We took our last petit taxi, with Chris and Rachel, to the Tangiers port. We got there and people told us to hurry to get the fast ferry to Spain. This was a catamaran that would take 35m and cost about $30. It was well worth it to avoid being stuck in the Straits for 3 hours again.
Anyway, we rushed but for naught just missing the 8:30 ferry. We would take the next one at 10am. At that point we noticed that we were going to another port, Tarifa. But that turned out to be okay, since they'd bus us on to Algeciras. Our ferry is pictured. Sudha was worried that she couldn't enter Tarifa -- somewhere we read that the port was for EU citizens only -- but we had no problems.
Algeciras looked much nicer in daylight and sun. After checking our respective train times (they were heading to Granada while we were going to Cordoba), we wandered the environs for a suitable lunch, for which Chris treated us (Thanks Chris!). Our friends left us for Granada. It was really nice having travel buddies like that from Casablanca to Marrakesh to Tangiers to Algeciras. We seemed to meet up every 8 hours or so to exhange stories and get a dose of Americana.
The train ride is actually a bus ride for the first 80% of the trip, since they're working on the tracks from Algeciras. It was a nice ride with sun until after sunset when the rains returned. We had a glimpse of the Rock of Gibraltar and followed the curve of the Mediterranean for a good while, getting a bird's eye vista of Malaga en route. It seems a picturesque coastal city well worth a visit in summer.
At Antequerra we finally boarded the train -- the high-speed AVE variety. Within an hour we were in Cordoba. There's a slight drizzle here. Our hotel, Casa de los azulejos (tilework) is at the edge of the town center and very much like a riad. I guess there is very much a Moorish influence to this city.
We're about to eat dinner at a popular Cordovan restaurant next door, Taverna Salinas. It says it was founded in 1879. Let's see how the food (tapas) is like…
Dinner was good. I had a Cordovan specialty, oxtail. That was kinda different. Sudha had some fried aubergine and spinach with garbanzo beans.
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