La Mirada Hotel Tarifa

... near the harbor, because there looked to be an interesting fort at the top. I found a secret stone stairway that was concealed by some potted plants next to the Monaco Yacht Club, and I began to climb. The stairway took me in swirling, illogical directions, past seagulls and solariums, and people laying together in pebbly patches near the sea. It took me up the face of the rock wall and around Monaco's short coastline. An impressively placed stone building of massive proportions ...

This morning we set off from Arcos de la Frontera.

It is what Rick Steves calls a white hill town. Arcos is all whitewashed, and it is a town perched on a hill, so I guess it all works.

We wandered around the town for a couple of hours. It consists of impossibly narrow streets, which are all very steep. Occasionally a street will turn into a flight of stairs, just like that.

We ...

... hostel, Hostel Talik. We met some people in the lobby who have turned out to be our next door neighbors. They are Czechoslovakians from Ireland, which prompted another insightful, "wow" from yours truly. We had our dinner sans alcoholic beverages. We are in bed early tonight for tomorrow we are going where it all began - Africa. The ferry leaves early and we need some sleep. So screw you aliens, I'm gonna remember tonight. 3/17/09

22 September 2008 Paloma Camping, at the pool warm and cloudy Dave decided he wanted a day by the sea, so we are still in Tarifa. In case you are not familiar with the area, if you look at a map of Spain, Tarifa is to the west of the pointy bit right at the very bottom of the map. This is where the Atlantic meets the Med, Tarifa being on the Atlantic side. Because of this, it has terrific winds, so Tarifa is well known for all kinds of surfing, particularly kite ...

... streets are narrow and made of cobblestones. There is a cool statue to Sancho the Fourth, the Brave, with a lion. He saved the town from the Moors, but he also killed a lot of people trying to be king. We are staying in an old house that is now a hotel. Last night they had a concert downstairs right below our room - it was hard to sleep because it started at 10 at night and went on until about 3 in the morning ...

... right, we decided that if we couldn't get into a synagogue, at least we would meet the community's elderly. A gentleman, who seemed to be staff, greeted us at the door and welcomed us in, while an older woman sat by the front door, clearly a resident. Above her hung pictures of King Muhammad VI, Rebbe Schneerson, the now passed Lubavitcher rebbe, and an picture that was probably Baba Sali, the praying father of Morrocan Jewry. Because our trip was so quick, we never ...

... wedding merchants and he handpicks from a display an assortment of incredibly delectable nut-based filled and rolled cookies. Tells us they are a gift from his wife Nehza. He finally gets the girls to take water or Cokes..inspecting the bottles and refusing one that looks too dusty. The girls have come to trust him. After a few turns back into the Kasbah, we buy some keepsakes, mail a postcard and ...

After weeks of anticipation we (Claire and I) finally arrived in Morocco. Desperately in need of a break from Europe and the 1000 churches and museums that have started to blend together. To start our Moroccan adventure we crossed the Strait of Gibraltar by ferry boat (3 hours) from Algeciras, Spain to Tangier. Immediately upon our arrival we were hounded by several guides of the official and "faux" nature. Each one promising us beautiful hotel rooms ...

... even more of the stuff that could be found in the stores. We have taken a liking to the patisseries full of sweet sweet pastry like goods. There are mounds of the things. When we saw our first one we were about to pass it up because we saw what we thought to be a fair swarm of flies in the shop, but upon closer inspection they turned out to be bees just hanging around for the honey that almost dripped from every cake and pastry. The people are a little sketchy ...

... returned back. The streets of Cadiz (like many Spanish cities) consist mostly of small, narrow streets (more like an alley). Along these, are small shops and bars. I found a small shop right near the hostel and got un grande cerveza por €1.20. Karla thought that was a good deal and did the same. We went over by the ocean and watched the sunset then wandered back through the narrow streets (we ran into an older fellow enjoying a beer too and had to cheers him - Salud ...