My old town

Where to start…

We got on the boat, laughing about having been stopped by the police the night before. We queued up, boarded and took a little bag that would entertain us from 8am until 1:15pm, when we were due to arrive the other side of the Med. We grabbed a coffee, and it was only then that we realised this was the first time we’d stopped in two weeks. We had a few hours ahead of us where we were forced to stay still and be shipped. It was very much welcomed.

Pulling into Melilla on the boat was just incredible. The sight of the old medieval fortress in the flesh (the old town, otherwise known as Melilla la Vieja) just brought about a sense of nostalgia for me. I remember my last night leaving this place all those years ago. The heartbreak I felt leaving the people I’d grown to love over the year I spent here, saying goodbye to those that became my family. I’d said to Tony that perhaps we could go and knock on a few doors whilst we’re here. He was generously very open to any suggestions and wanted to indulge me.

We pulled off the boat (knocking the winch again, just as we had when we boarded - poor Smiles), and were asked to pull over to be searched. We underwent similar lines of questioning to those we experienced when trying to get into Finland as foot passengers two weeks ago… “What are you doing here?”, “Why have you come here?”, “Where are you staying?”, etc. I explained I used to live here 12 years ago and helped the Guardia Civil inspect the van. The rustiness of my Spanish meant that I found it very difficult to explain what was on the roof rack (well, that, and the fact that I don’t even know what a starter motor is in English!!).

The officials made it very clear to us that we wouldn’t be able to access Morocco, and that the border has been closed for the last two years. There’d been a few beggars in Almeria and Marseille and I explained to Tony that Melilla was similar, warning him to brace himself and to see past that. With the border to Morocco being closed, the place was going to be very different…

The civil guard let us on our way and, once in, I was eager to show Anf and Smiles some of the more charming spots. We headed straight up to Melilla la Vieja – it was time for a Smiley photoshoot!