Tangiers Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd May

Gibraltar

Cap Spartels

Inside the American Legate

A quiet day in the little souk

Inside the souk

Tea and pastries overlooking the bay

Other than finally getting a chance to recharge our batteries for two days, which was really necessary, the highlight of our sea days was seeing Gibraltar from the deck in glorious sunshine.  The wedge shaped rock of Gibraltar was partially obscured by a layer of cloud - the only cloud in the vicinity by the way - and looked like a layer of meringue, but it was possible to make out some structures such as a mosque and the light house from our position.

Another highpoint for me was to hear the captain talk about our ship - and seeing photos illustrating how the bridge is laid out and the engine rooms, laundry and the galleys operate.    It is a beautifully run operation and things simply happen with a minimum of fuss. Coincidentally Captain Jose was involved in the building of this ship - and seven others like it over three years - in St Nazaire, France 14 years ago. The Quest will be going into routine dry dock in Sept this year due to its age and will undergo a refurbishment not only in the engines but in the public spaces and the suites too.  This will only take about two weeks, which is an impressive turnaround.

When asked about the future of boats like the Quest and the Journey in a market flooded with super cruisers that can carry thousands of passengers, he expressed confidence that there is a growing market for the smaller ships, their intimacy and access to smaller ports.

We arrived in Tangiers, Morocco in the late afternoon on Thursday but as it was very windy outside, opted to wait until morning to visit the city.  The captain had also decided that we would remain on ship's time for our stay here.  Technically we should have set back our watches to GMT for one night only - but it hardly seemed worth it, when our next port in Spain is on Central European time
It was quite a hike from the ship to the buses (about 1km) but once aboard our guide showed us some of the sections of towns representing different countries.  At one time Tangiers was jointly controlled by 8 different countries.  It is now part of Morocco.

We went up to Cape Spartels to see where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean.  After that we visited the labyrinthine alleys of the small souk or petit soci.  If we thought the Greek and Turkish vendors were pushy, they've nothing on the ones we encountered here.  They follow you, stand in the middle of the path so you have to acknowledge them in some way - and don't take no for an answer.  As our guide reminded us,  today is the holy day so many stalls were shut and things were quiet!

Being prepared to walk away allowed me to make some good buys ( I  think I did anyway) of leather, copper and pottery and Vaughan is now the proud owner of a red fez.   We finished our tour visiting the American Legate office ( like an embassy) and a cafe where we were given some peppermint tea (delish) and some Moroccan pastries.I saw a photo of Humphrey Bogart in the foyer from when he was in town for the filming of Casablanca back in the 40s.

Our bus took us right back to the ship - and we could hear some lively music coming from onboard.  The ship's band was on deck playing jazz for us as we boarded.  I think this and the tea and pastries were the highlight of the morning for me.

With everyone arriving back on board for our lunchtime departure, it meant that lunch was a very crowded affair.  Our table was in full sun and copping wind from all angles so we didn't linger.  Besides,  there were three (yes three) trivia events to attend this afternoon before we reach Cadiz this evening.