Tangier Afternoon

After a nice little midday siesta, it was time to head out and do some more Tangier. I wanted a guide book. So putting together a Tangier brochure that listed places with addresses, but did not show on their map, Bvld. Pasteur, and the 5 photocopied pages, which did show Pasteur, but whose map didn't correspond well with the map in the brochure, I was able to figure out where Pasteur was. I really wanted to see the prices in a current guidebook. The 5 photocopied sheets talked about prices much lower than we were paying--like half. Was the book from which it they were photocopied really old? Or were we getting scammed? So we made our way to the Grand Socco and along the rue de la Liberté, and found Pasteur. Then we found La Librarie des Colonnes. They had a Lonely Planet in English and one in French and a Routard guide in French. I noticed in France that Routard is the book of choice for French people. The Lonely Planet price was not marked with a price in Dirhams, so we asked the guy there who asked a women playing Spider solitaire on a PC. Neither of them could find the price. So he took the book to some back room and came back quoting 300+ dh. So we went wih the Routard for 179 dh (US$25).

Then we went to have a nice little drink at La Café Español. There were only 2 other tables with people when we went in. We got teas (green for Elena, black for me) and ogled but did not buy their pastries and cakes. We sat there and read our Routard guide on Tangier and Fez. He decided it was good to have a guide book--better than trying to use the internet. It was a 2008 guide as well, so up to date. We looked at the prices it said we would have to pay and indeed, they were right in line with what we were paying. So the photocopied pages (now 100% retirable) are from a really old guide. It was fun to read it in French. My ability to read French is better than all my other abilities. And guidebook French is easy. So we were sitting there in the Café Español reading our French guide book sipping tea and having a good time. In the mean time, the place filled up. All locals. I decided to break one of my 200 dh bills even though the bill was only 19 dh (a bit under US$3). The place seemed big enough. I'm just starting to get a collection of smaller bills and coins to feel liquid.

Armed with the guide book, we tried to find a market which was described as a good market with good prices and nobody coming up to you bothering you and tryig to take you to a hotel/restaurant. We got a bit lost, but then found it. It was very busy and there were lots of shops. Then we headed to the beach. We walked along the sidewalk. It was just like the Seawall at English Bay. Lots of people walking on the sand and having fun. There are a few vendors of nuts, candies, and other treats. The sidewalk is lined with the roofs of bars which are down on the beach. YOu can see into some of them and some even have little swimming pools. There are discotheques, bars, restaraunts, a piano bar which had a popular drum act. One of the places is a WiFi zone, so we plan to check it out and see if we can have a nice beer and relax by the beach with our laptop dumping our blogs.

We headed back just as the sun was going behind the medina. We went back home and Elena typed while I read the Routard guide. Then we headed out to a restaurant in the Routard guide called Adagir. It must be in all the guides because all the customers were foreigners. It was especially nice because we could get beer. Yay!!! We got a Moroccan beer called Especial Flag or something like that. Only 2.5 dh for a 33 cl bottle. Yay!!! I got a lamb tajine and Elena got chicken coucous. I also got a hariri which is a spicy soup, very hot (temperature). The total bill came to such an amount that with tip, it was 200 dh. Not cheap, but much cheaper than an equivalent meal in France. We had sat right by the door and there was only one guy doing the cooking and waitering, so we knew he was busy. Still, we didn't want to leave a 200 dh note on the table so close to the door. It's not like somebody would come in a take it. So we took the plate to the kitchen and handed it to him with the money. Then we walked out. As soon as we walked out, a fellow walking down the street who happened to be right there, took a look at us and walked into the restaurant and went to our table and took something. We were going away and saw this through the window. I don''t know what if anything happened next. But I was shocked because if we hadn't taken our 200 dh bill to the cook/waiter, that guy probably would have taken it and scrammed. Instead he just got some chicken skin, a few tiny remnants of cous-cous grains and whatever meat might have been stuck to bones, and maybe a drop or two of beer. Certainly not worth the indignity of trying to grab what Westerners are leaving on their plates as they just leave a restaurant.

We went back home still flabbergasted about that. We got into our place and went to sleep. It was a bit warm--I wished we had AC, but this is nice compared to what it will be later in my trip.