Whirlwind Portugal, So. Spain, Morocco (with a side of Istanbul)

Million $ view from hotel

Aya Sofya

A $600 r/t plane ticket was enough to finally lure me back to the Eastern Hemisphere. It had been since 2008, when I spent three weeks in Germany and Italy, since my last time in Europe. I will not wait that long again! I picked an itinerary that had been on my radar for quite some time. Portugal (a country I had never been), Sevilla, Spain (a city I had heard wonderful things about) and Morocco (a country I had never been to and wanted to check out).  Along the way I was lucky enough to get to see a few other places I didn't expect (even if for a brief time) like Istanbul, Faro, Cadiz, Tarifa, Malaga, with an encore of Istanbul again.

Aya Sofya mosaic

Istanbul sweets!

Let me say that flying through Istanbul (the great deal was through Turkish Airlines), seemed real painful on paper (given extra flights and overnights in Istanbul), but was a blessing since Istanbul is an amazing city that I might not have sought out otherwise. Granted I only spent 40 hours there, but those 40 hours were well worth it. Both times I stayed within a stones-throw of Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque. Both of these building are truly larger-than-life. Luckily I had the opportunity to visit each of them as well. Aside from wandering around that area I also traversed the Grand Bazaar (no, I didn't buy anything) and spent a good deal of time wandering around the Beyoglu and up and down Istiklal Caddesi marveling at the throngs of people out at all hours of the night. Up there I stumbled upon some great food (kebabs and doner kababs mostly... I couldn't get enough), fun bars, live bands, the Galata Tower and some world-class people watching. I had 40 hours, but really needed more like 40 days to get to see everything I wanted to see in Istanbul, but not too shabby for a quick layover.

ginjinha!

From Istanbul I headed to Lisbon (yes, 4 hours back the direction I came from) and to the bulk of the trip that was intended. I did not know much about Lisbon, but it too proved to be an amazing city (and definitely felt like I was in Europe, where Istanbul felt like a mishmash of many places). My only expectation for Lisbon was that they speak Portuguese, which is frustrating, but I found it to be much different than it was spoken in Brazil, also it helped that most people spoke English as well. Staying right in the middle of the city made it easy to roam around the different central neighborhoods. I did not expect Lisbon to be hilly, but it was, which made the city even more interesting with a view point looking over the water or the red tiled roofs pretty much everywhere. 

Lisbon

Though I know I missed some of the sights in Lisbon, I got a good enough taste to realize I would definitely go back. I did get to visit the Castelo de Sao Jorge (the big castle on the hill over looking the city), Pracado Comercio, Se (the big cathedral), Mosteiro de Sao Vicente de Fora, took a ride on Tram 28, drank some ginjinha (the local booze with boozey cherries) and got to stroll around the modern Parque das Nacoes. Strolling the neighborhoods in Lisbon was really the highlight of this city.


From Lisbon I took a train to Faro. The scenery the first part of the trip was ok, but further south it was amazing lush hills, etc., what I was hoping for. Faro is on the southern coast of Portugal. I had heard of it before since Ryan Air flew there from London. It was an impressive town of 40,000. The night in Faro also happened to be the main night of Carnival, giving the bars an excuse to stay open until 7 a.m. or later. I did partake in some Carnival fun, but not all night, as I had to grab a bus to Sevilla pretty early in the morning. Probably had one of my favorite meals of the trip in Faro (an awesome rump steak frites served with a grilled orange). The bus to Sevilla, Spain was a quick 3 hours.

Plaza de Espana

Sunny Sevilla was pretty amazing as advertised. 3 nights there gave a good opportunity to see lots of the city, though again I would love some more time there. The first morning the hotel suggested an excellent freeish walking tour, which was a great opportunity to get acquainted with the city, see the main sights and learn a little more. The cathedral, Giralda, Alcazar, Plaza de Espana and Metropol Parasol were all pretty awesome. The neighborhoods in Sevilla were also very interesting, finding a different hood to have tapas in each day added to the adventure. With the sun shining and excessive amounts of outdoor cafes, it was also quite easy to settle in with a cerveza and watch the day go by.

Don't order the fried fish platter

The trip from Sevilla to Fez, Morocco was definitely my longest travel day and naturally it was lengthened by just missing a bus, a ferry and a train... The train from Sevilla to Cadiz was very easy. Once I arrived in Cadiz I realized that I just missed the bus I needed to take, but this also give the opportunity to roam around Cadiz, which is a beautiful, old city right on the ocean. From there a bus took me to Tarifa, which is a small town where you catch the ferry to Tangier, Morocco. Here too I could see the ferry when I arrived, but they were no longer boarding. Again I got the opportunity to explore an amazing little town and enjoy the sun in the southern-most point in Spain. The ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar was a quick 40 minutes that takes you from chill Spain to the hustle and bustle (and touts) of northern Africa. Morocco is such a friendly place, the instant I cleared customs I quickly had about 5 "friends." I actually did a pretty good job dodging most of them and finally found a legit taxi to take me to the train station. I arrived to find out I had a couple hours to wait for the next train to Fez. This time I was not so lucky, as the area around the train station had nothing to explore. So I settled in with a book and the first of what would be many cups of Moroccan mint tea. Yum.

I arrived to Fez around midnight (after leaving about 8am from Sevilla) and went straight to bed. The next day I woke up rested to traverse the famous Fez medina (old, walled city). On my way there I quickly met about three Mohammeds who were interested in taking me around the medina. I finally gave in and settled for the one who spoke the best English and was able to show me his credentials. Having a personal guide for 2.5 hours was worth the $15. The medina was a trip, as expected. It was filled with stores of all kinds, mosques, craftsman, animals, hotels, amazing food, tourist traps, mosaic fountains, narrow passageways, interesting smells... you get the idea. It was a sensory overload. After my tour was over I toured around by myself for a while, stopped for mint tea and had some amazing chicken and couscous.  All in all, I spent about 5 or 6 hours touring/lost/eating/getting more lost in the medina. I finally found my way out and back to my hotel. Also, in Fez I took time to see the Jewish quarter, an amazing garden, the royal palace gates, a new and very modern shopping mall and part of the "new city." Fez was a very impressive place, but I might have gotten too comfortable in Spain/Portugal to get too excited about it.

The medina really was the thing to see in Fez, so the next  morning I headed out on an early train to Casablanca. Casablanca on a Sunday is pretty much closed, at least the major stores/restaurants were, but the small medina there and some street markets were in full force and EVERYONE was out and about enjoying the day. Not sure what to do, I embarked on the longest walk ever. Hotel/city center -> medina -> sketchy shop some guy lured me into -> street market -> Hassan II Mosque (amazing) -> rocky coast -> Morocco Mall (impressive) -> Blvd de la Corniche (along the coast and jammed with people) -> a couple really fancy, oceanfront McDonalds -> sunset dinner on the water -> tram back to city center -> hotel bar/club (a surprisingly happening place). If you have the idea that Casablanca is a magical or romantic place, because I think many might have that impression, you might be surprised, but it was worth 24 hours of exploring. Before heading to the Casablanca airport in the morning, I spent another hour or so wandering around the central city admiring the architecture.



From Casablanca I flew Royal Air Maroc (yes, that is an airline) to Malaga, Spain, where I spent the final 24 hours of my trip before heading back to Istanbul. I don't know if I was excited to be back in Spain or what, but I can't say enough about Malaga. After arriving and getting settled, I was mesmerized by the city. I was expecting a lame, touristy beach town, but I really just found a city that had pretty much everything... history, food, drinks, beaches, hills, architecture, personality, parks, palm trees, castles (kinda), a ridiculous cathedral, cafes, a Picasso museum, friendly people and much more.  Malaga made me want to miss my flight, then miss it again and again and again... Needless to say I will be back.