Our Favorite Place So Far - Portugal

Our trip to Portugal began with a plane from Marrakech to Madrid and from there an overnight train to Lisbon.  It was a beautiful clear day for the flight and from the plane we could see where the continents of Europe and Africa sit so close together, as well as Gibralter, the British territory at the south edge of Spain.

On the train we had a 4 person 2nd class couchette compartment that we could lock from the inside.  It had a small sink and mirror, and with the fare came a bottle of water and grooming kit (toothbrush,toothpaste, soap and razor) per person.  It was pretty cozy (small) but other than that comfortable and we all slept through the night.

We were met at the station in the morning by the world's nicest vacation home owner (a lovely German woman named Dagmar) who took our bags so we could explore Lisbon for the day prior to heading out to our home for the week in Sintra.  Lisbon is definitely one of the prettiest capitol cities I've ever seen.  We spent the day hiking up to and around the Castel St George and wandering the streets and the waterfront.

The rest of the week we explored the ancient town of Sintra and the surrounding area.  Dagmar calls her place an apartment but actually it is most of a house.  We had the top two floors of a wonderfully restored, warmly decorated, modernly outfitted and very well located home.  Everyone had their own bedroom and own bathroom and just like at home we never ran out of hot water - without a doubt our favorite accommodation thus far.

Sintra is famous for castles and palaces and we saw our fare share.  Our favorite was built by the Moors in the 12th century.  Climbing the ramparts and towers was vertigo inducing but the views were absolutely amazing.

One day we headed for the beach, but huge surf and a disapproving lifeguard forced the kids out of the water so we moved to a large local salt water pool instead.  Peyton is a skilled tumbler and can therefore throw some pretty impressive tricks off a high dive. I like the expressions of the local boys in the pic below.  The teens were a very friendly bunch and Wilder in particular had fun hanging out with them for the day, diving, swimming and playing foosball.

Another enjoyable outing was the antique toy museum.  Wilder proclaimed it has favorite museum ever.

It turns out we inadvertently saved the best for last as we headed on our final day to Cascais, a gorgeous city on the water with a marina and lots of picturesque beaches and dramatic cliffs.  We all loved this city and pledged to come back some day, partly because we arrived too late to use the bicycles the city provides for free.  Seriously though it was the kind of place I thought I could happily live.

Peyton took advantage of a grassy park to do some tumbling and Mark challenged her to a handstand contest.  You can see who won.

We almost didn't make it to Cascais at all.  I had determined (with insufficient research it turns out) that we should take the local bus.  The ride turned out to be an hour and a half of hair raising turns up and down ridges and valleys at break next speed in the midday heat and, in our case, seated backwards on a very crowded bus.  Peyton and I both came very close to losing our breakfast.  It wouldn't have been pretty on that packed and very warm bus.  It was only because I refused to return home on said bus that we came to find out a taxi takes a different, very straight and direct route in a third of the time, and because there are four of us, cost less money.

Today we depart for Paris and, while we are excited about that, this is the first place we are really sad to leave.  I see as I put together this post that the pictures I took really fail to do it justice.  Had we not already booked ahead we would have happily stayed another week at the lovely house in Sintra and then headed up the cost to see the north of Portugal as well.  There is nothing for it then but that we will have to come back some day.

Morocco

Morocco is beautiful.  It is also overwhelming to all of the senses and especially so, we found out, at the end of Ramadan.  Ramadan, for those who don't know, is the month long religious holiday wherein Muslims don't eat, drink or smoke from sun up to sun down.  This as you can imagine makes them grumpy.  Not surprisingly too, when it is over there is quite a lot of celebrating going on.  Somehow, when we where making our reservations, Peyton and I thought it would be a good idea to arrive in Marrakech for the end of Ramadan, which this year was also the end of August - in hind sight, perhaps not the best idea.

Marrakech we have come to know, is an overwhelming traffic nightmare of taxis (who will only carry 3 people, not 4), motor bikes and lots and lots of people all trying to navigate small twisting roads with no sidewalks, and this is true on the most regular of evenings.  The last night of Ramadan, I would compare to Christmas Eve in Manhattan, but instead in a third world country and with a unimaginable number of motorized vehicles coming at you from every direction  and at breakneck speed in a maze of tiny streets and tunnels.  That first night I felt certain we were going to die just trying to walk down the street.  (I have no pictures of this because I was too frightened to take out my camera.)

It might be news then that Morocco has been our favorite destination thus far.  First, it is the most unlike anything any of us has ever seen.  Next, it was never boring.  Our delight was initially due to the Riad (ancient house built around a courtyard) that we rented for 4 nights in Marrakech.  It was stunningly beautiful, easily ousting the house in Santa Cruz, Ecuador as our favorite place we've stayed so far.

The Riad in Fes (5 nights) was more monastic, with 24 steps between my bed and the bathroom, but still ridiculously beautiful for a house all to ourselves for less than $150 US per night.  Fes was happily less scary as motor bikes are not generally allowed in the Medina (old section of the city) so that the worst you had to dodge was a donkey cart or two.  In addition our Riad there had an absolutely unbelievable view from the rooftop terrace that we enjoyed most every day at sunset as soon as it would cool off enough.

Other than traffic in Marrakech, the most difficult part of Morocco was definitely the language barrier.  What we wouldn't have done to speak a little French, or Arabic for that matter - that plus the fact that they would only put 3 people in a taxi.  We really struggled with this - especially at first.  Eventually we learned to take two - Wilder and I in the first, and Mark and Peyton in the second and just pray we ended up in the same place.  We did this when we wanted to go to the new part of town for a non-Moroccan meal.  Mostly though we ate locally - cafes or even street food.  Mark and kids were fond of the "meat sandwiches."  I was tempted to try the boiled snails (you pull them out with safety pins) but I didn't.  Wilder did eat a camel burger that he said was quite tasty.  We all loved the fresh squeezed orange juice.

During this time I came to decide we are more accurately "living around the world" than we are actually traveling it.  We have settled into a pattern where we book ahead an apartment or house in a residential neighborhood for from 4 nights to 7.  There we move in and explore at a relatively leisurely pace.  A tourist schedule involving full days of sight seeing are just too taxing to keep up over the long haul.  We generally start by finding a grocery store and stocking up with ingredients for at least one home cooked meal, some breakfast supplies and plenty of snacks.  Then we venture out to explore in 2-4 hour increments.  At this pace we can keep up with it every day.

Our outings in Morocco mostly consisted of just wandering and getting lost in the Medina.  These are crazy colorful and vibrant neighborhoods that have lots of tourists yes, but even more locals who are busy going about their lives - lives that other than television and cell phones appear not that different than they have been for hundreds of years.  You see women buying all the supplies to cook the families meals from the vendors that line the lanes and kids carrying loaves of dough to the neighborhood oven to be baked.  Beautiful fountains made of mosaic tiles are used to supply water to the many homes that don't have it.  Hammans (neighborhood bath houses) are still used by many for communal bathing.  After 6 weeks without a pedicure, and feeling a bit ripe from the heat, I tried the more upscale tourist version of a hamman (wimpy I know).  It consisted of being slathered in black soap and scrubbed like a baby from one end to the other.  I don't think I have ever been so clean.

The shopping in the souks is world famous and we could see why.  It was hard to have no budget (or luggage space) for babouches (leather slippers), hand embroidered linen, hammered brass trays and lanterns and those incredible tile mosaics.  Well, actually Peyton did find room in her luggage for some slippers.  I stuck to buying things we could eat.

The local women wear everything from full traditional gowns and head covers to more modern pants and shirts, but most all of them cover arms and legs - even in the 90 plus degree heat.  Peyton and I struggled to look covered up enough not to draw looks while also not baking to death.  Many men wear gowns and leather slippers too, very often in a bright saffron colored yellow.  The guide books all said this color was reserved for men, but none of them said why.  I've been meaning to google it.

Our days are also filled up with laundry, school (or Facebook) and the business of finding and paying for trains and planes and places to stay.  We are particularly addicted to wifi for all of our devices (iPhones, iPods, iPad and laptops) and when we don't have it (our last Riad) everyone is grumpy.  Keeping in touch with our friends and family at home makes everyone happy.  There are definitely times when this trip feels more like an endurance test than an adventure, but there are other times when it feels like the most right thing in the world.  A couple of those for me were during the very scenic 7 hour train ride from Marrakech to Fes and at cocktail hour on the roof at sunset with one of the imperial cities at my feet.

Next we fly back to Madrid and take an overnight train to Lisbon (or Lisboa) Portugal.  We will stay there for a week in the town of Sintra, a historic village on the coast.