One of our favorite travel memories was when we went to Tangiers for a day while staying in southern Spain. We remember being a little nervous about going because we weren’t sure about the cultural differences. Having spent time in India helped calm some of the nerves and the more that we read about it, the more we knew it would be a highlight of our trip. Tangiers is truly a melting pot as it is the crossroad between Europe and Africa. Centuries of people travelling through Tangiers to bring goods for sale has made it one of the most tolerant cities in all of northern Africa.
Walking through the streets of the medina (old city) is definitely an amazing experience. The varied architecture was extremely interesting to see and at the highest point was the Kasbah (fortress) with beautiful views of the Atlantic Ocean. Unlike some of the other medina that we’ve read about, we were not accosted by beggars or people trying to sell us trinkets. We definitely enjoyed the markets and came home with some wonderful saffron. We came close to buying a hand-made rug from one of the shopkeepers, but ended up deciding not to. After eating an incredible meal in a tiny family owned restaurant, we purchased a tagine from one of the nearby shops.
We did stop to watch a snake charmer at one point, which a little touristy, but still created a wonderful memory. Tangiers is more than just the old city, the heart of the city is quite modern and is home to a lot of ex-pats. There are also plenty of hotels to choose from if you want to spend several days there, but we were there for just one day. Hopefully we’ll return one day to see more of Morocco as the people were extremely friendly and we thoroughly enjoyed what time we did have there.
