Tarifa

This blog is long overdue. The first weekend of December was a holiday in Spain. Well, there were actually two holidays: one celebrating the Spanish constitution and the other was celebrating the Virgin Mary. So everyone had off Friday and Monday, making for a nice, long weekend. 

My friends and I looked for an escape from city life and found refuge in a town called Tarifa. To get there we had to take a shared car from Granada to the city of Algeciras, about 4 hours. There we got on a bus to Tarifa which took only 30 minutes. Once in Tarifa, the manager of the house we were renting, Paco, picked us up in town. He was quite a character: balding and missing a few teeth with a great sense of humor. As we drove along the coast, Paco pointed out that Africa was just across the way. "You can see the Moors over there walking on the coast!" Although we never saw people from that distance, we were able to see the coast, the cities lighting up at night and the ferries traveling in between Tarifa and Tanger. 

The house we rented was in the middle of a natural park and the road there was rough. Paco let us into the house, told us to drop our bags and took us up the hill to a bigger house, just for show. However, once we got up there we were in awe. The house was stunning with a huge window that framed the sea and the coast of Africa perfectly. As we picked our jaws up off the ground, Paco told us this house was not occupied this weekend and we could use the outdoor area. Hmmmm, I thought... Just the outside? And what about the inside? After contemplating for a brief moment, Paco agreed to let us stay in the big house for the same price. We shook hands and agreed that it would be our little secret. My friends and I jumped for joy as soon as Paco left. We originally had one bed and a couch to share between the three of us... In the new, bigger house we had four beds! And a view! 

The first day at the house we simply kicked back and relaxed. On the second day we walked along the coast into town which took a little less than an hour. Although the walk was short, it was rough at times due to the wind. The view, however, was always beautiful. In town, we bought groceries, had lunch, and I even ran into a girl from Glenview. She is also teaching in Spain this year (we had spoken over the summer) but it was a total coincidence that we ran into each other in Tarifa. We both were a little bit shocked, but then we went our own ways as if it had never happened. My friends and I grabbed lunch in town and while we ate a band came along and played some fun music that had everyone in the area tapping their feet and some full-out boogying.

The rest of the weekend we cooked at the house, watched films, went for walks, read, wrote, danced, played the drum, painted, etc. One day I ventured off and even went for a swim in the sea. It was quite cold, especially when I got out of the water and the wind made me shiver. 

It was terribly sad to leave Tarifa, but Paco insisted we come back soon (and that he would even give us a special price). If I make it back to Tarifa, I'll also have to pop over to Morocco and have a look around.  

All the founds from this trip can be found in my Facebook (I think their quite good, but then again, I'm clearly biased): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2940003736194.1073741831.1144170698&type=1&l=eda5cb6d2d

Right now I am in Malaga for the third time. This trip has been a bit more relaxed. I decided to come here a day before my flight, which leaves from Malaga, so that I don't have to stress (too much) in the morning. I'll spend Christmas in London with the fam and New Years in Barcelona with the cousins. More stories to come