Day 81, 23 September 2012, Tangerines for a day! - Our first full day in Tangier (aka. Tanger and Tanja) sees us exploring as if we were local Tangerouis (I know the mandarine export has already grabbed the moniker Tangerine.... but it´s definitely easier to say!). By necessity, and after the best Moroccan breakfast yet at Dar Jameel, we went down to the port area to scope out where our 8 am ferry will depart from on the 25th. By a process of elimination we meandered through the entire port area including the Port de Peche. Fishy area indeed. As is usually the case, we found the FRS Ferry terminal in the very last place we looked and satisfied ourselves of how far we´d be toting the bags and the procedures to go through. Having cleared that up we took ourselves off on a walk along a beautiful seaside promenade that took us around the corner from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic. Lots of people taking the air, jogging and enjoying the freshest African air we´ve experienced since the Cape of Good Hope. We feel quite accomplished having gone in at the most southern tip and popped out at the most Northern. We were fascinated to be walking below the old city walls and fortifications - and bamboozled as to how to get up to them. The warmth, humidity and no end in sight eventually convinced us to invest $1.50 in a taxi to take us into the old town/medina and up to its highest point - Le Kasbah/old Sultan´s Palace. The ride was great - nosing through narrow streets, nipping in and out of motorbikes, pedestrians and fruit stands until we reached the old Gate to the Kasbah. Once again we stepped back in time as we meandered through the alleyways and took a stroll through the Sultan´s Palace - now the Kasbah Museum. All the more fascinating because all the signage was in French, Arabic or Spanish - one more indication of how close we are to a new continent and a new country. From the Kasbah we put our faith in our little map and took off cross country down the hill via souks and snacks until we reached the Petit Socco (aka. little market). It also has another newer name on the maps just to confuse tourists since the current king renamed a few major streets and landmarks. But we made it and lunch was chicken and chips at Snack Ray Charley - where we caught up with the match between Liverpool and Man. U. A commemoration of the Hillsborough tragedy and the opening was quite moving. Tears were almost shed. Back in Tangier´s seedy past, the Petit Socco was apparently the hub for drug deals and prostitution of all possible types... now it is the link between the Kasbah and the Souks and good spot for tourist-fleecing for those that way inclined. Tanger can get quite humid and hot in the afternoon so we took ourselves off for a rest prior to venturing out to a Cybercafe to book tickets for the bus from Tarifa to Jerez in Spain. Heaven preserve me from French keyboards, we did however get it done. Prayers for the safe recovery of the iPad once we reach the Apple Store in Madrid would be appreciated. NB - the latest craze in Tanger is Birkenstocks. Who´d a thunk it. Local born, London raised man has just bought the licence for Morocco. €44 a pop and multitudes are wearing them. Given the poverty, it´s quite amazing, but they are the thing to wear. We continued on and enjoyed an evening walking along the beach on the Mediterranean side prior to finding ourselves at our new favourite beachfront cafe for pizza and an orange juice. The lack of easily available booze must surely contribute to the frequent (10 or 12 just this evening) whispered offers of smoke... hash.... anything? that we received while we are out and about. I don´t think we look that way inclined... do the locals know something we don´t? Our walk back to the medina took us via the main stage for the TanJazz festival - 13 years and going strong and kept us entertained for quite a while -fairly sure our favourite group was Batunga & the Subprimes from France. Never know when we might see them again. Off to the American Legation Museum, The Grand Socco and St Andrew´s Church tomorrow.