A Day Late

Sorry I didn’t post last night. I had problems getting online, then photos took forever to upload. So here is yesterday’s activity in Tangier, Morocco. We boarded a bus for a ride through the city. We went by several sites then stopped at the Casbah, or old city. We went through a gate or entryway. We were in a plaza where there was a man with a cobra, creepy. Then our guide walked up and had a snake put around his neck-not the cobra! The cobra started snapping at the old man’s gown (not sure what the call those long things they wear), so he picked it up by the tail and threw it into a basket. Then we walked through an archway to a beautiful overlook. We saw the ship in the port, Spain across the Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar. We also saw the old wall of the city where we were standing. Along one side of the courtyard were 2 buildings. On one side was the old prison for men. Across from it was the prison for women. He also said there was a place where they used to cut off the hands of thieves but not any more. Then we walked through the alleyways of the old city. I was having trouble keeping up because I was taking so many pictures of the doors. There was one house with hand plaques on the wall by the door. One was for men to touch and another for women. This was if you wanted to find a spouse. I had Betty take my picture as I asked for a very rich man. Just then, a grizzled old man walked by. Just my luck!! We went to a museum that wasn’t very big. When we asked about a bathroom stop, he said they were at the bottom where we started to come in. So we walked down 2 flights to the bathroom-one room with 2 stalls, one for women and one for men. It took forever for the women, of course. Then we went back up the same uneven steps to the museum, getting there just in time to leave.

From there we walked to the food market. The displays are amazing-some in good ways, some not so good. We came to a square where there were some cafes. By that time I was ready for a sit down and a cold drink. But we told the guide we wanted to go shopping, so he led us on a merry chase to a store that sold expensive hand crafted items-a state co-op. We said that’s not what we wanted, so he led us past the same places we’d already been and ended up at the cafes again. He then gave us 30 minutes to shop while he went to have some tea. Bunny and I found a shop with a very friendly man who helped us get tee shirts and I got a really nice blouse. Then we went back to the square, found the gang at the cafe and had a drink, Coke for me, coffee for Bunny.
We met the guide, then walked some more to another overlook with a ramp down to where the bus was waiting. We saw the Continental Hotel, the first big hotel in Tangiers sitting above the old wall. Somebody checked the hotel and it was listed at $45 a night, pretty reasonable, no pool though. We boarded the bus for the quick ride to the ship. We were very tired. My step counter said we did over 3 miles over old cobblestone streets and lots of uneven steps. But it was a very interesting tour and we’re glad we did it.

Tomorrow we will be in Lisbon. We are there overnight, so I will tell you about today’s stop in Cadiz, Spain and Flamenco.

Photos: view from our balcony of Straight of Gibraltar, entrance gate into the Casbah, kitties everywhere, 4 pictures of walkways and doors, then me touching the hand…and my prince walking by, 2 market pics, the second one is dates, lots of dates; a cafe shot, the Continental Hotel and a mosque we passed somewhere along the way.