so i was living in Midelt, and i was making a trip up to Sevilla to pick up a friend who was coming to visit me. I had been to Spain a few times at this point and i was really excited to go to a different place. As usual, before a long bus ride, i fasted the day before. No food no water. you never know when/if the bus is going to stop, and for how long. I was not going to take getting stranded somewhere, especially if the bus was taking the Boulman route between Fes and Midelt. Good Heavens, it's 2 hours of driving on a straight one lane mostly gravel road with the High Atlas in front of you and desert on both sides. at one point, if you look to the west there's a giant "Picaninny Freeze" sign painted on a school right next to a picture of Mickey Mouse. Bizarre! you never know what you're going to find in the desert.
So anyway, the bus ride would take about 10 hours and we'd get off in the Tangier bus station and walk the 10ish blocks to the ferry station, all the while, smelling the Mediterranean I got closer. I'd walk into the port, past all the money changes and ticket sellers, find the booth for the next fast ferry, buy a ticket for €30 and go over to wait by the boats. invariably, there' d be some teenage kids with chains and bats in their hands, trying to keep younger kids who snuck into the port from climbing on ferries and sailing to Europe without their passport or visa. without fail, an announcement that the fast ferry would be out of commision for the rest of the day would be made in French, so i'd pile into the slow Comanav. three hours later, we'd pull up to Europe, and I'd cross the street at Algeciras to the bus station. There the bus would take me to Sevilla about 2 hours away. It was such a crazy different world. Spain, to me, is bad haircuts, 80s clothes, pork-shops and lisps.
the buses in Spain were so amazing! AC! No one puking! hooray! met my friend, walked around the Gothic cathedral in Sevilla (which is supposed to be the 3rd largest religious building in the world after the Mosques at Mecca and Medina). I met my friend - who, i'm sad to say, i'm really not in touch with much any more. my fault. We stayed the night at a really nice little hotel in Sevilla and the next day made it back to Tangier. I did my usual welcome-to-Morocco-here's-your-first-cup-of-mint-tea-in-the-Petit-Socco-this-is-nothing-like-the-Morocco-i know. We stayed in the Pension Victoria which is just up the stairs outside of the port entry. It's delightfully seedy and they know me there. If I ever get married, i'm definitely staying here. i don't know, it just always seemed like a really great seedy date spot. maybe you're not supposed to make plans for seedy international dates if you're married. i don't know... i just think it'd be fun. file away for later...
anyway, i told you that to tell you this, there are few things i have enjoyed more in my life than sitting on the roof of the Pension Victoria at night watching the ships come and go and hearing the noise of Tangier below me.I highly recommend a liter of Poms and at least 10 dirhams of dates.
Interested in more of my travel stories between Morocco and Europe? Try this, this or this.
A word to the cadets (and everyone else!) #2
8 hours ago
