Rota Spain Part 2 & Seville

For today’s adventure, we’re going to Tangier, Morocco. Or are we?  I booked an afternoon city tour and made arrangements to meet the guide at a Mosque near the ferry terminal.  I then booked a ferry leaving from Algeciras, about 2 hours from Rota. I ended up being the last person to board because I couldn't find the right ferry terminal.   After dozing for most of the 1.5-hour crossing, I awoke feeling refreshed, and joined the line of passengers on shore, only to be sent back to the ship because my passport wasn’t stamped.  I passed thru security when I left Spain, I thought they stamped it. OK, whatever, I headed back up the ramp to find the passenger door closed.  I walked back down the ramp and was waved into the car bay and told to wait till they unloaded the cars.   Eventually I made it upstairs where I found an empty ferry.  After wandering around, I found a few people milling about; evidently they also needed a stamp.  We couldn’t figure out how people knew to get the passport stamped on the ship because no one heard any announcement.  Eventually people started boarding for the return trip, but 30 min later, still no passport control.   Remember the guided tour I booked?  Of course, they were long gone.  1 hour, still no passport control. Finally, someone arrives and I'm on my way, almost 2 hours after we docked.  

I head off the boat again, but wait, I can't find the right steps. I go up and down but all I can find is a staircase leading to the car deck. (It’s a huge ferry).  So eventually I just headed out onto the car deck, much to the pleasure of the people now loading a new set of cars. They were quite happy (OK, really pissed), to stop what they were doing so I could exit the ship. The security guard checked my passport and told me to wait. I'm not sure what for but I do as I'm told.  In a few minutes a minivan pulled up and two men motion me to get in. I'm thinking not likely, but the guy from the ship motion me that it was okay, get in. I figure I'm too old to be a candidate for sex trafficking so I hop in a unmarked van with strange men. After about a 10-minute drive I arrive at a huge ferry terminal. I look around and I see a cargo operation with thousands upon thousands of shipping containers and cars, all being loaded onto massive container ships. What I don't see is a city. I walk out front; the big Mosque by the terminal? Nowhere to be seen.  In fact, I saw absolutely nothing except for rolling hills and a cluster of buildings very far away. I might add that I was the only western woman in the whole building so I did attract a bit of attention, which made me a little uncomfortable.

In the one stroke of luck that I did have, the terminal had free Wi-Fi. When I finally got connected and looked at my location I was shocked to see that I had somehow managed to take myself to Tangier Med, instead of Tangier. Apparently this is a cargo terminal not a passenger terminal, which would explain why I saw very few people walking on and off the ship. After consulting with Google, I realized that a two-hour taxi ride there and back was just not going to cut it. The bus was even worse as it would have been two hours each way and three changes. I only had 4 hours before the return ferry, so double nope! Instead I found a small café in the terminal where the only other customer was ordering a nice chicken dinner, so I asked for that. The man behind the counter seemed delighted to have me there and offered me several different dishes. He actually walked back in the kitchen and brought them out for me to look at. He did speak a fair amount of English but nothing beats actually seeing what you're eating. I opted for the chicken and the proprietor then loaded down my plate with several kinds of bread and offered me a salad as well. I already had way more than I could eat, but he later brought me over a container of yogurt. For some reason he was determined to ply me with food. There was an older man clearing tables who struck up a bit of a conversation in very broken English. He basically was asking if I had a husband. When I said no, he seemed quite surprised and asked why not. No way to explain so I just shrugged. He then said that he needed a wife and looked at me expectedly. I said no thank you, I do not need a husband. He looked quite sad as he walked away. I made more friends in the café; there were a few cats who were happy to share my meal and pass the time by my side. 

All in all, I will say that my 4 hour wait was not uneventful. I found the people I met to be very kind, almost as if I were a visitor who they wanted to make sure was well cared for. Aside from the café continuing to bring me food, as I walked around some of the ladies working there, as well as the security guards, kept a good watch on me and seemed quite open to helping me out. By the time we docked back in Spain, I made it to my car, and drove back to Rota, it was well after midnight and I was exhausted from my day of doing nothing.  I was really disappointed, as I wanted to see Tangier.  

I left Rota for my next stop; Seville. I had done quite a bit of research and I was very excited to come to Seville. I wanted to spend the winter in Spain and I was pretty sure this was where I wanted to stay.  Had it not been for needing to get my knees replaced I could definitely see staying here. I immediately fell in love with the vibe of the city. My apartment was in a great area about 30 minutes from every place that I wanted to see. I spent most of my time just wandering around the city; and I found new places every day. I was pretty close to the big Cathedral, which was amazing.  I did a photography walk, which was pretty much a bust. It was his first tour and we basically just walked around taking pictures of places I had already been.  

Another day I went to a beautiful park called Maria Louisa. When I initially came to Seville, it was just to catch the bus to Rota.  While looking for the bus station, which I had a heck of a time finding because Google had it in the center of a park, I saw a really cool market.  There were plenty of stands selling all kind of goods, and not just your typical tourist trinkets.  I was trying to find the same market, but my guess is it only happened on certain days, and that day was not today.  The park was still beautiful and the plentiful shade was a welcome relief from the heat.  There were horse-drawn carriages all over the city and it seems many of them were coming through the park. It would have indeed been a beautiful ride. 

For the most part, all I did for the week was walk around and take it all in. There were two open air markets near my apartment but sadly, the day I went they were nearly empty.   I also did a free walking tour of the Jewish quarter, but about 10 minutes into the walk I stopped to take a picture, I turned around and the rest of the group was gone.  Not the best of luck with tours in Seville, but I think I saw quite a bit of the city on my own, certainly enough to know I’d love to come back and spend more time.  Next stop, a 14-day tour of Morocco!

 

 

 

Link to Photos:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/DRz4Kv3GgzJYywNL9

 

 

 

Photography web site:  https://throughlisaslens.zenfolio.com/