Back from the puente

Hello again everyone,

I'm back from the puente safe and sound (I'm sure y'all were worried).  I know my posts have been kind of drawn out, but we still don't have internet in our place (see the above post).  I think that once we get that rolling I'm gonna try to aim for around 2 posts/week.

So anyway, without further adieu, my fantastic puente weekend adventures!

For our first puente we decided to take things a little easy (for reasons I'll explain later) and take a trip over to Tarifa.  Tarifa is a small town about 45 minutes by bus from La Línea.  Its known as the Spanish town that's physically closest to Africa as well as the kite surfing capital of the world.

 Here's a map for reference:

 I'm sorry to say that we didn't choose the best day to go to Tarifa.  Its a beautiful beach town in the spring and summer, but when we got off the bus, it started raining.  We decided to take shelter in this cool little café and ride the storm out.  Lucky, the rain did not last and it was not long before we were able to venture out and explore the city.  

After walking through several narrow streets, the city turned into the beach.  We came out on a small bridge leading to an fort, which separated the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.  

 

If you look to the left, you can see Africa.

And to right you can see the Atlantic and the remnants of the storm that just passed over us.  For some reason these clouds fascinated me and I took about 10 pictures of them.  For time's sake, I'll only put a few up.

We walked a little father down the bridge and found some signs.  Just in case your geography is found wanting...

This way is the Med (left):

And this way is the Atlantic (right):

 

Farther down the path is an old fort or building of some sort.  Unfortunately, the entrance was gated and the Franco-reminiscent guards would not let us pass.

 Before heading back to town, I turned to the right and caught this dude going out to surf.

 One last look at the city before heading back towards it.

 To the left are mountains that are an example of Spain's alternative energy plan.

 I also caught a shot of the boat from Tarifa to Tanger. 

Back in the city I found this park that reminds me of my mom.  Its a health-friendly exercise park, which apparently exist in several Spanish cities.

 Some of the "rides".

Warren the demo-Irishman 

After the park we walked along the waterfront to check out some graffiti art.

Its kinda weird, I know, but it was more impressionable in person.  

That's about it for my trip to Tarifa.  I hope you guys enjoyed more photo-journaling.  It was a nice little trip and I definitely plan to go back on a sunny day.  The town is a nice mix of charm and tourism. 

As far as the rest of the puente goes, I spent it exactly how you should spend a puente: doing nothing.  Like I mentioned, we decided to take this puente a little easy because October 14th we're going to see Andrew bird in concert!  In Granada!

Stay tuned,

Zach.