Heading home

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My very long trip around Europe, and now a small part of Africa, is coming to an end. Since I last wrote, I've been through Sicily, along the southern coast of Spain and I've landed in Northern Morocco. I'll soon board a plane to Ireland, where I'll spend a few nights, and then I'll be back home in the United States.

It's been over 100 days since I left the United States. I'm not really looking forward to going back or dreading it. I am somewhat dreading going through immigration on my way back, because I know this administration likes to hassle its critics whenever it has the opportunity.

Sicily was an interesting experience and not quite what I expected. It has an Italian feel but also unmistakable Norman and Arabic influences. That was most noticeable in Palermo, but I felt it in Catania, too. It's an island that exhibits beauty and signs of disrepair. It feels like it's been left to its own devices for a while, and it's done the best it can with what it has.

I managed to make my way back to Spain—my favorite European country—after I traveled through Sicily. I took a plane to Málaga, on the southern coast, and I stayed in the old town. I'm still debating if that was a mistake, because it was quite touristy, but it made it easy to get to important landmarks like a Moorish fortress called the Alcazaba (worth seeing) and the Castillo de Gibralfaro (missable if you've seen the Alcazaba).

Málaga was a nice, orderly place to go after the disorder of Sicily. It was a little one-note, though. As I said, I think I might have had a little more fun if I had stayed in a less touristy part of the city. It appeared there were some intriguing hangouts on the map that were a little far from where I was staying. I found some interesting spots to spend time in the old town, though.

After Málaga, I took the bus to Tarifa, Spain—where you pick up the ferry to Morocco. I stayed in Tarifa over a weekend. It's a picturesque little town. Get prepared for a lot of wind if you go there. You get used to it, though, after a couple hours.

Tarifa basically has two things going for it: pleasant beaches and an alluring little old town. You can watch kitesurfers from the beach for a while and then sneak into the narrow alleys of the old town and grab a bite to eat at a charming restaurant. There aren't a lot of landmarks to go searching for, but you won't miss the castle walls that line the waterfront.

From Tarifa, I took the ferry to Tangier. It only took about 40 minutes, so that was easy enough. I stupidly did not take a taxi from the ferry to the apartment I was renting, and I ended up having to go up some big hills with my luggage. Once I got there, my gregarious host let me in, and I had a rather large apartment that I didn't spend a lot of money on. I was there for three nights, and then I spent four nights inside the Medina, which is the historic part of town.

The Medina was nice and attractive, but be prepared for a lot of people looking to make some money off of you. They're nice, but they're persistent. I found that if you're alone, you can keep your headphones on, and then people won't really bother you.

While I was in Tangier, I visited places that used to be frequented by writers like William S. Burroughs and Paul Bowles, who lived there years ago. Jack Kerouac also passed through. I went to the places Anthony Bourdain featured in his Tangier episode of "Parts Unknown."

Café Baba in the Medina and Café de Paris outside of the Medina were probably the best-known examples of these kinds of destinations. I imagined Burroughs languishing after a night of drug use in Café de Paris, and I paused and looked at the place where Anthony Bourdain sat in Café Baba. Seeing those kinds of things was probably my favorite part of Tangier.

Tangier was a nice spot to check out, but I wanted to see another side of Morocco, so I ended up taking a train to a little town called Asilah on the coast. I spent a week there, and I decided to just relax. It's tiring traveling so much, and it was a decent place to catch my breath. It has a lovely coastline, it's much more low energy than Tangier and it's quite cheap.

Now, I'm off to Ireland. I'll spend three nights in Dublin, and then I'll take a plane to Los Angeles. I'm part Irish, and my mother's side has a lot of history there, so maybe I'll feel a bit like I'm at home before I go to the place I actually consider my home.