And so the great Eurotrip of 2017 draws to a close, and we find ourselves back in chilly Brazil with nothing but memories and small pots of hotel jam to sustain us. Since last I wrote we managed to cram another two countries in, starting with Morocco, which was as hectic and lovely as we'd been led to believe.
Once we landed in Marrakech we were escorted to our rather awesome riad by Massimo, the owner who we're pretty sure was either a shady arms dealer or exiled Italian duke in his spare time, and given a comprehensive briefing on what not to do when out and about. After a quick sleep and breakfast on the rooftop terrace we went to the main square and mosque for a wander, then down to the Palais Bahia and up into the souks, tried our hand at haggling (turns out I'm rubbish at haggling) and eventually staggered back once the heat became too much, for a quiet dinner and paddle in the pool.
The next day we had to forsake a trip to the Jardin Majorelle due to work commitments (we also called off a camel ride the previous evening, due to general paranoia), instead making our way to the airport to sit for hours as a man played the same five notes over and over again through some weird bass-and-delay set-up, and eventually getting to Lisbon and settling in to our Airbnb in the heart of the old town.
The next day we wandered round town, down to the Tagus and the Time Out Market for steak sandwiches, and up to the Catedrale do Sé, eventually ending up at the rather impressive Castelo São Jorge, looking over the city at sunset and taking lots of photos on the ramparts before heading down to the Portas do Sol viewpoint, and on to Cruzes Credo for a cod dinner, before heading back to bed.
The next day Gaby had food poisoning, prompting a trip to the hospital, and I hit a wall and ended up in bed all day too, and the next morning we found out our (heavily delayed) stopover in Casablanca was going to be by way of propellor plane - fairly stressful all in all, but we made it back in one piece around 1:30 in the morning, to be met by Adny and Ridaut and have a joyous reunion with Valente at home.
Since then I've gone down with a fever and have been recovering, surrounded by cats. Today's phrase - "he steals, but he gets things done" - goes out to Lula, who has just been sentenced to nine years for general dodginess.
Speak soon!
Fred of Arabia
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