Sunday, November 17, 2013 @ 7:45 PM in 2013 Europe
Day 144
I left Tangier this morning and made it back to Barcelona where I was greeted by cold weather and rain. When I first got to Tangier I took out 1,800 Dh (about $225 USD) thinking that's about how much I'd need for taxis to/from the airport and food for the week. Well, last night I counted up how much I had left and it came to 1,000 Dh. Basically, Tangier was way cheaper than I thought it would be.
I paid 800 Dh in cash at checkout from the hotel then used my card for the rest. I'm glad it worked out that way so I didn't have to mess with exchanging money back to Euros. After checking out I hunted for a taxi but the area where the taxis have been all week was completely empty. I walked around for a while and could only find the small "petit taxis" that don't go to the airport. Eventually I saw a passengerless taxi drive by and flagged him down. I kept 200 for the taxi ride to the airport but the guy only charged 100.
After checking into my flight and getting through security, I had to blow my leftover 100 Dh that would soon be worthless in Spain so I bought a big bag of crunchy M&Ms, a coffee and a pain au chocolat. The boarding processes for all the airlines I've flown in Europe and Morocco have no real order. They say boarding begins and it's just a massive line with no priority or anything like that. Nothing like the in the States where there are 20 different priority and boarding levels.
Vueling Airlines that I flew back to Spain on is a bit of a ripoff when it comes to food and drink. Flying to Morocco on Royal Air Maroc was great. They gave free drinks, coffee and even a small meal. Vueling wanted money for everything. I just ate a few of my M&Ms and refused to buy anything else.
We had a bit of turbulence but nothing too bad. When we got to Barcelona the weather was cold but at least it wasn't raining. I got on the Aerobus back to Plaza Catalunya and walked to the hostel. It was nice being back in familiar territory again. Having been here for 12 nights before going to Morocco I really got a feel for walking around the city.
I checked into the hostel and read for a bit then decided to go run and get some stuff for dinner. It had started to rain and hasn't stopped since. It's supposed to be like this all night and all day tomorrow too. I had some pasta for dinner and the hostel is also doing another paella night tonight so I'll probably have some of that as well later.
It's nice to be back in Spain even though the weather isn't great right now. I've got exactly a month to go before I catch my flight back to the States. I'm pretty sure these next 30 days are going to blow by. I'll be in Barcelona for two nights before I head down to Valencia which is also on the coast a little farther south of here.
Tags: daily journal, spain, barcelona
Posted from: Spain