting darker cloudier skies - not condusive to the stargazing session planned for laterthat evening...