Last post from Morocco

Our last morning in Tangier, and indeed Morocco...I'm sitting up in bed typing this note while Lloyd snores softly beside me, and the birds are singing outside. I missed the early call to prayer...darn! That would have been my last one. I still find these calls captivating as I try to sort out the notes and listen to individual voices. Some of the muezzins are very melodic even periodically inserting arpeggios. Others are more workmanlike, singing only three notes, often in a very deep bass.

In my last post I mentioned the ATM challenges we were having. It has finally resolved, and the money returned to our account. This took a lot of time, effort and energy, and I must admit to feeling sceptical that it would resolve. 

Here are some last images of Fès...a beautiful set of door knockers and the carved wood above:

And a back view of some of the many mules in the medina carrying gas canisters:

Lloyd visited a private museum celebrating wood carving:

And made some friends along the way:

We arrived in Trangier by train and have stayed at Chez Habitant, http://www.tanger-chez-habitant.com/en/index.php and it's been very comfortable indeed. It's just outside the old medina in a residential neighbourhood. Here's the front of the house with every shutter painted a different colour:

Inside the home is furnished with beautiful Moroccan fabrics and carpets with lots of interesting art on the walls. Our hosts, Olivier and Hicham, don't speak much English so we are communicating in a mixture of French and English with lots of laughs. It took me quite a while to explain that the Montreal Canadiens are nicknamed The Habs, but that was fun. 

We enjoyed some rosé wine on the rooftop terrace on Tuesday at sundown:

Seems somewhat sacrilegious listening to the call to prayer while sipping alcohol which is forbidden in the Islamic faith! But this was Moroccan wine... Besides which we seem to be the only people who pause to listen; everyone else continues doing what they were doing, but then they hear this 5 times a day, everyday, and it's old hat.

We wandered around the medina on Wednesday...the same stuff for sale, and people anxious to sell to us with the same tactics..."free to look!" etc... There is so much inventory and so few customers.  

Lloyd had his last Moroccan shave...

We will have breakfast shortly, and then hail a "petit taxi" to the ferry terminal. We could walk the 2 km but a taxi should be 30 DH or less (about $4). It will be an hour by fast ferry to Tarifa, Spain which is close to Gibraltar. One night in Algeciras and then we move on to Ronda. It will be interesting to explore Andalusia, in particular the Alhambra, now that we've been in Morocco.