So last I left off we made it to the airport after a bit of a kerfuffle about the transportation and me running myself smack dab into a glass door, but we arrive in Lisbon safe and sound. I already have two black eyes developing but luckily the bleeding has slowed. No one ran away from me at the airport so I am thinking I probably don’t look too bad, but people don’t seem to be cuddling up to me either. Our Airbnb hosts arranged for a driver to retrieve us and luckily only one showed up this time. As it turns out, Guillhermo was affable, spoke great English and was a joy to meet – especially after our fist-fighting driver in Morocco.
We arrive in the evening and it is already dark but can get a feel for the city right away with its views of the expansive Tagus river, hills and small, narrow and windy roads. The street where we are staying is closed to traffic and we are able to walk down the street to a cute little place with red and white-checkered tablecloths for dinner. The proprietor beckons to us (me, hubster and S2) and we only have to wait a few minutes for a small table and delicious and fairly inexpensive food. S1 and S1GF don’t go with us. They are probably sick of us as we have now been traveling together an entire week – much more time together than we would spend in California. I am not offended. Really I am not. Traveling with your adult children is not always easy but unlike traveling with young children you can just go separate ways when you want. Awesome.
We explore the city mostly on foot, hoofing it up to the Castelo of São Jorge (hubster loves when things are called George or Jorge) and down to the water where we do some shopping and grab lunch. The weather is great and the temperature is cool and the sky is incredibly blue and clear. There are great views of the Golden Gate Bridge look-alike, the April 25th Bridge, from just about everywhere. I post a picture of this on Instagram and several friends from California contact me asking if I am back in the Bay Area (ha, fooled them). As luck had it, one of the hubster’s nieces and her family are also in Lisbon and staying close to us. The 8 of us: me, hubster, S2 and the five of them, but not S1 and S1GF again (still not offended) walk to a pizza place that is fast and really good. It is so great to see family and spend some time laughing and talking.
On our last full day in Lisbon I wake up looking like a prizefighter or an old lady with a serious drinking problem and my nose is very sore. I decide not to go to a doctor as my nose is not crooked and there is little anyone can do if it is broken other than wait it out for it to heal. We (sans S1 and S1GF – still not offended) decide to take a tuk tuk ride around the city. You would think tuk tuks (thumbs up) might be like tro tros (thumbs down), but they are much smaller and are more used for tours around the city are definitely pricier (50 euros/hr) than a tro tro (~$.50/ride). Our guide is knowledgeable about the history of Lisbon, and a few times he is unclear about dates and amusingly laments, “Or sometime around then.” Close enough for me – I am never going to remember the dates anyway. Our tour ends when he drops us at an expensive restaurant. Hint: Don’t give your tuk tuk driver a good tip or he thinks you are wealthy and like to eat at very expensive restaurants.
At the end of the day we meet back up with S1 and S1GF (maybe they have missed us and it is our last night together) and hope to get into a well-rated restaurant close by only to find they are no tables available. Most of the people who are turned away are walking into the restaurant next door so we decide to do the same. The food is okay but when we get the bill we are shocked − five euros per person. This includes the beverage (wine and water for most of us), dinner and dessert. What? How is this possible? I whip out my 25 euros and happily pay the bill. Makes up for the not so cheap lunch earlier in the day.
The next day we bid adieu to S1 and S1GF as they are off to Berlin to end their journey there. Something about a friend, a rave, and great art. Hubster, S2 and I rent a car (Prius) and drive for 4 hours through Portugal and then onto Seville, Spain. After not driving in Ghana for 3 months, it is fun to be in a car steered by either you or someone you love and trust and of course the car is new, clean and has excellent working seat belts (lots of thumbs up). We pull into Seville at what we think is around 4 PM. Get all checked into our Airbnb (super cute, three floors, walking distance to dozens of restaurants and shops). We walk around the neighborhood a bit and see that many of the restaurants don’t open until 8. This is Spain. Around 8 we head out to check out a few of the places we saw earlier, the first one is full already and booked solid for the rest of the night. “Wow,” I think to myself, “When they say 8 everyone must be waiting outside the door for the place to open to be this busy already.” It is about 8:05 (or so I thought). The second place we go to is not full so we walk in. A very nice, friendly waitress tells us that they can probably accommodate us but they have a large party with reservations at 10. “10?” I say, “Well certainly we can finish dinner in 2 hours!” She gives us a look like we just came down from Mars. She very politely and kindly says, “Well, it is 9 now so you would only have an hour.” Oh geez. Yep, a time zone change. Oops. We get the table and enjoy a great dinner and we leave just as the large party, which includes children in strollers (this is Spain) enters the restaurant.
We were not the only people to decide to spend the New Year’s holiday in Seville. The city is jam-packed with people and we don’t go into the Alcazar or the Cathedral as the wait is on the order of 4 hours. We do walk around and see the beautiful Plaza de España, where there are fewer tourists and take a boat ride up and down the Guadalquivir river. I also get in some great runs in the mornings along a walk/bike path also along the river – complete with a dog park. On New Years Eve we journeyed out to watch Flamenco dancing followed by an 11:30 PM sushi dinner (this is Spain but that doesn’t mean we can’t eat Japanese food) with fireworks going off everywhere including a few feet from our outdoor table.
We have a far niente day on the 1st (this is Spain, but borrowing an applicable Italian word). Hubster goes to church in the morning and finds a delightful restaurant for lunch later that day. I start to think I can get used to having wine with lunch. We take a high-speed train to Córdoba the next day and do what we do best, walk a lot and eat really good food. There are fewer tourists in Córdoba (many are Spanish), hence shorter lines at the tourist attractions, which includes a handful of UNESCO World Heritage sites. I love everything about this city but I am especially enamored with the Mosque-Cathedral with the colorful arches of the Mosque entwined with the altars of the Christians.
S2 has to fly out early the next morning back to London and hubster and I drive back to Portugal and spend a night in Sintra (lovely, VERY hilly town) before we return to Lisbon to catch an early (and direct!) flight back to Accra. It would surprise S1 and S2 and probably S1GF if I said that I was trying not to make too many comparisons to Ghana this trip. It is strange traveling from a developing nation to one (or several) very much further along in development. I often found myself saying, “You know where they don’t have this? Ghana.” It became a bit of joke for all of us during the trip. I appreciate that in Portugal and Spain, and even Morocco, as well as the US that cars yield to pedestrians, there is little to no pollution, that the assumption is that the food and water are safe, and I can understand what people were saying to me and visa versa. But it is not even so much that I appreciated these things but I just miss some of what my life is like in the overly-developed world. Bottom line though is what I really miss most about my “other” life is my family and friends (well, and my dog, Preston). So, in the end, even though I loved all the countries we visited and it was nice to be out of West Africa for a few weeks, what I really enjoyed was being able to spend time not just with hubster but with S1 and S2. Oh and, yes, we still all love one another, at least I think so.
And my nose…the bruising is mostly gone. Broken? Maybe, never will know for sure.
Aptos To Accra 