We didn’t sleep so late this morning, so we had a chance to go to the hotel breakfast right at opening time.
The same setup as yesterday, although outside the staff were still setting up. The omelette lady was the same one – and she looked just as miserable cooking up our eggs. As we got some food from the buffet we stepped on sticky floors, and then sat down and sipped our cocoa-tasting coffee. The food was about the same, but again I enjoyed the oranges and yogurt. As we ate we had a view of the outside workers, who occasionally ducked behind their work station to use their personal phones. Something was a little off with the vibe of this hotel.
Back in our room we did our final packing and then went downstairs to check out. The front desk got on a radio to a staff member upstairs, who ran and checked our mini-bar situation. I guess they have trust issues with their guests.
The staff hailed a cab for us to the airport. The taxi was in better shape than the ones we used in Casablanca, but our driver spent most of the drive trying to sell us on tour packages. Seemed like an odd thing to do for people going to the airport with their suitcases. As we left central Marrakech we passed an intersection with a group of camels tethered to a tree. It was our first camel sighting in Morocco, if you don’t count the camel burger that we ate.
We had to get through a lot of traffic at the airport, but the driver eventually dropped us off in front of another nicely designed facility. We said that he didn’t have enough change for the bills that I gave him, effectively tipping himself 20% – nice…
We went into the airport and got into the line to check in. In front of us we noticed an interesting relationship – a young Moroccan guy and a much older European woman. They communicated only using translation software on their phones, and we watched as the young man patiently reviewed the pictures of this lady’s cats. It seemed like a temporary international relationship that was wrapping up.
Check in took a long time – some staff that was off duty insisted on walking around to all the agents and they all stopped what they were doing to shoot the breeze with him. Then it was to the immigration line that was packed with stressed, fairly pushy people who were worried about missing their plane. After immigration there was a huge line for the security check, also many highly-stressed people. By the time we made it through to the crowded (and quite small) concourse there was no time for food, so we pulled from the leftover snacks we had been carrying around during the trip.
Soon enough our flight was called, and we boarded a bus that took us out to our TAP plane to Lisbon. The flight was only half full, and oddly quiet except for a great deal of coughing – I wasn’t the only one fighting off a cold on this trip. The older woman who we had seen earlier with the younger local guy put her bag in the overhead bin and an oddly shaped device was sticking out. I joked to Kuniko that it was a sex toy as the staff struggled to rearrange it and make space.
The flight was just an hour and twenty minutes – and we descended to the airport over the city of Lisbon. There were some beautiful views as we came in. This visit was special as it was the first time we’d ever visited Europe outside of the summer months. I was interested to see if we enjoyed this European visit as much as our summer visits.
We took a bus from the plane to the terminal, had a super easy entry into the EU through automated gates, and our suitcase came right out almost as soon as we got to the carousel. We had been in Morocco so long that we had started getting used to delays – it felt like we had come back to civilization.
We walked to the airport metro station and bought rechargeable cards, then went to wait for the train. It took a while to arrive, and once we boarded there was an angry Santa-esque dude getting off, and soon after that an accordion player looking for tips. We did notice that the stations here didn’t have many escalators, so I had to lug the luggage now and then. We made one transfer, then got off and found our hotel, quite close.
Check in was quick and our room felt a little like an IKEA showroom corner, but it did have a big space, and seemed comfortable enough. We didn’t stay long, and went right back out to go get some wine at a wine bar I had found online. The place was a few blocks from our hotel, called Wine Bar Antiga. We consulted with the staff to try a few different wines from various areas, and he was very kind and helpful. We started with a white wine and some cod cakes and goat cheese rolls. For a second round we ordered some Port, and a local red along with a cheese platter (Portuguese cheese – just as good as I remembered). It wasn’t until I had the cheese that I realized that I had a good chance to eat more of one of my favorite cheeses ever – Azeitao. I’d have to keep my eyes open.
Behind us a table of three American women were chatting with a white guy who said he was from Hong Kong who was traveling with a much younger companion. The more they drank the more everyone was getting along.
After our wine break we started walking – all over the place. We walked down to the ocean, the Arco da Rua Augusta, and at the Se de Lisboa cathedral there was some kind of huge event – maybe related to Christmas? As we walked a few guys tried to sell us marijuana – I guess we fit the profile of potential buyers. We also saw the Lifta Santa Lusta, which is an architectural oddity placed right in the middle of the city. Near there we happen to walk by right when a Chinese lady had a freak out. She suddenly started screaming, with nobody around here, and a local guy walking by told her to shut up. Travel can be stressful sometimes.
We had last been to Portugal way back in 2014 – about ten years ago – and I had forgotten just how important tiles are to the architectural style here. I spent lots of time taking pictures of tiles in Morocco, and I had accidentally lined up another tile-focused country on our itinerary. Once again Kuniko had to be patient with me as I snapped away at tile work that caught my eye.
We were still doing lots of walking, hitting landmarks that we wanted to see but also enjoying the cooler weather and European vibe. Heading north we walked alongside a street lined with trees that led to a large park, set up with a Christmas festival. A big Ferris wheel stood next to a large Christmas tree. Many families and young couples were walking around, playing games and buying food from stands, and I was surprised how many stands were specialized in wine by the glass sales. I guess parents need more wine than most.
Eventually all the crowds started to grate on us a little so we headed back towards our hotel. As we went we passed many buildings with Christmas displays and projection mapping – they had big crowds watching and listening to the music, filming with their phones. I’m not sure why this was so attractive to everyone – it was basically a Christmas themed commercial – but we had to take more time to thread through these standing crowds.
We took a 20 minute break at our hotel , and then headed out to our dinner restaurant choice. To get there we followed Google maps, which took us down some dark, deserted streets. I was a little nervous – strange cities always seem more dangerous after dark – but we were fine, and I got some good pictures out of it.
The restaurant was called Floras da Pampa, and it had a stylish interior and cozy vibe. There weren’t so many customers at first, but later they really started to come in. This place was a hit for us – good vibe, food and wines. We ate Hispi cabbage (signature dish?), spicy mussels with cilantro, and a codfish confit. I had missed salt cod – so tasty!
I drank a local IPA, then changed to a red wine that was really good called “Chamine”. I liked that even with the glass wine the staff in the restaurants we visited offered a taste to see if you like it first. Usually in other countries you just take whatever they have.
As we left this restaurant the nightlife was starting to open up – that’s standard for us in Europe as we often eat way earlier than everyone else. Nearby we checked out the Black Sheep wine bar (a recommendation from Nastya at Aida’s place in Rabat) as a possibility for tomorrow, and it was really packed.
We walked back to our hotel and found a cheesy souvenir shop with a great keychain that we will convert to a tree ornament when we return. Score! The staff at this shop were really nice to us – even though we were doing some drunken keychain shopping.
I took quite a few more photos on our way back, and then we retired to our hotel to write in this journal and get some sleep. Good to be back in Europe!
