Monday, 14th October 2019
Quiet day in,
I get a message to say my glasses are ready to be picked up, so this works well, as we will be in Jerez tomorrow.
Tuesday, 15th October 2019
Today is quite an exciting day for me. We are going to see the Andalusion Horse show in Jerez. This is something that I never would have dreamed of going too. Because for those who know me well, know I have a severe allergy to horses, in particular grey horses. As a child, I spent good few nights in hospital due to asthma attacks, and some of them were from getting to close to horses. And my sister will tell you, that we had to leave a circus early because I started to get wheezy. Even now, if I am around someone who has been on a horse, and they come close to me, eventually, I start sneezing and wheezing. So to attend this event, I have made sure I have got and taken some allergy tablets, taken my preventer asthma medication, and have my ventolin puffer with me. The show is 90 mins long, and I do not want to miss a minute of it.
We travel to Jerez, again a 30 min drive, and the show starts at 12, but we have to be there about 15mins early, and because of our ticket bookings we have to be there before then to pick up the tickets. We arrive in Jerez around 9am, and find the area where the horse show takes place. We eventually park, probably not where we are allowed too, but it is only going to be for a short time and find where the ticket office is. We have to wait untill 9.30, as that is when the ticket office opens. There are three horse and carriages at the enterance, waiting for customers, their drivers are busy polishing the brass on the carriages, and brushing the horses down.
We get our tickets, and then head of to the shopping center to get my glasses.
By the time this is done, we decide to go back to the Horse show and fill in time there, as there is a coffee shop and gift shop that we can spend time in and also walk around the gardens surrounding the arena. After I explore the gift shop, and have a cuppa, I walk around the garden, and watch some of the horses getting warmed up for the show. At the required time, we find our seats and wait for the show to start. The arena fills up, but is not full, and the show begins. It is translated in 4 different languages, well the start of it is, and we are told that photos are prohibited. But that doesn't stop some, with Bob daring to be caught, and the lady beside me also catchinng the odd pic, and she did get some good shots. This presentation was absolutely wonderful, and I got a little overwhelmed, that I was here, out of all the people I know, some of them horsey people, and it is little old me here, the girl from Roma, with a huge allergy to horses. Watching the horses doing their dancing and prancing and balancing was wonderful, and their riders were also good. The riders were mainly men, but there were a coulple of women performing aswell. Needless to say I made it through the show with only having to use my puffer once, but I could feel the allergies simmering beneath the surface so to speak. Bob really enjoyed the show also. A truely magical experience.
So now we are on route for our next leg of the journey for the next few days. We head off to Tarifa, which is a trip of 120kms, or an hour and a half.
We arrive, and there are lots of wind surfers on the beach. Tarifa is a coastal town, from which there is a ferry that leaves to go over to Tanger, Morocco. We follow directions via the gps to where our accommodation is, and cannot find it at all. She tells us to go down roads that are only one way, and then we hit a unsealed road, as we miss a turn, and the road gets narrower and narrower. Eventually we turn around, and head back the way we came, and find a park that is close to where the said abode is and walk about eventually finding it. We make a call to the host and she tells us someone will be there in 15 mins, and so we wait, and wait. The place we are at has only a front door and not much more can been seen, so we are getting this unnerving feeling of what have we booked here. Anyhow after some time, another couple arrive and make a call, and they are told the same time. Eventually a woman arrives and lets us in, and once we get inside it is a huge relief, as the interior is totally different to the outside appearance. We are checked in, and shown to our room, which totally blows us away, so much better than we were expecting. There is a resturant which apparently gets very busy. So after we settle in, we decide to go into Algecias because I need to get some credit for my phone. This is only a 20 min trip but on the way, we stop off at a lookout, and take in the views. It is truely astounding, and Bob has an overwheming moment, when he realizes that Africa is just there. We can see a large rocky mountain, and all the buildings on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, and the straights of Gibralter, one of the busiest water ways of the world. He is really quite rocked by this. We get back into the car after the photo shots, and just around the corner is The Rock of Gibralter. Again, Bob is overwhelmed. His head is in the clouds and spinning.
We get into Algecias, and locate somewhere to park the car, that is close to where the Orange shop is supposed to be. However, once again, the information we have is not up to date, as there is no Orange shop there, so we do another search, and find another one a little distance away, but close enough to walk. On our way we find a site of archeology of which there are ancient ruins being uncovered.
We get to the vicinity to where the Orange shop is, and we have two optioins, 1, we see if we can get credit from the phone shop near to us, or 2, go and find the Orange shop. We opt for option 1, and get some credit. We explore the immediate area, and come across the Orange shop, and we ask if they sell a sim card for mobile wifi, of which we are told in Spanish, no, this shop doesn't. Thats ok, we are not in need of it right now.
We head back to the car and back to Tarifa, and to our acccommodation, which incidently has parking available, which is a huge bonus. We enter the resturant, and are told all the tables are booked and there are 2 ahead of us waiting. We decide to wait, and have a drink at the bar, which is also very busy, with only two spare seats available. We are shown to a table in round 20 mins and enjoy a lovely meal, and then retire to our room.
Wednesday, 16th October 2019
Today is filled with excitement, nervousness, and anxiety. We are boarding the ferrry to Morocco, so the usual nerves abound, as we have to go through customs, and security scanners. Our ferry leaves at 11am, so we walk down to the ferry terminal, and fortunately for us, we secured an extra day parking at the place where we were staying, so that gives us peice of mind that the car will be safe, and we don't have to hunt for parking close to the ferry. The walk is only a 5 mins walk, and we have time, so we meander around the little streets checking what is about. We get to the terminal with time to spare, go to the ticket box, check in, and head to the next point. Security. We place our bags, which is just a back pack that Bob has, and a hand bag for me, and our hats on the scanner conveyer, and pass through the people scanner, and collect our belongings on the other side. Next we line up at the customs to get our passports checked, and although I know everything is ok, there is still that nervousness of what if......... We pass through, get our passport stamped and are given a white peice of paper that is to be filled out before we get off the ferry on the other side. So we board the ferry, and go upstairs, following the rest of the folks, and when we get onto the deck, there is a huge line up, and we are not sure why. We wait for a little while, but decide to get a seat, and then investigate what the line up is for. After some time, I find out, it is customs for getting into Tanger. Bob and I wait for a while to watch when the line gets smaller, and it does't appear to be growing any less, anytime soon. Eventually, after it gets to a reasonable size, I go and wait for my turn, after I have filled in my white peice of paper. When I get to the window, the man takes the paper and passport and stamps it, and I am all done. By this time, Morocco is getting closer, so Bob now goes up, and waits in line, and gets his passport stamped. So we are set to go to Morocco.
We disembark from the ferry and line up again for the Customs man who is checking the passports as we exit. He is a very serious man, and looks over the passports and lets us pass. We did however, see some people pulled over to the side, and it appeared that they were not allowed to enter, and were put back on the Ferry.
We continue to follow the crowd, and eventually get through the terminal, but not without being hassled by guys trying to get us to join their tour or questioning us about where we came from and how long we were here for. Apparently, it isn't always a good thing to reply to these people when they ask you questions, as they just won't let up. We are told to keep an eye on our pockets, and personal effects, and that is just what we are going to do. Now, I thought that was bad enough, but when we get right outside the terminal, we are bombarded with men offering their taxi service, or their bus. We keep walking and trying to ignore these people, but they just don't give up. It is a way of life for them, and the only way of making a living they can have. Fortunately for us, we had a plan, which was to get the hop on hop off bus to look about the city, and find a stop that is closest to where our motel is. The ticket sales office was just outside the terminal gates, and the lady behind the counter spoke some english, so we secured a couple of tickets, and waited for the bus to arrive. I must admit, that I was glad to get out of the terminal, as the hasslers would walk beside you, even after you said no. And at one point one guy said to Bob not to raise his hand at him, and this was after Bob turned him down, and was just waving him off. It is unnerving to be somewhere, where you are not sure of the customs, and regulations, even more so for the women. While waiting for the bus it is of interest to watch the taxi drivers and their cars, which are mostely blue in colour and of various condtions. Some are very dented and dirty, and some not quite as bad. They are all small cars, mostly Dacias of various ages.
Our tour bus arrives and we go upstairs to view Tanger from atop.
It is a little bewildering to be in a country where women are tradionally covered from head to foot with clothing apart from the face, everything else was covered, even gloves on hands. One part of the bus tour took us past the beaches of Tanger, but there we noone on them, and i guess, when you think about it, the women are not allowed to dress in beach wear like other beaches. But this is Africa, and it is what it is. It was a most unusual sight though to see the families that were there, the woman was dressed as usual from head to foot covered, not a sight that we have seen very much. One the beaches there are camel rides, and some horse rides, but as we are on a hop on hop off bus, and the stop is not near to where the rides are, we continue onwards.
With the first route completed, we wait for the next bus to leave, which is parked waiting for the right time to leave. This trip takes us into the old part of the city. And what an amazing tour. Not for the sights, but the streets that the bus passes. We go down small streets, that are only just wide enough for the bus to pass through, and that was with guidence from passerbyers. We travel right though market streets, where there are all manner of things to be bought. Fish in the fish markets, complete with flies, that are right next door to the spice traders. An interesting aromic experience. Then there are fresh fruit and vegies, materials and rugs, shoes and all the usual suspects. At this stage, I am not sure I would go down this market, as there is a noticable absence of women.
Bob has worked out roughly where out stop is that is closest to our motel, so we go around the loop once, and then go around again until stop six, and then we hop off. Now unfortunately, we have no phone service, and no way of finding exactly where the place is. We start to look for an Orange shop, and we find one. Bob obtains Morocco sim for his phone and also asks if the lady knew where the motel is that we are searching for. This woman spoke good english, and was able to give us enough directions for us to work out where we had to go. We leave and thank her, and find somewhere to have a coffee, and a chance to regather, and forge a plan. At this point I am extremely aware of the place of women in this culture, and again notice there are no women in the cafe that we have selected, and also in the previous one we looked in. However the waitstaff bid us welcome, and my concerns are lessened. We leave the cafe, and head along the street. After some time, we find the street we need to go down, and at the end of it, is the motel we have booked in for the night. It is a welcome site, and looks very flash. We check in, and get shown to our room by a staff member, who explains where the breakfast room is and pointing out the Piano bar. Once in our room, we check it out, and have a great view of a beautiful pool, of which the seagulls are enjoying. We rest for a while, and then head down to the resturant for a evening meal. Our waiter was very attentive, and the food was good. There appeared to be a good variety of nationalities dining, and next to us was a couple of Australians.
Sleep will be welcome tonight.
Thursday, 17th October, 2019
We start the day with the hotel breakfast, and then go for a wander down the markets that we can see from the dining room. We appear to be a little early for some of the stall holders, although there are lots of fruit and vegie stands operating. We explore the market place, and venture down little streets. We return to our room, aas check out is not until 12, we rest for a while, then pack up our gear, such as it is, and check out of the Hotel, the Grand hotel Villa De France.
So now we go back to where we were yesterday and wander about the busy streets, and watching the people, and traffic of the day. Our plan is to fill in time, until the hop on hop off bus comes around in which we will get on board, and then get of at the terminal drop off. So we look at shops and there are lots of Jewellery shops and clothing shops, not to mention the cafe and tapas bars. Eventualy we end up at the cafe where we were yesterday and have some lunch and a coffee, which was very good. After we have finished eating, we make our way to where we believe the bus should be arriving at some point in time. We wait, and wait. We watch city buses come and go, and observe how the taxis are haled, to which some stop and some don't even if they have passengers already, they will accept another person. Our ferry doesn't leave until 4 and we really need to get the bus by at least 2-215, in order to get us through the required check points to get onto the Ferry. After waiting for about 45 mins, we decide to bite the bit, and walk to the terminal, which is approximately a 20 min walk. On our journey back to the Ferry terminal we manage to find ourselves in the market that the bus went through yesterday, and we walk through tem, taking in the wares and smells that abound. One place I stopped at that caught my eye was a shop selling all sorts of brightly coloured biscuits. On closer inspection, the biscuits looked nice until I saw all the flies crawling all over them, so needless to say, not that I was tempted, there was no sale made. On our way down the market, we have to get out of the way of the hop on hop off bus as it make it's way up the street. We pass many different venders, and notice there are a lot of silver teapots or coffee pots. We stop at a shop, and look at the variety that there are, and make a selection and a purchase. It was good to go through the market, and experience something different. We stopped at another shop that was selling rugs, and lots of fabics, and I could have made a couple of purchases there also, but one has to think of how to get items home, and I was mainly just looking. Onwards we continue, and as we move on, I notice there is a vast array of earthen ware and ceramic on a lower level. We find the entrance, and I go in to look about, and was in awe of all the things there. Once again, the same problem, how to get home with it, lol. While down there another lady started talking to me, as she had just arrived herself, but her luggage hadn't made it yet, so she was questioning me about the markets. I must have been taking a little while longer as Bob appeared as he was waiting on the outside.
So this time when we get moving again, there is no more stops until we get to the terminal.
We go through customs with our bags, as is the usual routine, and then through the customs, and get the stamp in our passport and wait for the ferry to allow us to board. We timed it very well, as just after we got through, the crowd gathered to get through the official points. We board the Ferry and this time there is no line up for customs on this trip. Bonus.
We get to the other side and again disembark, and go through the official stuff, showing passports, and then we make our way up to where we are staying the night. This is at the same place we were in on Tuesday night. We get checked in, and settle for the evening. Our Morocco adventure is done and dusted. I am very glad we went over there, even though I was a bit anxious about it all, but it was well worth the experience.
Friday, 18th October 2019
We start our day with the hotel breakfast spread, and then check out of our accommodation. This has been a lovely place, and Tarifa is a beautiful place.
Once we get our car out of the parking spot, and we return the gate key, we now make our way to Gibralter, a journey of 44 kms or 50mins. Again we stop at the look out, but we are unable to see much, as there is a lot of cloud about, but still the view is remarkable. Onwards we go to Gibralter, which is an English territory, but is still connected to Spain. Our gps guides us to where we want to go, and we get in a line that has a sign above it stating vehicles with customs clearance and those that don't. So we hop in the line that don't have customs clearance, and are unsure as to what to expect. So I get the passports out at the ready, and as we progress in the line, it appears that passports of being checked but customs. Most vehicles are waved straight through, but as we are in a vehicle with French registration, we are asked for our passports, and then waved through. We are at Gibralter. Again, never would I have imagined that I would be here. We drive about, looking at the traffic, and noticing the registrtion on the vehicle. Most had the letters GBZ, and there was a lot of traffic. We follow where most of the traffic is headed to, then we turn off, and follow signs to the cable car, and keep on going. We manage to drive all the way around the rock. We even went through it via a tunnel.
After this we leave Gibralter, and head to Conil de la Frontera, as Bob has a chiro appointment tonight at 9pm in a neighbouring place called Chiclana de la Frontera. This is a 1 hr 40 mins trip, a distance of 126 kms. We arrive at our hotel and check in. This motel is on the outskirts of the town, so after a little while we take a drive to survey the surrounding town. We manage to find a park and take a walk around the town. Again I need to find an Orange shop as my phone credit has run out again. We find the required shop, and the lady is able to help us, and we explain that I not long ago put credit on it, so she looks into it, and explains that anything less than 20 euros will just get consumed. So I top up and Bob does also. Then we go and find some fruit to have for dinner back at the room, and we head back.
Bob goes to his appointment, and I stay behind and read.
The Chiropractor is not exactly what Bob needed, as he only used the hammer thing, and using stretching stratagies. So we are still in need of a chiropractor.
Saturday, 19th October 2019.
We check out of our room after we have breakfast, and try to find the post office, as Bob has discovered that he still has the keys from the room we stayed in on Thursday night. We find the said post office, and after some use of mobile phones and translation, the keys are sent back to their owners. It is wonderful that technology can help with the language barriers that once used to be.
We head back to Arcos, and spend the rest of the day just relaxing from the previous adventures we have had.
Sunday, 20th October 2019.
A day of washing and not and not much more.
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