In Tangier we stayed in a riad in the old part of town. A riad is kind of like a bed and breakfast; it's supposed to be a small oasis from the craziness of the city. The manager of ours was super nice and helpful. On our last day in Tangier she arranged for us to have a shared taxi to see some of the views outside of the city for the afternoon.
We ended up being able to see two awesome sights on the trip: the Hercules caves and Cap Spartel. A third adventure was offered, which was riding a camel on the beach. I am way too much of a wimp to do this so we skipped out on that.
First stop was Cap Spartel and then below it were the Hercules caves. Both stops were pretty beautiful and interesting. There was a lighthouse at Cap Spartel and a sign that is 150 years old. Our driver was really impressed by the 150 year old sign. Below is a picture of it.
There was some weird stuff going on with monkeys at the Hercules caves, but other than that it was really neat.
I have to say, the best part of the trip was the ride. I loved seeing life around the city, stoutside of the city and get a good look at the beautiful beaches. The beaches were pristine and empty. Our driver took us to the fancy part of town outside of Tangier. There was mansion after mansion, huge estates and extravagant landscaping. He started pointing out (one after another!)- that is the king of Saudi Arabia's summer home, that is the king of Morocco's home, the king of Spain's summer home. It was kind of disturbing to see the poverty of the city right next door to the enormous estates of royalty. It's not that the same sort of imagery can't be see right at home--but the extremes are so staggeringly obvious.
Our first night we had a disappointing dinner in Tangier, but things truly got better from there! Especially on Friday night! Friday nights are traditional couscous nights in Morocco and we had an amazing dinner. I had vegetarian couscous and Rich had lamb and they were both wonderful. So flavorful. The meal comes with an appetizer of bread and dips (my favorite) and I could eat this my my meal all the time. So good!!
Morocco was a great experience. We only spent a few days here and already are looking forward to coming back to visit more cities some day.
First stop was Cap Spartel and then below it were the Hercules caves. Both stops were pretty beautiful and interesting. There was a lighthouse at Cap Spartel and a sign that is 150 years old. Our driver was really impressed by the 150 year old sign. Below is a picture of it.
There was some weird stuff going on with monkeys at the Hercules caves, but other than that it was really neat.
I have to say, the best part of the trip was the ride. I loved seeing life around the city, stoutside of the city and get a good look at the beautiful beaches. The beaches were pristine and empty. Our driver took us to the fancy part of town outside of Tangier. There was mansion after mansion, huge estates and extravagant landscaping. He started pointing out (one after another!)- that is the king of Saudi Arabia's summer home, that is the king of Morocco's home, the king of Spain's summer home. It was kind of disturbing to see the poverty of the city right next door to the enormous estates of royalty. It's not that the same sort of imagery can't be see right at home--but the extremes are so staggeringly obvious.
Our first night we had a disappointing dinner in Tangier, but things truly got better from there! Especially on Friday night! Friday nights are traditional couscous nights in Morocco and we had an amazing dinner. I had vegetarian couscous and Rich had lamb and they were both wonderful. So flavorful. The meal comes with an appetizer of bread and dips (my favorite) and I could eat this my my meal all the time. So good!!
Morocco was a great experience. We only spent a few days here and already are looking forward to coming back to visit more cities some day.
It looks beautiful!
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