Travelogue

Travelogue

We start in the city of Tangier. For years, the town loosely governed from 1923 to 1956 through the influence of significant powers that permitted everything. The town became a magnet for writers, spies, artists with the most famous novelists being Paul Bowles and William s Burroughs. These two created a romantic vision that exists even today. Petit Socco means the meeting place. The streets of Tangier have blind alleys that smell of hashish, eared meat, and sewage. It is a port city with between choke point of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

The city has fertile fishing ground with people making a living from the sea. The method of fishing is senhal fishing with weighted nets dragging fishing across the bottom of the sea. Lots of fish end up at the restaurant Populaire which offers the best food in town. The restaurant serves fresh olives, nuts, warm bread, juice, tangine, which include veggies, meat or fish, etc. Spinach cover charcoal in a classical pot. Whole turbine fish dressed with salt, pepper, and coriander, grilled entirely over the coal. Dessert consists of strawberry, nuts, and honey. William S Borough came to Tangier after killing his wife in an accident in Mexico City. Hashish, a thick, precious resin of Cannabis plant made from amounts of flower, leaves, and separated from buds, crashed into brick-like form.

Drugs are prohibited here. One café at the heart of the town is outstanding and has drawn in foreign dignitaries, rock stars, and aristocrats. Café baba serves mint tea and allows smoking. People come to watch soccer here. Abdelileh is a famous omelet maker, which is more like a Spanish tortilla. It is made up of potatoes, boiled, diced, mixed with eggs, and cooked. The market or souk in Tangier is the best in Morocco. The food stalls are impressive. In the market, hooves meat cooks slowly served on crusty bread; the market offers a variety of smoked, fresh meat. Fresh goat cheese wrapped in palm leaves. A little cheese, flatbread a perfect breakfast.

Jajouk foothills in the mountain range 85km south of Tangier. Ahl-Serif tribe in Jajouka village. Bachir Attar leads the band and son to still lead the oldest musical tradition on earth. Dinner begins with hand filled envelopes of dough filled with seasoned beef cooked till gold and crisped in oil. The main event is tagine of chicken code and stuffed served with roasted olive and omen and ginger. Eating is by hand to show proper dining etiquette as is everywhere in the Arab world. After dinner, some fruit, mint tea, and the music begin.

Master Musicians of Jajouka have been music choice of the royal family. Paul Bowles recorded them and spread the word. People get lost in the old part of the city; it’s an ancient world residing to and around the modern one. Boutique Majid collection sold all over the world-carpets, artifacts, antiques, jewelry. Resteraunte Andalus is a place of eating. Westerners come looking for fantasy, and before was a boom of hippies, parties in the town. Garden parties involve various nationalities of people. Beer is available old in the city just outside Medina. The type of music here is western influenced. At night young people go out and enjoy themselves in the town.

The question is, will the unique character of the town survive, we hope so. Tangier is Morocco, was always Morocco, and leadership has embraced that in all its glory. The days of searching for inspiration are over for good stuff, sounds, smell, and look of tangier is here to stay.