Day 25: Almuñecar, Spain/ Tarifa, Spain

This morning was hectic. Once again we had laundry issues. Since the clothes didn´t dry yesterday and it rained overnight, they were not going to dry by air before our bus was to leave for Algerciras. We took our clothes next door to the coach´s house to use their dryer. However, they left their house after our clothes were in. By 10:15, we were starting to get quite nervous since nobody had returned. Erick had to run around to find a way to get into the house. We didn´t get our laundry out until 10:30 and our bus left at 11:00. While we packed, Erick drove to the bus station to get our tickets. We then started walking to the station and he met us and taxied us there just in time.

The bus ride from Almuñecar to Algerciras was almost 4 hours (with no bathroom breaks and no bathroom on the bus). Once there, we had to wait for over an hour for a bus to take us to Tarifa where our hostel was. We found our hostel easily. Piere, the receptionist was very helpful. The hostel was called the Melting Pot Backpackers Hostel. It was very tidy and colorful. We stayed in the rosa (pink) room with 6 other girls and one bathroom to share. It actually worked out well.

We dropped off our bags and walked down to the beach (which was only 2 minutes away). Tarifa is said to be the windiest city in Europe. Based on us feeling like we were walking by a giant sandblaster as the wind whipped the fine sand, the title does not surprise us. We saw several windmills and kite surfers taking advantage of the wind. We walked to a grocery store to find food for dinner. On the way we found a "Euro Store" (just like a dollar store). We were in search of change purses since we accumulate so much change. We had a little luck for a temporary solution, but still wanted something a little different.

We went back to the hostel and attempted to bake our frozen meals. The oven "had a mind of its own" according to the Aussie that was staying at the hostel. He helped us after we had checked twice over 15 minutes to see that no change was taking place inside (it was a little warm from previous use, but not enough to bake our food). While we ate we talked to a nice girl from Ireland named Merriam. She was staying for a week at the hostel for a vacation before she starts a new job in Madrid.

After we ate, some annoying roommates arrived. They are the type of people that give US Citizens a bad complex. We got ourselves organized and showered in preparation for our 9 am ferry to Morocco. The annoying girls were watching a movie on their laptop loudly, but we put earplugs in and an eye mask on in hopes to be able to sleep.

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