On Friday the 20th we packed up our bags, had a quick breakfast of Moroccan bread and juice then and met Muhammed bright and early just inside the Kasbah gate. (It was early enough in the day that he could drive into the Kasbah) He dropped us off at the Tager-Med Ferry. It had been a night of wind and rain and we were unsure if the ferry would even be able to cross. As we got to the line at the ticket gate we found that the 8AM ferry HAD been canceled and the next ferry wouldn't be until 10AM. We weren't sure what to do in the meantime but a worker there suggested that we cross the road to a small cafe and wait it out. We did just that. Rick ordered an omelet and juice and we sat for only about thirty minutes when we Rick noticed the ferry worker motioning for us to come back. We then got in line and got our tickets changed over for the 10AM crossing.
It was somewhat of a rough ride with the windy conditions. A service woman was passing out plastic vomit bags for those who needed them. Many people were looking quite pale. I'm not sure if anyone got sick or not but the lady in front of me was looking for an extra bag so I gave her mine and then she got up and left so.....
After arriving and finding that all was well with our rental car and belongings (big relief, cause you just never know) we headed toward Malaga where we were staying for the night. Originally, I thought it sounded nice to get to our hotel and enjoy the pool but decided it was probably a little chilly for that.
In my mind I started formulating a plan off of something our driver, Jamal had said. He made the comment that you could have hummus in the morning in Morocco, fish and chips in the UK (Gibraltar) for lunch, and tapas for dinner in Spain.
My mind said....why can't we do something of the same. So I mentioned to Rick what I was thinking and he jumped on board. He is always so good to go with my ideas:)
This is the Khobz bread we had for breakfast.
We also had spearmint tea, a staple in the Moroccan diet.
So we changed our plan and drove into Gibraltar one more time. It was easy to get through the frontier (border) and we headed over to the Casemates Square for some fish and chips.
(I opted for chicken and chips.😉
We arrived to Malaga in the late afternoon and we knew that we needed to get some laundry done before we left for Lisbon the next morning so Rick went out to find a laundromat. He found one not too far and was able to get our clothes washed. In the meantime we found a place for dinner right by the laundromat. It worked out quite smoothly.
He was taking quite awhile and so I called to check on him. I could see him coming across the square and so I watched him walk to the hotel. Here he is crossing the street with my suitcase that had been filled with dirty clothes. We stayed on the 14th floor of the hotel. The Marriott upgraded us to a suite and our room was very nice. Our bedroom had a nice deck that overlooked other hotels and a beautiful cathedral. I loved that I could go outside to people watch.
When Rick got back we walked outside for a bit until we found the restaurant.
The sights we were seeing of Malaga looked nice and thought that this could be a nice place to explore for a few days but knew that we would be leaving the next morning.
This is our last meal of the day....in Spain. It was Italian food but we were definitely in Spain:)
This is the beautiful cathedral right off of our deck!
The next morning we left around nine after eating at the hotel's breakfast buffet. It took awhile to get through the ticketing lines and were finally allowed up to the gates. Here is our airline. TAP airlines is the official Portugal Airline.
After arriving in Portugal and getting our car we whizzed right over to the temple to catch a session. We did and it all worked out great. We had to change in the car but that wasn't too big of a deal. We both were able to get translation headphones and the session and celestial room were nice.
Next we drove over to our hotel and got checked in. We stayed in the Marriott Lisboa Hotel and Spa. WE were upgraded to a Junior suite and had a beautiful view of the city. We got settled and enjoyed some room service that evening. I for sure did not want to go out again. Rick went to check out the spa and really enjoyed it. There was an outside pool, a sauna, a steam room and a nice big jacuzzi tub. I think he used them all:)
The next morning was Sunday so we got ready for church, had a nice breakfast at the buffet and then headed toward the church. It happened to be the church that was right next to the temple.
We started with RS which I thought was rather different. Generally most churches start with the Sacrament Meeting. It was nice though because there was a young woman visiting that could translate Portuguese into English. There were four of us that needed translation so that came in pretty handy for each of us to understand the lesson and following meeting. Singing in Portuguese proved a little harder than I expected so I just hummed or sang in English:)
After church we took a little drive across two large bridges in the area.
This one is called the Vasco Da Game Bridge. It is the longest bridge in Europe. It is 56,381 ft long
The next bridge was painted a beautiful red! It is called the 25th of April Bridge. It is much shorter than the other bridge at 7,473. It is really cool because it passes right by the huge Cristo Rei that overlooks the city. More on that later....
It took us about an hour to get across both bridges. Then we decided to drive towards a place that was recommended to visit from a man at church. We drove about thirty minutes to a small town called Sintra. It was up in the mountains above Lisbon. It is the place that the royal family has a home because of the more temperate weather. We liked it so much we decided to come back the next day when we would be more at liberty to explore. We then headed back to the hotel. We were both very happy to have some down time since we had been going so much. We relaxed and ordered room service for our dinner and just enjoyed being together:)
The next morning after the fabulous breakfast buffet we got out and about seeing the sights of Lisbon.
First we stopped at the Cristo Rei Statue crossing back over the red bridge. We took an elevator up as far as it would go and then climbed the remaining forty seven steps. The view from the top was magnificent!
This is a great view of the full bridge.
Next we went to the Belin part of the city.
We got to see this tomb of the unknown soldier. It is guarded by two soldiers.
As we were leaving the area we got to see the changing of the guard.
This is the Belem Castle. It is quite a landmark in the city and is the most visited place there.
I enjoyed seeing all of the people and watching the little kids play in the water.
It was a chilly day with a little rain but some kids were putting their feet in the water.
We stopped and bought a few trinkets to help get rid of our Euro since this was going to be our last day.
We got in a bit of a rainstorm so we took shelter underneath a tree. After it became just a drizzle we moved forward. I used my scarf as a covering. It looked a little funny but, it worked!
Next we found the Pasties de Belem. This bakery was recommended as a "not to miss" in the city.
We found a few savory items and then enjoyed some custard pasties that are a very Portuguese item.
Between the two of us we ate a box of six...not in one sitting...HaHa!
Portugal's flag
Next we drove back to the Pena National Palace in Sintra where we had been the day before.
We couldn't get too close to the palace but enjoyed this lookout at Eustacia's Point. We could see right over Lisbon to the Atlantic. It was beautiful....and breezy!
We then stopped at the Sabores de Sintra restaurant for some dinner.
We had some Portuguese bread and breaded green beans for our appetizer at the server's recommendation.
Rick ordered the curry rice and I ordered the chicken. (surprise:)
That night we got back to the hotel and spent a little time in the sauna and jacuzzi.
It was nice.
We got packed up for the long trip back home. We were both definitely ready at this point. We had been gone for exactly three weeks! That is a lot time to be away from family and frankly, MY HOME!
Here is a beautiful shot of the Lisbon city scape at night.
It was such a beautiful view outside our window!
The next morning after traveling for about twenty four hours we made it back to our bed. YAY!
It was a marvelous trip! One for the record books. We got to see and do things we've never seen nor done before! It was a trip filled with adventure, sightseeing, and beautiful vistas but the best part of it was spending time with the one I love most!
