Murcia Plaza
Murcia, Spain.... a small, but very Spanish city in Southern Spain was our home for over a week. Staying with a close friend of Emily's we had a tour guide and wonderful home to rest our heads. It was here that we got a real taste of the Spanish lifestyle.
Em and Sara at traditional Tapas bar
It starts with waking up at the early hour of noon. This is followed with cigarettes and coffee for breakfast. From here is traditional Tapas of fried almonds, oysters over chips, thinly sliced pig belly, wine and a sweet orange flavored liquour. Now it's aound 5pm and its time for cocktails in a local bar packed from wall to wall blasting classic R&B tunes. As if this wasn't enough... you booze till you feel like you will pass out and then its time for dinner at 10pm. This is followed by a few glasses of wine and perhaps a bit of ice cream where eventually you make it home and pass out.
Murcia Streets
Murcia is also known as 'Europes Orchard,' and as we came into the city by train you understood why. The whole city is surrounded by grand orchards of oranges, lemons, and other fruits and has been a traditionally a farming community for hundreds of years. The size of the city was quite nice after being in larger cities such as Paris and Rome. The cities size gave it a more human feel and we were able to see most of it fairly easily by walking about. Being the 7th largest city in Spain it gave us a Portland type feel with its size and local good foods.
Murcia bridge view
Lemon'em'
The wonderful Baroque style Cathedral of Murcia
From Murcia we rented a car and drove through Southern Spain. This was an exciting trip for us... a chance to see the country side, the ocean, the small towns and beautiful oceans of the Southern region. Our first stop was a five hour drive from Murcia to the Small town of Tarifa, Spain where a quick ferry takes you over to Morocco. We spent two nights here, enjoying very much the beach and beautiful white buildings. Tarifa is one of the few places in the world where you can look out and see two continents..... Europe and Africa separted by the straights of Gibraltar.
Scenic Spain
Driving into Tarifa at sunset
Tarifa attracks a great deal of kite surfers and those who want to explore the Muslim country of Morocco. Just as in many towns accross the world the town was at one time a booming vacation place for many people from Northern Europe looking for grander weather, yet today it was closer to a ghost town with vacant condos and restaurants throughout the town. A small group of surfers, travellers, and beach locals still make the place a special place and we found the beauty quite refreshing.
Tarifa Kite Surfer
Cool castle/lookout/bunker on the coastline
Tarifa Courtyard
Tarifa Housing
Tangier, Morocco...is a one of a kind of place with Spanish, Muslim, and French influence making it one of the most eclectic regions in the world. We ended up only having one full day in Tangier as our time schedule was shrinking quickly. We decided to take a tour for this trek having it be our first Arabic country, and we were glad we did. We quickly learned that the culture is very much a bartering culture... and relentless in their pursuit.
Tangiers from the Ferry
Our Camel Friend
A couple of interesting facts about Tangier: The population year round is around 3 million, but in the Summer will grow up to 9 million, casual dating is prohibited in the country meaning that in order for a man and a women to date they need legal papers, and houses are often built quite large because the womens family (specifically the mother) will often come and live with her husband as to prepare her for married life.
A Moroccan Man and His Cane
Traditional Moroccan Restaurant
We were able to have a traditional Moroccan meal as part of our tour which consisted of a noodle soup and brickoven bread, then kebabs, then cous cous with mixed vegetables and chicken, followed by baklava and mint tea for dessert. The end of our tour consisted of a walk through the Kasbah which is full of traditional carpet shops, spice shops, leather and other goods. The people were very persistant and would not take no for an answer. At some points we were on a full out sprint trying to get away from Touts trying to sell us useless things such as a knockoff Tommy Hilfiger watch or a wooden camel. This was the most difficult experience we have had on our 3 month tour... but still enjoyed the mysterious and eclectic city.
The Kasbah
Are last stop on our road trip was the wonderful mountainous city of Granada, Spain. This place was by far the most picturesque city we have visited in Spain and we really enjoyed the Sierra Nevadas, the Moorish influence among the streets, and the hillside steetscapes. The 'Alhambra,' which is an Arabian Palace set atop the city is one of the grandest sites I have ever seen, and the gypsies and wonderful Spanish and Moorish people that fill its streets made it one of our all time favorite places we visited in all our travels. I hope you enjoy these few pics from our short visit.
The view as we walked up the Alhambra
An Olive Farm with the Sierra Nevadas
Olive Tree
Granada Hillside
Street Life - Granada, Spain
Alhambra from Vista
Thank you all for following our blog over the last few months...and we look forward to seeing you all very soon. Merry Christmas!
