4 countries in 4 days (June 13-16)

So we just realized that we’ve been in 4 different countries over the last 4 days (not that this was the goal, but pretty impressive nonetheless). Leaving Lagos, Portugal (one), we spent two nights in Tarifa, Spain (two), where we took a one-day trip to Tangier, Morocco (three), then continued our way along the southern coast of Spain, where we stopped for lunch in Gibraltar, UK (four) on our way to Málaga.

Driving from Portugal to Spain, we saw the landscape change from piney national parks in Portugal to nice, large sunflower fields in Spain, and a drier landscape with hills and mountains arriving in Costa del Sol. The town of Tarifa is apparently a kite surfing hot spot (not much good to us) and has a really long beach facing Morocco which is easily visible when the weather is clear. Clear is what the weather was not (see picture below) on the morning that we walked to take the fast ferry to Tangier, but the sun did come out as the day went on (and boy was it warm).

In Tangier, we walked the old town, the Kasbah, got a little lost and wandered (seemingly in circles) through some local residents’ front yards (a really charming area though) and then we visited the museum of the Kasbah, which was located in a beautiful old palace. The exhibition itself was a little questionable though. The displays included a few artifacts from paleolithic times through the 16^th century accompanied by very limited explanations (and what little there was only in Arabic and French). But all in all we had a great afternoon in Tangier, where Kristina had real Moroccan mint tea – the “whisky of Morocco”, as our waiter said – and an authentic Moroccan pancake with cheese.

On our way to Málaga, we made a pit stop in Gibraltar. We thought we’d just swing by in the car, park it, have lunch and done. However, the Spanish town that leads to the Gibraltar boarder was tremendously backed up with a long line of cars waiting to cross. Needless to say, with the sun blazing and temperatures in the 30s, it was pretty unpleasant. But rather than turn back, we ended up parking the car in Spain and walking over the boarder (a way better option). We spent a few hours in Gibraltar, walking down the main shopping street, taking in the sights including the imposing “rock” and having a delicious lunch of Filipino food at Tina’s Takeaway. Then we walked back to the car and off again.

The last few days have been fast-paced, but amazing, and we have so many impressions to digest as we continue up the coast to Barcelona.

The Portuguese-Spanish boarder

Sunfower fields

Wind parks in Tarifa

Kite surfers in Tarifa

Walking along the beach to the port in Tarifa

Made it through Moroccan customs (phew)

First stop, mint tea

The streets of Tangier

Here you have the option of buying three different kinds of eggs

More streets of Tangier

Selling a rug and pots door-to-door

The bread delivery system

Tangier old town is very elevated

Inside the palace with the museum of the Kasbah

Eerie face carved on one on the old stone panels in the museum

The palace gardens

Taking a little break

Once the tour groups left, we had the palace almost to ourselves

View of Tangier

Entering Gibraltar (pretty bold claim)

You literally cross a live runway directly after the boarder. A view you don’t get too often

Some rock

Kristina in the main square

Tina’s Takeaway – the best fish and chips in town and authentic Filipino restaurant