Friday, October 1st

Katy and I on the AVE

Today Katy and I were bad students. We didn´t go to school. We probably could have gone for about a half an hour, but our teachers said it wasn´t worth it because we wouldn´t have even been there for an entire class. Our train to Sevilla left the Atocha train station at 11 am, so we met at 10:15 in order to have plenty of time to get lost, find the platform, board the train, etc.

At the Plaza de Torre de Orro
in Sevilla - aka our meeting
spot

During the two and a half hour train ride, they showed the movie "Clash of the Titans". Although it was a decent movie, I was so sleepy I fell asleep half way through. I woke up during a fight scene, but have no idea who won and what happened in the end!! Regardless, the train was very comfortable!! :)

When we got to Sevilla, Katy and I had a time and a half trying to find the Plaza de Torre de Oro, where we were meeting our tour group! We met a backpacker from Wales and together finally found a bus that was headed in the correct direction (after waiting for over a half an hour). Sevilla buses are different than the buses I´ve experienced in Madrid. The don´t stop only at the designated stops. The follow the same path, but the passangers can push a button to make the bus stop wherever along the street that they´d like. For this reason, we were quite lost because we´d counted our stop being the 3rd, but the bus stopped more frequently than the sign said. Together with our map and the help from some locals, we made it to our stop, and walked to our plaza.

enjoying my lemon slushie

Once we got there, we said goodbye to our new friend, and headed to the group of students sitting in the plaza. They were also going to Morocco, but booked their trip through a different agency so we thought we were in the wrong spot. Turns out we were all in the same group, but Katy and I looked around frantically for 45 minutes for another tour guide. In the end, we almost had heart attacks (because we thought we got ripped off), but it worked out just fine! Oh and we bought these delishious lemon slushies, which made the frantic searching a lot better!!

the pretty ferry

After the rest of the group *finally* showed up, we headed down the street, climbed on a bus and rode for another 2 and a half hours or so to Algeciras where we got on a ferry, crossed the Mediterranean Sea and entered Cuenta (Spanish territory in Africa). Now just for you Chautauquans, I would like to make clear that this was no Grafton Ferry (which I had pictured riding an hour on)... This was like a yahct! It was gorgeous, complete with a gift store and dinning area! So much fun! :)

on the back of the ferry

Once in Cuenta, we drove on another bus to the customs check point, got our passports stamped, and drove another 25 or so minutes to our hotel. At this point it was nearly 11 pm Spanish time (9pm Moroccan time).

After getting our room keys we went to dinner in the hotel. For dinner we had this pureed vegetable soup, lemon chicken, and flan for dessert. It was all  super different tasting and I wasn't a huge fan of any of it. None-the-less, Katy and I ate it like champs! Our senoras would have been so proud!! :)

with our Africa passport stamps!!!

After dinner Katy and I were anxious to check out or rooms.. Let's just start off by saying 4 star Moroccan hotels DO NOT equal 4 star American Hotels. Not that I was expecting a palace, but the place was dirty and sketchy. I totally wore my flippy floppies in the shower!!! We brushed our teeth with bottled water and crashed! :)

best hotel in the world.. NOT!

yup.