We woke up early so we could eat breakfast at 8am and catch the 9am ferry to Tangier. We had churros for breakfast since it was the only café open at 8am. After scarfing down some churros, we picked up our tickets from the dock, passed through Spanish immigration and boarded the ship. On the ship, we had to line up again for Moroccan immigration before we could disembark.

Finally, we were in Africa (the 5^th continent visited in our various travels)! Valerie was afraid that we would face an onslaught of touts when we disembarked the ferry. And we were, but not more than in Sicily or Sardinia. After waiting a few minutes, we met our tour driver who drove us to meet our tour guide. We did a bunch of touristy things, like drink Moroccan mint tea, ride camels, and eat a hardy “typical” lunch of bread, soup, tagine, and fruit. After lunch, our guide led us on a walking tour of the medina (old town Tangier) that ended in the big square.

We walked around town on our own, but without a guide to “protect” us, we were frequently assailed by more touts, which Valerie fended off for us. After getting lost several times, we found our way to the hotel and sat on their terrace, admiring the view of the new cruise ship terminal being built below.

Tomorrow, we’re taking a taxi tour of Chefchaouen before heading back to Tarifa.

We took a long bus ride to Tarifa today. The town was crowded because of a kite-surfing competition (that we didn’t know about). After checking into our hotel, we walked along the beach, watching the throngs of tourists and locals enjoying the warm sun and sea.

We found a restaurant on TripAdvisor and shared a plate of filet steak and two glasses of tinto de verano. We have noticed that Spanish restaurants do not mind if you split a plate. (However, they do think it is weird if you split a drink.)

Tomorrow, we are headed to Tangier in Morocco!

We slept in until noon and missed our included breakfast. Around 1pm, we headed out for lunch, which would probably be considered an early lunch by Spaniards. We shared a 5 tapas and .5L of sangria combo.

We finally started our sightseeing and visited the cathedral and the royal alcazar. The cathedral is the largest by surface area (according to the Guinness Book), but otherwise quite similar to other large cathedrals. The royal alcazar was even more Moorish and grander than the previous alcazars we have seen. Behind the alcazar is a large garden that would be lovely to stroll through on a warm evening. Alas, we had no time to stroll as it was time for our flamenco show.

The Casa del Flamenco show was a lot like other flamenco shows we’ve seen. There were one male and one female dancer, a guitarist, and a vocalist. The male dancer and guitarist were quite good.

Afterward, we walked to the Plaza de Espana, which Rick did not recommend but was rated highly on TripAdvisor. A beautiful landmark, it is definitely worth a visit, even if only for a couple of minutes.

It was getting late, so we headed to the restaurant directly outside our hotel and shared a plate and some drinks before going to bed.