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Published: October 26th 2023
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Perdicaris Park
Lovely picnic spots throughout the park. Tangier is fascinating in many ways, not the least of which is the constant reminder of the proximity to Spain, it's landmass clearly visible from the port across the beautifully blue water. A ferry that leaves every two hours provides easy access to those who wish to spend a day exploring Gibraltar.
Tangier is one of the many Moroccan cities that take advantage of their waterfront location by having a beautiful and lively promenade with access to the wide beach on one side, and many restaurants and cafes on the other side.
Fortunately, The Hilton Tanger City Center, where we were staying, was situated about two blocks from the promenade. It provided us with two fun evenings exploring the variety of choices available to us, as well as also providing spectacular views from its 15th floor restaurant and bar.
Before we checked into our hotel though, we stopped to visit some of the beautiful areas in the outskirts of the city.
Our first stop was Perdicaris Park on the slopes of the Jebel Kebir hill that faces the Strait of Gibraltar with the looming distant shores of Spain across the incredible blue sea. Originally built by American
Perdicaris Park
The coast of Spain in the background. Ion Hanford Perdicaris whose 1904 kidnapping incident inspired the movie The Wind and the Lion, it is now a public park. One point of interest is its proximity to the Jebel Kebir Royal Palace, and many other luxurious villages in the Rmilat neighborhood that we passed on the way to the park.
This visit was followed by two additional fun stops, Cap Spartel, and the Caves of Hercules. Cap Spartel is a promontory at the entrance of the Strait of Gibraltar and features a lighthouse built in 1864. The main attraction, besides the beautiful views of the gorgeous blue sea and the coastline below it, is its proximity, just a short walk away, to the sign that marks the exact spot where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Mediterranean Sea, a sport impossible to ignore by any tourists visiting the area, me included.
After a short drive, we arrived at the Caves of Hercules. Besides the beautiful and violent spectacle of the seawater gushing into the cave periodically through the opening to the sea, the caves are notorious for having shown evidence of Neolithic occupation. Supposedly, before becoming a tourist attraction they were brothels. The rock was manually mined,
which is an important cause of the caves' creation.
That evening, we decided to find a restaurant that had been highly recommended by the local guide. The walk to the restaurant highlighted the cleanliness of the Moroccan cities. They really are some of the cleanest cities I have been in.
El Tanjerino was not far from the hotel on the Promenade. I was at first disappointed after walking in and realizing that it was a Spanish restaurant, but soon realized that the Spanish food in Tangier was probably only second to actually being in Spain and I wasn't wrong. Plus, we still had many days left to try to local cuisine. The tapas that we ordered were all outstanding, and too much to finish. Our only concession was to try again Moroccan wines that we had become very interested in.
The walk back to the hotel helped us identify other potential places to try the following evening, as well as giving us a glimpse of the nightlife in Morocco. Lots of people enjoying their evening, but we never had any sense of danger. Morocco is a safe environment and other than the usual warnings about pickpockets in
crowded areas, it was safe to walk around.
Tired but happy again, we went to sleep anticipating exploring Tangier in more depth the following day.
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