Tuesday, October 20, 2009

stopping in Tangier
















Tangier is an ancient port city of northern Morocco (pop. about 700,000). When you get of the boat at the maritime terminal you know that you have arrived in a completely different place. It's a multicultural modernizing country of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities, along with myriad other foreign immigrants. You can hear both the traditional call to prayer and global pop music blaring during the day.
Tangier is a mysterious and exciting place. Scott and I are staying in an old but elegant 10 room guest house overlooking the Atlantic. When we arrived, I could see Spain from the bedroom window about 15 miles across the blue water. There is a huge brass muzzle-loading canon, still in place atop the sea wall, 100 yards from our rooftop. It is currently being used to secure one end of a clothesline. I'll share some Tangier impressions and stories in a later post.
Tangier has attracted writers like  Burroughs, Kerouac and Tennessee Williams (and the Rolling Stones), who all lived in or visited Tangier during different periods of the 20th century, according to my Wikipedia sources. Tangier acquired the reputation of a spying and smuggling center in the 20th c. and Tangier makes an appearance in one of my favorite spy movies, The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). In the film, Jason Bourne, former CIA assassin and amnesiac, tracks a man through Tangier to uncover his real identity and then fights and kills Desh, an agent sent to eliminate him.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

True, the rep of Tangier is exotic and has taken the place of Casablanca, I think. Great shots!