Interzone (1/8 to 1/10)index | prev | next

The ride to Tangier was about six hours and by the time I arrived, got lost, got found again, hopped a taxi into the city and checked into a hotel, it was pretty late. So no exciting pictures of my first day in Interzone.

I set out the next morning to explore Tangier and discovered where they get all the mint for the tea that everyone is drinking at all hours of the day. Some guy apparently shows up in the morning with a cart full of it.

I discovered that there were Smurfs in Tangier. I had always wondered where the little guys wandered off to after American kids lost interest. This was a Smurf cafe.

I discovered some camels on the beach.

I discovered that the Hotel I originally wanted to stay in didn't make it through some sort of economic downturn. There seemed to be a lot of this sort of thing going on in Tangier. I think times were better when they were the center of illegal activities all throughout the Mediterranean.

I even happened upon a fish just lying in the middle of the sidewalk. I'm not entirely sure how he got there, but he didn't look too happy about it.

I discovered this nasty technique in Casablanca during an adventure where I tried to get back to the hotel from the waterfront. They apparently embed broken glass in concrete in places where they don't want people climbing over the walls. The wall I saw in Casa was covered from top to bottom in broken glass. It was one of the least inviting things I've ever seen in my life.

Another mosque. I discovered an interesting thing about mosques. They all have one wall (or a place along one wall) that faces toward Mecca so that the worshipers can all face toward Mecca at the proper time. I'd like to see an aerial photograph of one of the larger cities to see if all the mosques are aligned.

Moroccan homes, on the other hand, had something that faced toward a different kind of Mecca.

I discovered my favorite place in Morocco. It was a nice little park with benches on which one could sit and look out over the city and into the Straight of Gibraltar. Very peaceful.

Someone apparently put this sign up as a reminder of our choices.

The next day I hopped on the ferry and took a few parting shots of lovely Tangier.

Bye bye Morocco.

I arrived in Algeciras, Spain and hopped on a train bound for Madrid. Another six hour train ride later and I arrived in Madrid, at night, and was delighted to make the transition to a fully functioning modern metropolis. I even got to ride the subway from the train station to my hotel.

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©2002 michael bayne  <mdb@samskivert.com>