Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

We are staying in a traditional house inside the kasbah for our time in Tangier. It doesn’t have an official address as it’s just in the alley way behind the public fountain. It’s set over 5 floors with essentially just a landing after each set of extremely narrow steep twisty steps. The first landing has one bedroom and a bathroom. The second has two bedrooms. The third has a sitting room and another bathroom. The fourth has a kitchen and then you can head up one more flight to the outdoor section. The kids are quite fascinated by the place but it’s not super kid friendly. Even Nora knows not to attempt the stairs on her own and that’s saying something.

We headed out late this morning for our first full day in Morocco. Yesterday we were helped along by Abdul who took us to all of his friends shops so today we decided to explore on our own. We set out in search of some brunch and happened to pass by Cafe Baba en route.

In the 76 years Cafe Baba has perched above Tangier’s medina, the Rolling Stones have been just some of the cafe’s many high-profile clients. The cafe has served the kings of both Spain and Sweden; the Grand Duke of Luxembourg; former Secretary-General to the United Nations, Kofi Annan; punk rock legend Patti Smith; numerous actors and filmmakers, such as Daniel Auteuil and Jim Jarmusch; and dozens of mid-20th-century aristocrats.

Jacob and I enjoyed a wonderful coffee cooked over an open flame, the kids downed a juice. We all passed on the drugs. We left cafe baba and wound our way down to Petite Socco where we grabbed a bite to eat – omelettes and crepes (otherwise known as pancakes without baking powers, the d is silent in baking powder).

After lunch we hopped on the city tour bus to get a better feel for the place. We spent the majority of the day in the new city strolling on the beach and waiting for the bus to come back.

We eventually made our way back home for supper and to enjoy the views from our terrace. After the kids were in bed Jacob and I decided to rearrange our schedule for the next couple of days. The plan was to head to Chefchaouen tomorrow and then to Mnar Park (where we were staying) but the thought of a 5 hour round trip in the car tomorrow and then staying at a water park that was too cold to enjoy just didn’t seem like how we wanted to spend the precious remaining days of vacation. So we cancelled our current bookings quickly found an AirBnB on the coast of Spain just outside Malaga and we will set sail back to Europe tomorrow.

We really did enjoy our time here. Northern Africa is new for Jacob and I, not something we can say that often. We have never stayed in a kasbah or wandered through alleyways quite like this before. The kids really enjoyed all the sights and smells. The people here were super accommodating and excellent with the kids. We got a lot of smiles, hellos, high fives and a few more kisses than I would have liked. I wouldn’t say we are done with Morocco forever but for now we will say so long.