What a morning. I was up at 630. Everyone else asleep. I got my SSS done. I’m dressed. I head out to grab a cab. I need to go to the airport to pick up a rental car. We are traveling from Granada to Algeciras by car. About a three hour drive on the Spanish interstate. Very nice roads in Spain.
I got to the airport at a quarter to 8. The taxi driver drove all over looking for Alamo. No where to be seen. I have a reservation so I know it’s here somewhere. I had to call the number in my confirmation which answered totally in Spanish until I heard the word “Enterprise”. So I went to the enterprise rental hut and there was a very small Alamo sticker on the door. The counter opens at 8. They weren’t ready so I went into the cafe next door and had coffee.
I came back out in ten minutes and got my car rented. Drove back to Granada, got to the downtown hotel, found a parking garage, worlds smallest aisles and spaces, and parked. Right next to hotel. NO street parking. Went up to the room and woke some up, got out, loaded car, went to breakfast, and got on our way to Algeciras.
The only exciting part of the drive was in Granada and it wasn’t that bad. We had to stop at the rental car counter on our way to get the car drop changed to the port of Algeciras. Otherwise it drops off at the airport 60 miles from Algeciras. Which sucks and costa too much to go back to Algeciras.
The 3 hour drive through the Southern Spanish countryside was really a lot like driving through California. The weather and the look are the same. Both have Mediterranean weather only California has no Mediterranean. Here I was driving with the Sea to my left.
We stopped twice for breaks and doubled up for a snack at one of the rest stops. The sandwiches were good. Best part, foot long ham and cheese on good bread, $3. Though the bathroom here was blown out so we had to use a separate handicap restroom. The surprise, they actually have a handicap restroom. Of course, no lock and the door swung free.
Some confusion in port when we arrived. Poor signage, no English spoken by anyone, could not find the rental drop. We got put in the load your car on the ferry line. Wrong. We had to figure it out. Then go out the in flow to get around the port barriers, followed a cop who was leaving, got to another part of the port and the Enterprise guy was in the lot looking for his cars to arrive. Yay. Still stressful with much gnashing of teeth betwixt family members. If u know what I mean. And I think you do.
Cat successfully dropped off.
After that, sat and waited. Some excitement trying to confirm late arrival with the Hotel Continental in Tangier. After the Barcelona debacle (The Oxbow Incident) I am more careful with lodgings. Anyhow, I have the hotel phone number but it did not work. At all. I booked they Travelocity but it took 45 grueling minutes to get them on the line. The building had to cell service inside. Maybe the great AC interfered. So I stood outside in the sun the whole 45 minutes on hold. But, this time , they came through and got me late check in. With the ferry ride in front of us and trip from new Tanger MED port to Tanger Ville we get to hotel at nine.
Time for a drink. I went to the cafeteria in the terminal just to see what they have. They had a carousel of bottles. Seeing that the cafeteria guy was no bartender, I ordered 4 rum and cokes. Glory be to god, the guy came up with some nice rum, anejo even. 4$ each. Nice. I took my drinks to the terminal even though I was sposed to stay in the cafeteria. I am not a rule follower. We needed a drink. Ok, I needed a drink and did not want to drink alone.
Next step, load up the ferry to Tanger MED. The trip took about 2 hours. We took the slow ferry. The ferry was full of Moroccan nationals returning from Spain and their obnoxious, noisy ass kids. It was a zoo. I know my wife hates our of control children, so it was two hours of torture for her. I don’t really care.
Great idea onboard. The passport and customs clearance was on the ship. So when we landed we had already cleared customs. The last time I came through it took 2 to 3 hours to get through customs.
We found a taxi at the port arrivals and were off to Tangiers. It’s a good 40or so kilometers. Our taxi driver called ahead and arranged a guide for our trip. Funny thing, we did not ask for assistance. Turns out that guides are now licensed by the national government and they are not the sleazebags I remember. So we were met at the hotel parking by Hassan who speaks fluent English, has a profile on Trip Advisor and was ready to help out. Sadly he got called away for a much larger group. But he arranged for Youssef to take his place. He is also a national guide. More on this later.
Our hotel is The Continental. It used to be THE place to stay. Movie stars and the like came here. It is still nice but there are many other nicer places. It’s clean, unique and old. The entrance is in the Médina which is the old marketplace. We had to hump our luggage uphill through crowded, narrow streets full of stores and stalls and lots of people. Fun. Not too far, maybe a quarter mile. Glad Hassan was there. Not sure I would have found it. But we made it.
Out to dinner next. Michael found a restaurant, on trip advisor, in the Tangiers Medina. The site shows it 315’ away. Michael has a tremendous faith in the internet. He is a millennial. So he turned on his nav andnoff we go. Now, a Médina is old. Usually 500 to 1000 yearsbor older. No shit. This was no exception. Many streets, which is a generous description are too narrow for cars. Windy to the extreme. No signage to tell where you are. At night, like now, no lights so very dark. We walked 5 minutes without finding the place. Thank his we are in Morocco. A self styled guide popped outta nowhere to show us he way. I gave him a handful of coins. Old school nav.
The dinner was fantastic. Truly authentic Moroccan food. Though most of the customers were European. No surprise, it’s on Trip Advisor. We had a delicious meal. I had Cous Cous though I ate it with utensils.
We headed back to the hotel after dinner. Michael had his bearings back. Left turn out the restaurant, walk 160 ft. You are now at the hotel gate. That close.
We got to the room and after this long day we collapsed.
☺️Absolutely amazing Vivier Adventures! 👍🏻❤️