Monday, May 26, 2014

Morocco, Gibraltar and Portugual

We felt we needed a break from the wine and the tapas so we thought lets go to Morocco where technically alcohol is banned and there are no tapas. It is pretty easy to get in and a 35 minute ferry ride from La Linea. I was there many years ago with no muggings so I was not there seeking revenge. Glad I went for a few reasons. The last time I was there I was shocked by how aggressive the merchants were but did not find it that bad. Aggressive for sure but so bad. We had a funky little hotel at the top of the Kasbah and not far from the Medina. There is still something dodgy about the place but does not seem to be dangerous.
We went to a local restaurant for a tagine and it was fantastic. It was a short trip and it was time to make our way to Portugal buy via Gibraltar.

Portugal
We couldn’t figure out why Lisbon was so expensive and why we couldn’t find a hotel. But after some searches we realized it was the Champions League Finals with two Spanish Teams in the final so it was impossible to find a place. But it was our intent to find a place in the Algarve first so we made Lagos our home base and traveled from Nigeria every day.

It was a great place and we discovered that Portugal has wine and tapas. Lots of tourists even for this time of year. We rented a car and that proved to be fun and we had dinner at this amazing beach with high cliffs, long waves and fairly secluded and saw a litter of very cute puppies. Driving through the medieval streets proved to fun and a bit nerve wrecking. You literally drive though the restaurant patios and could swipe the food from the table of that struck your fancy. And struck it it did. Free wine and tapas. Bombing around S. Portugal proved to be a lot of fun with some great views of the area.

Denise left to two days before me so we want to Lisbon and experienced a little of the Soccer (soccer damn it) and it was crazy with the crowds. A pickpocket actually had her hands in Denise’s purse. And then I was robbed at gun point. But a few ninja roles I had his gun and the stuff he stole from other people so the trip just paid for itself.

When Denise went back I had no chance to get a place in Lisbon so I hopped a train (that is how we use to say it when I was grifting in the 30’s) and I am now in Porto. Charming, a bit crowded and home of Porto wine. Saw some bottles that sell for hundreds of thousand euros. I don’t like it but wanted to see the process and learn some of the history.

I have an early train to Lisbon tomorrow, then a flight to Istanbul and then back to Iraq.

Onward,


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