Tanger

Tangier faces Europe: the strait narrows to fourteen kilometres, and the Spanish coast draws itself in across the water. The city spent decades as an international zone, a bolthole for writers, painters and spies, and what remains of that is old cafés, white facades and a reputation for not giving itself away at once. The medina falls in steps down to the port, and the Kasbah Museum occupies the former sultan's palace, cedar ceilings and a marble courtyard. To the northwest, Cape Spartel marks the point where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean, and the Caves of Hercules open to the sea through a gap shaped like the map of Africa. Deeper in the lanes, the Tangier American Legation Museum fills the first building the United States ever owned abroad, a gift from the sultan in 1821. The food is coastal: grilled sardines, the day's catch, tagines, and tea poured very sweet.