We got up super early to catch our train to Tangier and said our goodbyes to Ali and Tasneem. Thanks, you two, for being such fun and gracious hosts. We appreciate everything you did to make our trip so comfortable and enjoyable. Now we have to plan our trip to India! Or France! We'll definitely plan a trip to Boston once you get back. We loved all the long talks and playing with Zahra. You're so fun to be friends with! Thanks for having us.
Once we got to Tangier, we took a cab straight to the ferry port so we knew what time our boat left for Spain. It turns out we only had about an hour, so we didn't really have a chance to explore Tangier. It seemed like a nice enough city. We only got one picture, though, because they didn't allow photographs at the port. I guess they don't want people to be able to take pictures and figure out how to smuggle stuff in/out of the country? So, we took a photo from the ferry as we were sailing away.
The ferry ride was just over an hour long, and we passed right by the Rock of Gibraltar. Jonathan was disappointed that they didn't have a giant British flag painted on the hillside or whatever. I told him we should try to go over there and see if they would let us in, and if they asked us why, we could tell them we wanted to see the monkeys. I have since discovered that people do that ALL the time, and now I kind of wish we'd done it. Ah, well. Next time.
We arrived in Algeciras and had a few options: walk with all our suitcases to the bus station, get a ticket to Malaga, then walk to our hotel there; take a cab to the bus station; hop in a car with some stranger who offered to drive us to Malaga for half the cab fare; or just take a cab all the way to Malaga. Jonathan was very tempted by the mysterious stranger. I was not. I was like, "No way am I getting in a car with some strange Spanish man with my suitcase, passport, and credit cards. I don't care how good a deal it is." In the end, we decided we were tired and travel-weary, and we just paid a cab to take us right to our hotel's doorstep in Malaga.
We got in the cab, and the difference from Moroccan cabs was amazing. Moroccan cabs are the oldest, cheapest cars they can find - usually an old Mercedes or Fiat with no air conditioning, no seat belts, and dirty interiors. Plus, the drivers don't always know where they're going. They know neighborhoods, but you have to kind of tell them where to go once you're in the general area. The Spanish cab was a brand new air-conditioned Audi with a leather interior. When the driver asked for the address, I gave it to him and asked if he knew the neighborhood. He said, "No, but I've got a GPS," and he proceeded to use it. The drive was about two hours, and cost a pretty penny, but it may be some of the best money I've ever spent. No regrets.
Our hotel in Malaga was very nice and right within walking distance of everything. We left off exploring for the next day, but did go out for dinner that night and found this hilarious turkey hand sculpture. So weird!
No comments:
Post a Comment