Tangier and a lot of walking!
Today was wonderful. It made up for yesterday in spades! We had Mohammed, the same local guide as yesterday, showing us around the Medina or old city of Tangier. The Medina is a walled city within Tangier, dating to the 14th century. It is a labyrinth of tiny alleys, none of which are on level ground. The bus let us off near the sea, and we had to climb to the top of the Medina.
Oh, I guess I should start with the breakfast buffet. I could eat at the breakfast buffet here for lunch and dinner too. Like the buffet in Rabat, there were cheeses, fruits, yogurts, various cold meats, an egg station, olives, etc. (I'm eating olives at every meal, and loving it!) But this buffet also had some hot Moroccan/North African foods. There was foul mudamas, which I already knew I liked, and taktouka (tomatoes, bell peppers, garlic, toasted paprika and olive oil) and bissara (another spicy dish of fava beans that looked more like a soup or porridge), and more! I'm going to try more of these tomorrow. Who needs bacon and eggs! (BTW, I almost never eat breakfast at home.) I just realized I never posted any pictures of the breakfast buffet at the hotel in Rabat, so here is just one section. These were the cold items. There were two other sections with breads, tarts, pastries, and hot items.
Anyway, back to the Medina. We spent 2 or 3 hours wandering around with Mohammed telling us the history of the place. Many people live in the Medina, and many more come there to shop. Many countries have had a presence in Tangier, including the United States, and different areas of the town show that influence. There also used to be a large Jewish population here, but not any more. There is only a single synagogue in Tangier now.
That was sort of random, but what reminded me of it was that I was fascinated by the architectural details, and I saw a single door in the Medina with a mezuzah. I did take quite a few pictures, but some are just tiles or door knobs. Oh, and lots of doors! Here's a sampling.
Morocco is very serious about keeping tourists safe, and that is doubly true right now with many people here for the FIFA soccer matches. I noticed a man in dark clothes with a radio following us through the Medina, and then I noticed a sidearm. There are no guns in private hands in Morocco (or next to none). Abdul confirmed that it was a security officer. When they see a group of tourists, they send someone to follow them to be sure that they are not hassled. (Even the police don't have guns at home. They check them out and return them each day.) There were two women in the security force that followed us later and stopped traffic for our group to cross a busy traffic circle.
We continued through the Medina, including an area with shops. Here we did get hassled by street sellers, but nothing too aggressive. After a couple of hours of walking, we headed back to the road by the sea where the bus picked us up to take us to lunch. All of our breakfasts are included with the tour, but only some of the other meals. Today's lunch was included. And it was at a fancy harbor front restaurant. It was an incredible amount of delicious food. I had chosen the quinoa salad, grilled salmon, and fruit for dessert. Sounds reasonable, right? Only the entry was reasonable, with a normal sized salmon piece with a bowl of cooked vegetables. The quinoa was a soup plate filled with quinoa, golden raisins, diced dried apricots, and bits of broccoli and green beans, with a bit of dressing. The fresh fruit dessert was a dinner plate covered with berries and sliced fruit. There is no way I could have finished it. I didn't photograph the fish. Oh, one interesting thing: there are only two of us that are using actual cameras. Everyone else is using their phones. On the way in the restaurant, the guard told Abdul to tell me that the chef would not allow pictures of the food taken with a camera. LOL! No restrictions, though, on cell phone images.
We have been told not to drink tap water, not even to use it to brush your teeth. (I have been doing that, but not swallowing.) They give us a couple of bottles of water a day on the bus, and each hotel room has bottles of water on the counter. Restaurants also serve us bottled water. We are generating a lot of plastic waste each day!
After lunch, we had the rest of the day free. I accepted an invite from a lovely couple from Boston to go back to the Medina. Remember when I mentioned another woman that prefers to wander and not stand and listen to the guide? That is the wife, Diane. Anyway, we had a wonderful time exploring the rest of the Medina, including the food market. We laughed so much as we wandered the tiny alleys and visited shops! I'll post more about that tomorrow—it's after midnight and I have to be up early, as tomorrow is a travel day.
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