June 10, 2014 
   
Tangier Morocco to Tarife, Spain by ferry (37km)
.... then to Sevilla, Spain by bus (206km)
Hotel Abril €43 ($58.50) double without breakfast
$1=€0.74
 
We decided to have the buffet breakfast at the Ibis Hotel before we left for the port in Tangier. Unless breakfast is included, we often opt for self catering yoghurt and muesli. Since we are traveling for the better part of the day, we'd better have a solid breakfast. Today, we're catching 10:30am ferry to Tarife, Spain and then taking a bus the rest of the way to Seville.
.... 
By 8:30 am, we had a taxi drop us at the FRS Ferry ticket office at the port. Porters clambered to carry our packs. We declined, figuring we'll be sitting for the better part of the day probably. Lets take this opportunity to break a sweat.  

All went smooth as pie. There was no line at ticket office and afterwards, we climbed the stairs to customs. Again no line. We followed direction arrows to terminal 4 where the ferry, a huge catamaran, was just anchoring. A guide who hoped to score some business with the tourists arriving chatted with us. He told us to have a seat because it would be about 40 minutes before everyone had departed and we'd be allowed to board. A security guard invited me to have a seat in his shady shack. He too was anxious to practice his English. He told me about some small villages deep in the Riff and Atlas Mountains where men have tattoos on their face. Those areas are only reached on foot or by horse. That definitively sparked our interest and would have been fun, maybe next time. 

On board we settled in comfortable seats in spacious salon. The ferry was no where near full. It departed promptly at 10:30. We set our watches one hour ahead in Spain.  It takes about an hour to cross with this fast Ferry. Before we knew it, we watched the whitewashed houses and gray citadel of Tarifa approach. A small lively beach to the west of the port looked inviting.  Here too, Customs and Immigration went smooth and quick.  

If we would have taken an earlier ferry, we could have caught a bus directly from Tarifa to Seville. But this late, we had to take a free shuttle to get us to the bus station in Algeciras from where there are many buses going to Seville. 

We crossed beautiful hilly terrain. Whitewashed homes with red tiled roofs dotted the landscape. Magenta bougainvillea draped over walls just as I imagined Andalusia. The ride was about 30 minutes. We were surprised that the bus dropped everyone off at the ferry port in Algeciras. He told us "only 5 minute walk to bus station", as he pointed to town. It turned out to be more like 25 minutes walking. I felt for a young German couple struggling with 2 toddlers in addition to their luggage.
 
We were able to get tickets for the 2:30 pm LINESUR bus. €19 per person. It was an enjoyable 3 hour ride. What stood out to me was the cleanliness, no trash about, no dust. Homes have lovely landscaped gardens.
 
....We arrived at San Bernardo Bus station in central Seville. Most buses arrive at the Plaza de Armas station and we had mapped our way to the hotel from there. The fact that we arrived at a different station than we'd expected didn't throw us off too much. People in Seville are friendly and pointed us in the right direction. They suggested we catch the tram to Plaza Nuevo and walk from there. We still ended up walking close to a kilometer and with heavy packs in 35C, it was exhausting. 
  
We had passed many beautiful buildings and shady pedestrian walkways before we came to the grandiose Metropol Parasol, an airy free form architecture. Don't know how else to describe it. This is where pictures are worth a thousand words. Two hundred yards beyond it was our Hotel Abril down small lane. 

After checking it to our hotel, we found our way to Restarant Taberna Coloniales for a cool sangria and tapas on their terrace. Ahhh, life is good.