La Lune de Miel: Post #1: Getting to & Inside the Kasbah, Tangier

We met with ease at baggage claim #13 in Lisbon where we rented a zippy little hatchback called a Ouigo. Our six-hour drive turned into an eleven-hour drive, a goodly-enough percentage of which was beautiful and fun (no comment on the last two hours wherein we were tired, lost, and hungry ;)

just after we crossed from Portugal into Spain, we stopped for a walk around this beautiful old church

Meson Sencho Paza in Tarifa,Spain

After a lovely night at Meson Sancho Plaza, aka hydrangea heaven, we boarded a ferry to Tangier!

We arrived the morning after Eid and Tangier village was quiet and peaceful. Tangier is known for being a mellow city...seaside breezes, white-washed buildings, and a culture of mild, polite and serene people. These characteristics help explain why people can drive around a city with few stoplights and almost no beeping....everything is negotiated, it seems, with eye contact and a wave. Everyone we have met has been warm and open, which is not to say that folks do not bargain mightily as they smile and share a cup of mint tea, the local drink.

We are staying at the oldest guest house in Tangier, Dar Nour, which is an artful testament to Berber, Arab, and African culture (the owner collects African art, so I feel at home in what is otherwise a place that does not call to mind in many ways the feel of sub Saharan Africa.) We walked around the old city, which is a formed largely by a maze of walls that the Romans and Portuguese constructed and revolves around the kasbah or walled inner city. Inside the kasbah, one finds serpentine walkways, and lovely homes.

with the port behind us...someone offered/insisted on taking this for us...
not the prettiest background, but happy to have a shot of the two of us!

While we have seen only one dog, cats are adored and plentiful! Outside the Dar Nour is a cardboard box with a young mama and five 10-day old kittens!