As you could gather by the postcard the other day, my parents and I went to Tangier, Morocco this past weekend. This was the first time I have gotten to travel anywhere with my parents as an adult.

We booked a tour guide through a local travel agency and picked the overnight stay. We left early in the morning and drove to Tarifa where we caught a high speed ferry and rode the 40 minutes or so to Africa. Africa! It’s just a bit surprising that Africa is that close to where we live. Overall, we had a pretty good time; Morocco wasn’t as scary as I’d heard. Our tour guides made me feel much more comfortable as there was one in front of us and one in the rear making sure everyone stayed together. They took us through the old part of town, the casbah and the medina, and then to the souk full of little shops peddling their wares to the tourists.

We ate lunch at a local restaurant - a lightly curried soup to start followed by the main course of rice with grapes, chicken, and a few root-based vegetables. Dessert was some honeyed fried dough and sweet mint tea.

We were dropped off at our hotel in the early afternoon and paid a bit more to have a local guide take us around the old Jewish quarter which was similar to the first tour except that it felt like it was more “local” whereas the other sector was more touristy. We walked through a bustling local market selling olives and chickens and spices, then a bit more shopping where I picked up a great lamp that I’ve seen the style of before and have wanted for a while.

I got quite a few pictures that I’ve posted on my flickr account, click on the picture below to see them.

You don’t have Google Earth yet, do you?

YOU REALLY OUGHT TO!

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Oh, and the best cumberland sausages and mash around? Cause, like, I have lots of places to compare it to?

52°21′28.34″ N 0°12′49.06″ W