mattersofthemoment

Tangier is a medium sized city (700k people) on the NW corner of Morocco at the entrance to the Straight of Gibraltar. We went on a tour with 12 others arranged by Miriam Cole thru Cruisecritic.

Less hectic than Casablanca, it is nevertheless a busy city with a bustling marketplace. Our tour guide Abdul, was very knowledgable. We toured the outskirts first driving by the summer palace of the King. We stopped high on a hill overlooking the city and saw several beautiful but deserted beaches.

After heading back into town we did a 3 hour walking tour. In the market were hundreds of vendors selling spices e.g., safron, fruit, vegetables, fish, meats and dry goods. They speak arabic, french and some english. We stopped at a carpet store for the traditional tourist sales spiel. Next we visited an apothecary where they make their own skin lotions, perfumes and package spices. Marie bought some natural oils and skin cream that are free of preservatives etc. I bought a leather belt and some saffron.

People were friendly, many of them smiling as we passed each other. However it is a hard life here, many people are just surviving and we were constantly approached by men selling scarves, belts and other things. A gentle no and they would cease. In one area, kids would approach us selling cigarettes, chewing gum and kleenex tissue.

Abdul took us to a restaurant for a traditional Moroccan lunch. Half the group were not interested and this caused a big confusion as they had already started serving everyone bread, olives, spreads and soup. None of us were interested in a big lunch. We ended up walking out after paying 5 euro each. The owner was nice about it but obviously disappointed.

Finally we were taken back to the ship saying goodbye to Abdul who did a reasonably good job except for the captive sales pitches we had to endure.

The weather is getting warmer. We are off to the Captain’s meet and greet tonight – fancy, fancy.

Docked at Cadiz, Spain today with a big sunny sky. We set out on our bus tour to Seville, the capital of Andalusia.

But before we set out we moved to our new cabin with a balcony which we got for less than the ‘F’ inside category that we had originally booked. Awesome room upgrade!

We saw a truly beautiful city today. Host of the 1929 World Fair, there are numerous magnificent country pavilions along the seville orange tree lined streets. We visited the Spain Pavilion encompassing a huge crescent shaped building, fountain and square.

We then walked around the ancient Jewish quarter before visiting the Real Alcazar palace.. What a spectacular structure with Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious symbols and themes.

Seville is known for its oranges (seville marmalade), olive oil and cherry port. The downtown core is like a huge park. Our tour guide Pepe was very knowledgable and interesting. We walked for 4 hrs plus stopping for a ‘menu del dia’ lunch of tapas and salad.

We returned to the port of Cadiz (Columbus started 2 of his 3 new world voyages here). Went shopping and got lost in the maze of pedestrian streets. Took a bus back and found our way to the ship exhausted. We topped the day off with a delicious surf and turf supper after some red wine.

Off to bed now, heading for sunny Morocco tomorrow.

Bonne nuit, love Marie and Dave

Pingo Doce (pengo dohsay) is a grocery store in downtown Lisbon near Rossio train station. We had the hardest time finding it on the first day. It’s a crowded little affair that sells great wine for 2 Euro or about $2.90 a bottle. We have been back 3 times, ha!

We have completed 3 days in Lisbon and it has been a wonderful time. We walked: the Alto stroll, the Baixa stroll and the Alfama stroll (thanks Rick Steeves). We visited many beautiful old churches like Sao Domingos with an all stone alter and chapels inside. We saw St Anthony’s crypt and Se Cathedral. But the highligh was attending a sacred concert at the Sao Roque Church, a Jesuit church daring from the 16th century.

Went to a fado concert at Cafe Luso which included dinner. In addition to 4 different fado singers they had wonderful folklore dancing,entertainment and salt cod called backalau here, dinner.

We loved our 1 bedroom apartment close to all the amenities. Shopping, sightseeing bus, catalana (fish and potato stew) and seafood paella helped pass the time.

Now tomorrow, we embarque on our trans-Atlantic cruise to Rio. We are having a great time celebrating our 30th anniversary. To be continued.

Love and blessings,

Portugal’s King John 1 on horse.  There were lots of burnings at the stake here during the Inquisition.

We made it safely to Lisbon. Nice flights and service by United via Newark. Only incident was while having lunch with the Clarkes at Moxies in Ottawa on the way to airport. Two waiters collided, dropped dishes and this white sauce sprayed 5 ft up in the air all over our coats and Glenn and I. No damage.

Feeling kind of bushed. Only slept about 2 hours. Going to rest in the basement lounge of our apartment for awhile before we head out. It’s warm and muggy here.

Taxi driver spoke a little English and told us of some spots we must see. Looks like a great city to explore. Update you later.