1936 On the Continent

visited it.
    While in Spain you have seen many new worlds, but Tangier is different from them all. Although this North African city is within a stone’s throw of Europe, so to speak, when you enter it you will find yourself transported to an atmosphere that is subconsciously familiar to you from your reading of the Bible. Of course, if you have been to the East, Tangier will be nothing to you, but if you have not you will carry away an impression that you are never likely to forget.
    The street life of Tangier will get you from the word go. Moors in flowing robes and turbans, strings of camels driven by negroes, Jews in black caftans, Spaniards, Frenchmen, a gorgeous modern hotel and the minarets of the mosques shimmering in the blazing sun—all these things impinge on your vision at once. The sights and sounds of Tangier waft you into a world that is different from anything you have known before. There is beauty, but there is also hideousness, like the incredibly ugly old women you see on the Great Soko on Thursday and Sunday mornings and the diseased beggars you meet here and there, but it all merges into something uniquely picturesque and impressive. The snake charmers, jugglers and story-tellers give their respective performances in exactly the same way as they and their ancestors have been doing for centuries.
    I wish I could advise you to explore Tangier for yourself, but I am afraid that if you happen to stray off the beaten path you may encounter trouble. Thus you will do well to engage a guide, but never one who offers his services in the street. The hotel where you are staying should always be consulted in the matter of guides, and guide-beggars who importune you in the street must be ignored.
    You will be made comfortable at the Cecil or the Continental, but there are a good half dozen other satisfactory hotels. You will probably learn at your hotel that you must be careful about drinking water, though with theexcellent iced drinks you can get anywhere at the reliable hotels and cafés this will be no hardship.
    As to amusements, Tangier is nowadays visited by large numbers of well-to-do Europeans and amusement catering, is therefore improving. You may be interested to visit an Arab café, but you are strongly advised to take a reliable guide. If you are interested in sports you will do well to apply to the Secretary of the British Sports Club, which has tennis and hockey grounds.
    If you stay in Tangier for any length of time you will probably establish contact with a member of the fairly extensive British colony, who will give you all the hints that only a local resident can give.
Your Budget
    I cannot tell at what point on this long journey homesickness will overtake you—or your pocket. A home-sick pocket can be very annoying and it is therefore advisable to calculate probable expenditure in advance.
    In the case of Spain this is not too difficult, thanks to the
Patronato Nacional del Turismo
, who list the prices of practically all the hotels you are likely to stay at in Spain. Railway fares in Spain need not be ascertained in accordance with a predetermined itinerary, unless you are bound to one in any case.
    I give the following budget for a 30-days tour on the assumption that you are a person of moderate means, yet do not wish to spoil your holiday by petty economies.
Railway Fares
London to Irun via Paris (second class)
£6 13s. od.
Total fares in Spain (second class)
£10 os. od.
    With regard to the latter item, I must explain that the Spanish railways issue mileage tickets, which you can obtain upon your entering the country. You receive an identity card (for which you must supply a photograph of yourself) and a book of coupons, one or more of which you can exchange at any railway station in Spain for a ticket to any chosen destination. The £10 estimated as the cost of your fares in Spain represents a total distance of 2,500 miles, and although this budget is calculated for one person only, it will be useful for you to know that
two persons
are allowed to travel with the same mileage ticket if the mileage is not less than 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles).
    Thus:
Total railway fares amount to 30 days (approximately) at medium-class
£16
13s.
od.
hotels at maximum rate (£4 per week)
£16
os.
od.
Tips and miscellaneous expenses (£2 per week)
£8
os.
od.
£40
13s.
od.
    Thus approximately £40 will see you through comfortably on a 30-day tour, but even this can be reduced in various ways. If you