I woke up a little late today and had
to frantically pack for my departure to Spain. I
decided to grab the complementary breakfast I had skipped the day
earlier since I would be traveling all day.
I also grabbed a cup of mint tea. This
is the official drink of Morocco and is basically green tea with
mint leaves in it. Most Moroccans douse it with sugar like southerners do to iced tea in the states. I try to have them hold the sugar when I can and its
pretty good. Not as good as the apple tea in Turkey but you cant win
them all. Most of the time the tea comes from a mix or a bad but my
hostel made it legitimately.
My breakfast indulgence cost me a bit
more time then I had expected so I was now further behind my schedule. I hastily
made my way to the harbor so that I could catch my boat.
Customs only took a few minutes and the
place was nearly deserted so I was able to get a nice window seat.
This didn’t help much as the windows were so beat up you couldn't really see outside very clearly. My ticket said I needed to be there
45 minutes early so that I could make it though everything in time.
This proved to be a vast overstatement especially when you factor in
that we left 30 minutes late. I sat on the boat for an hour while it
lay in the harbor blaring top 40 hits over the sound system.
I am always amazed when I travel how
universal American pop music is. Their top 40 was littered with
American artists. Everything is also uncensored and its always
amusing seeing young children dance along to these graphic songs with
no idea what the lyrics are saying. Once we got going the boat ride
only took around 30 minutes.
Immigration was equally as easy on the
Spanish side so I was off to try and find the bus station. The city I
landed in is called Tarifa and its just a nice little beach town on the southern cost of Spain.
I was instantly aware of how poor Morocco is compared to western Europe. Its strange to have two places separated by a single mile that are so different both culturally and economically. There was an immediate change in tone as soon as I stepped of the ferry.
The map I had prepared to aid me in
finding the bus station turned out to be horribly inaccurate (thanks
Google maps) but I was able to ask a few people on the street for
directions and they happily obliged. It was nice to ask for help
without someone expecting payment in return. Once I had my bearings
I set out to grab some lunch before I departed. I found a small cafe on
one of the main drags that was serving lunch. They also had an English
menu. This would have been nice if the English translation was
accurate.
I ordered two items off of the 'Warm Meal' menu; a bowl of gazpacho and the chefs specialty. The waiter
looked a little confused when I confirmed I wanted both items but
obliged. In the context of this menu, 'warm meal' actually means soup. Mind you that gazpacho is served cold. So I had
ordered two bowls of different soup and they came in separate courses
starting with the gazpacho.
I wish it tasted as good as the photo
looks. I really was not a fan. The cured meats were the only saving
grace. I'm not sure how it did it but it filled me up like no ones
business and I couldn't even finish the bowl. Even though I was
already stuffed I was excited for my next course, not knowing a
second soup was on the way.
This soup was actually pretty good. It
did contain the biggest beans I have ever seen in my life but I was
able to work with it. I am not the biggest fan of beans but they are
slowly growing on me. Because of my bulging stomach I mainly
concentrated on the meat portions and ate what I could but I barley
made a dent. I paid the waiter and then my food baby and I
headed back to the bus station. The bus arrived right on time and I
was off.
The trip only took an hour and a half.
I didn't even get to finish the Spanish dubbed Megamind that was
our in cabin movie. There were so many twists in this complex story I
can never be sure how it ended. The scenery was pretty interesting
and we drove past multiple clean energy farms including wind and
solar.
When we arrived in Cadiz it was still daylight. The city looks pretty much like what you
would expect from an old Spanish port town. I
walked around a bit and had to stop taking pictures because
everything looks so similar at times.
This is by no mean a bad thing, there
is just so many cool looking buildings. Also there was this:
This man will steal your soul if you
look at him directly in the eyes. I am not sure if I made it or not,
it was so hard not to look..
It took me a while to find the hostel
as my map once again sucked (killing me Google) but I finally pieced
everything together and figured it out. I could not secure a private
room so I had to settle for a 4 bed dorm this time.
At least there is a nice view from the
roof.
I rested a bit before heading out to
dinner. I wanted to make sure I didn't leave too early as people
down here like to eat later. It started to rain and the streets were
not nearly as crowded as they were when I had arrived.
I hit the more populous areas in search
of a restaurant but they all turned me down. It was 7 pm and either
their kitchens were closed or they were about to end dinner service. I even
went to one place where the server said they only had an hour left in
dinner service and that was not enough time to serve me. I begged to
differ but he turned me away. I was flabbergasted. I guess things
work differently here than in Morocco. I would have assumed they
would be similar because of their close proximity but its just
another one of those differences between the close neighbors.
I ended up finding this quaint little
hamburger stand on the side of the road and they happened to be open
until 11:30. Not only that, they were celebrating the
holy Spanish holiday of Cheesmas!
For now I am off to go celebrate other
Cheemas traditions like threading cheese curds on a string and placing them over
the Cheesmas tree then snuggling up next to the fireplace with a nice
hot cup of queso.
Oh also, they still have Twinkies here
and they are 4 for a Euro, suck it America.
