For my birthday weekend we took a short trip north to the coastal town of Tangier. It is about a 3 hour drive along the coast that quickly moves out of the city and then meanders through endless farmland. I don't know enough to tell you what all I saw but there were crops across open spaces and in plastic covered "greenhouses". Many of the fields had hand built shade structures of a piece of plastic propped up on a stick or little shelters I am assuming to provide the workers with shade. As we went up the freeway we noticed there are large bridges every few miles. These bridges seem to serve the purpose of letting people pulling carts with donkeys or small motorbike trucks filled with produce from one side of the farmland to the other. There were also many men standing along the freeway with small piles of produce - mostly watermelon for this trip - that people could pull over and buy.
About halfway there we stoped at a rest stop for a bite and a break. Rest stops here (at least most I have seen) consist of a restaurant called Oasis Cafe and a gas station (we also have these across the street from our home). There is also a mini-mart like we're use to for gas stations in the US but the restaurant is more like a diner than grabbing something the KFC-Pizza Hut-Burger King. I decided to order my first tajine and I was NOT disappointed. I went with beef and I would compare it to a light stew with meat, potatoes and veggies. It comes with a rustic bread that was perfect for sopping up the juices. There was also a large playground so the girls could get out some energy before we headed back out. As with many other places, in addition to the restroom there were also prayer rooms for men and women (who do not pray together).
Our next stop was about 30 minutes outside Tangier at the Caves of Hercules. We did pay the 5 dirham to get into one part of the caves (not really knowing what we were doing) and were a big shocked at how crowded and clustered that bit was. There were some fall carvings and frescos but there were also random things shoved everywhere (like giant pieces of driftwood, vases, and statues) and a guy with dress up clothes and a monkey you could take your picture with. There was also a gift shop crammed into the stony wall filled with plastic trinkets. After we escaped that area we were able to go into the larger cave area and while there was more dress up for photos, there was also some cool caves and the opening out to the sea that does in fact look like the shape of Africa.
In Tangier we stayed at an AirBNB right along the water. The city itself has quite the colorful past - think international zone with no real ruling body as a safe place for all sorts of "deviant behaviors" in a fairly strict country. I found the building we were staying in and the surrounding area to be a bit sketchy/run down. I think our apartment was part of a complex that had/has a number of clubs/dance places but it was hard to tell really what was going on.
We did a little bit of a walkabout (mostly to try to find a store to buy diapers at, which we had forgotten) and then we were in search of dinner. I insisted on dinner at Mc Donalds as I knew it would keep the girls happy and quiet and allow the grownups to actually enjoy their dinners. I was trying to find something interestingly different but ended up with just a chicken sandwich. They do have steak fries at the Mickey D's here and they are AMAZING. The view wasn't bad either.
After dinner I suggested a walk along the beach back to our apartment. he beaches were littered with trash and we had to be very diligent to not be trampled to death by the tourists riding horses all crazy on the beach. We all got to put our toes in the Mediterranean and if you could squint through the bit of haze, you could make out Spain from the water's edge. The sunset was beautiful and the company was good so that is a bonus. Back at the apartment, Chris and the girls made cupcakes at home before we left and we took them along on the road trip with us so we sang and ate cake before calling it a night.
The next morning we went in search of a more proper meal - not American fast food - and found most places closed. We usually go out to eat around 8-830 and have found there are few places open that early for sit down food. (Chris says the breakfast of choice here is an espresso and a cigarette, which seems mostly true.) We indeed found food. For a people who don't seem to each much for breakfast, every breakfast we have had out comes with SO much food! I ordered the Maroc breakfast and I think it came with 6 different kinds of breads! There was an assortment of things to put on the breads plus the requisite bowl of olives.
The kids breakfast was pancakes smothered in chocolate, a huge bowl of cocoa puffs (which came with the milk already in it) and a chocolate milk with so much powder it in that the powder could no longer be dissolved into the milk! The girls quickly reached their sugar limits, and Amelia ate more of my food than her own so I had to help some withe the nutella pancakes. The juice as always was fresh squeezed and a mix of orange and mango for a fun twist.
After breakfast we decided to head to the beach for a bit more before check out. While we all had our suits on, I kept my dress on over my suit the whole time. Many has asked about the dress here and it is more conservative for sure. Some of the women at the beach were wearing full cover including their hair and were fully in the water. Most women I saw along the beach were wearing their normal clothes and maybe took off their shoes. Everyone still looked to be enjoying themselves so I guess you don't have to have bare skin to have fun.
Chris took the girls in the water and I just watched and checked out the locals. There were a few industrious older men who had spent the first part of the morning setting up chairs, tables and umbrellas who were then renting them out to people. A family came and sat next to us and propped up what looked to be a produce sack with a stick and had their full on breakfast with their proper tea set and all right in the sand. There were vendors walking up and down the beach selling pre-inflated water toys, snacks, and hot tea (with a charcoal bin attached to a large metal tea pot).
We headed back home around mid-day so we'd be able to have downtime before the start of another work/school week. According to my Lonely Planet there is a bit more to see/do in Tangier so we will definitely have to come back again to do some more exploring! A few more pics are in the Around Morocco: Tangier (Tanger) Google Photo Album and permissions are required.
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