Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Day 82, 24 September 2012. Final Glimpses of Tangier - The Last of Africa after almost three months. We made the most of the day and arrived at the American Legation Museum shortly after opening time. Morocco was one of the very first countries to recognise the fledgling United States, way back when, and this building is the only US national monument on foreign soil. It is now open to the public and the gracious reception rooms surrounding the jasmine scented courtyard are a delight to wonder around. We visited the map room which displayed many old prints of the coastline and views of Tangier - going back to sketches of it´s earliest days in the 1500s. The museum now displays local artists canvases for sale and we were stunned to see some for as much as 13,000 Dh or $1300 odd. Makes our art purchases back in Essaouira look positively miserly. We wondered for an hour or so and paid particular attention to the painting Zohra by James McBey, a famous Scots artist. Incredible where masterpieces can be seen. We explored the Grand Socco (big market) and partook of a mint tea and chocolate cake at DARNA a local womens´ co-operative to encourage and support women with literacy, numeracy and English skills. Mmmmm chocolate cake. The final spot of interest for us in the area of the Grand Socco was St Andrew´s Church. This was built in the late 1800s on land granted by Queen Victoria and is a wonderful example of interfaith design. From the outside it is quite similar to a standard Anglican church, but inside has no images of people or animals per the requirements of Islam and the front of the church is decorated with arabic inscriptions of the Lord´s Prayer. There is even a notch above the altar indicating the direction of Mecca. The front two pews are reserved for Diplomats and Consular staff which made us smile. The highlight of our visit to the church was however the graveyard. It included many members of international forces killed during WWI and II. The most touching was several members of the same aircrew buried shoulder to shoulder. A peaceful place we will remember fondly. We truly felt we were in the most international of places in the afternoon when we visited the new town. Due to Tangier´s history, many of the streets are named after countries ' Rue d´Italie, Rue d´Belgique and Rue dÁngleterre to name a few, and then down in the new town we passed the Champs Elysee (coffee shop) and Bar Oslo and Berlin. Not to mention Pension Miami Beach and Guesthouse Detroit and Palm Beach. ALMOST enough to make us wonder why we´re travelling the world when it´s all here on Tangier´s doorstep. We spent the afternoon in the crow´s nest with a bottle of vino reading our kindles and relaxing. 120 Dh left to our name so we splurged on a 4 course dinner for two... that´s right $12.00 odd. Restaurant Africa did a bang up job and had quite a busy night in the end... nothing like the sight of two westerners in the front window table to bring in a few more punters. Off to bed for a good rest prior to 6 am start tomorrow - Spain, here we come!
- comments