Way to Algeciras via Seville - Christmas Eve

We were leaving Portugal with great memories and feeling huge gratitude for the great hospitality received from Daniel and his family. Daniel, a multi-talented guy I can tell you, even decided to donate one of his paintings for our cause – to be auctioned off after we get back!

Although that day started with a rainy morning and sky covered with heavy, grey clouds, when we reached the Spanish border the sun came right out. 20+ degree Celsius! There was no way, we thought, it was Christmas Eve that day. On our way to Algeciras where we were about to board the ferry to Africa, we decided to visit Seville as the city was recommended by our friend as a place with a truly remarkable spirit. We spend there just a few hours, but we truly can say that Seville is a really beautiful and colourful city with great old buildings and pleasant green areas. After some shopping we headed straight to Algeciras, a huge and ugly harbour packed with fully loaded cars (that includes the boot, the back seats and the roof) headed to Africa. We arrived well in the evening, with no hotel or ticket booked. Having been warned about touts trying tosell tickets in the harbour we went for the official travel agents. And there an unpleasant surprise – either you pay 120 Euros for or you’re not going today at all. Being Christmas it was the last service of the day or a night in the docks. Having finally decided there were no other option but to buy that ticket we soon we were crossing the Gibraltar Straight while in whole Europe people celebrated the Christmas Eve. We were really tired we “landed” in Ceuta and although we did try to navigate the extremely its narrow streets in search of some sort of a camping or a hotel, we finally gave up and decided to park on a small hill where with a great view on Ceuta and simply sleep in the car.