Summer of 2017 was an incredible 3 week journey in Portugal, Morocco, and Malta with my beloved and FUN friend from uni, Anne. Portugal was our first stop, it had been a while since I'd been to Europe and remembered the awe I felt years ago when looking at the old, beautiful architecture and beautiful cathedrals. Lisbon is a bustling city with orange roof tops, tiled walls, and big, shiny doorknobs. One of our first stops was St Jorge castle, and we got a chance to glimpse at the city from above the fortress walls. We found our way to Belem, a suburb of Lisbon, with a magnificent tower and monastery, and stopped to enjoy the original bakery of the pastel de nata custard tarts. We took a tour to a Fado music show. Fado means fate in Portuguese and it's a long standing Portuguese style of music that is sung in dark bars. It originated when sailors' wives would create music about missing their husbands. In general the genre of music is very soulful and almost a haunting sound. After a swig of ginjinha, Portuguese liquor made from cherries, and naco na pedra, a 'sizzling stone' in that allows you to cook meat at your table, we headed north on the train to Porto. Porto was a much cooler place to meander the hilly streets. It lies on the Douro River which leads into the valley that grows grapes for port wine. :) The city is split in two. One side has windy streets to navigate with cathedrals, unis, famous Harry Potter library, street performers, and restaurants mthat serve pots of seafood soup, codfish, and francesinha sandwiches (various meats in a sandwich, covered in gravy...good going down, tough on the digestive tract). On the other side of the river there is a plethora of port wine cellars and tasting rooms. Our own self guided wine tour took us to the oldest post wine cellar, a tour of the underground barrels and vats at Ferreira's, and Taylor's, which had an awesome garden outside and tables; oh and peacocks and roosters. At first we thought it was the wine when we heard the crow, but along walked the rooster. Many giggles were had at that point, and the birth of 'Anne Luck Wright' ;) Porto's charm was magical, it is a definite must-see in Portugal. Three trains later, and a hiccup or two, we arrived in the southern province called the Algarve. We laid our bags to rest for a few days in the city of Lagos. Fortunately, Anne's colleague spends her summers here with her family and they welcomed us into their home. I learned a lot about Portuguese history here; originally it was under Arab rule, later a dictatorship, which is when a lot of people emigrated in the 50s and 60s. Most Portuguese/Canadians are from the Azores island called Sao Migel. The Algarve is home to beautiful grottos and amazing beaches. However, the Atlantic is better for cooling off than wading.
Alas, the PortuGALS headed south to Africa. Planes, trains, and automobiles took us to Casablanca, Morocco. This city is rather dull and there is very little to see except for the incredible Hassan II Mosque, made in honour of their king. It is the highest standing mosque in the world and its vast and intricate doors are breathtaking. Southbound we went, but it wasn't your average train ride on the Marrakech Express. It was hotter than Haiti on the train so we found our way to the area where the carts connect and fell in love with the breeze. Turns out it's a local thing to sit on the stairs to the outside with an open door and watch the world go by. Sitting there would never fly in the developed world, but, as the saying goes, when in Morocco... There really isn't a lot to see in the countryside of Morocco, being that it's Northern Africa, it's very dry and arid. Marrakech.was.insane. I felt like I was on speed for 2 days. Stimulation overload for sure. Your eyes and ears are instantly filled with vendors selling Moroccan oil, potpourri, carpets, mint tea, cactus fruit, cooked snail, tajine (clay pot that slow cooks lamb, couscous, and veggies), spices, brass lamps, and shoes. We even tried the lamb that is cooked underground in a clay pot and was featured in 'Bizzare Foods' (min 3:25 on). https://youtu.be/MSwt_nFz05k You almost get whiplash from looking around. In the midst of this there are snake charmers (yes, I was feet away from the cobra), monkeys you can hold, and a dentist pulling teeth in the town square (dentistry is not overtly affordable for locals). I was surprised to learn that although it's mostly an Islamic country and we entered beautiful Islamic mosques, and palaces from the Ottoman Empire, there is also a large Jewish community. They used to live mostly in the center of Morocco, in the Altas mountains, but eventually relocated into the main city of Medina. The Jewish part of town is beautiful and we visited a Jewish elementary school and synagogue. Our visit in Marrakech ended in a very odd way. Seeing signs for hammam spas made us intrigued to get a massage after many games days in hard beds and wild transportation. Well, in addition to a massage, we were put in a sauna room that appeared to be a UFO, scrubbed down whilst standing up by a woman, our hair washed, water tossed at us, and don't forget two tours of females went through to 'check out the premises'. All we had on? Paper, disposable thongs. I think, no, I know we laughed more than we relaxed. So, after researching the word hammam (public bath), we realized after the fact that we signed up for much more than a massage. Live, learn, and laugh!
Malta bound! I felt honoured to join Anne on this leg of the trip! Her grandparents and aunts lived here during WWII before moving to Canada. Visiting her grandparents' old home, chancing upon the elderly neighbour going out to shop, and being invited into her home to reminisce about her family, was a tear jerker. A dream come true for Anne, who was very close with her grandma, Ava. Malta is a small country south of Sicily that doesn't even show up on Google Maps, unless you zoom into Italy. As we flew in at night, we saw the ENTIRE thing from the sky, and watched fireworks for a celebration. Malta is small, but mighty, as it was the most heavily bombed nation during WWII. We visited Valletta, the capital city and saw the miracle church of Malta, where two bombs fell inside and on the stairs outside of the church in 1942 during a Sunday mass. Neither bomb exploded, luckily. We saw several WWII shelters, too, which her family had to take refuge in. People would hear the sirens and go underground, some families could afford personal rooms while others stayed in common areas. When they heard the ring of the church bells, they could come back up. I can't imagine living in tight quarters such as those for an indefinite amount of time, let alone in fear. Valletta is a city that has 3 layers, 2 dug below the limestone ground. Shelters, catacombs, and hospitals were built underground. Malta is composed of limestone sediment and sea fossils, and you can often see the fish fossils in the buildings' bricks. When digging below the city, pick axes were used. During the war, entire shelters were carved out within weeks. We saw the inside of St. John's Cathedral, a church for the Knights of St. John. We also walked the streets of Mdina, the old capital city during the Middle Ages. The streets aren't parallel, as the sharp turns in the roads were meant for stopping arrows! We also saw the King's Landing from Game of Thrones. After taking in the beautiful Medieval cities, swimming off the limestone, rock beaches, and eating their local dishes of rabbit stew and pastizie pastries, we heading north to the small Maltese islands of Gozo and Comino. We noticed a significant change in pace, such as rural vs urban. Life was slower in Gozo and the people (as in Malta) were so friendly and made us feel safe and welcomed. We met some locals at the pub and had some laughs, checked out the beaches, attended a wine festival and concert, and had dinner atop the highest point in Gozo at the citadel. One of the highlights was swimming in the crystal clear water and through the caves at the Blue Lagoon. Finally we returned to mainland, Malta for one final night before returning home. As luck would have it, I chanced upon a CrossFit gym near our place. Ending my amazing trip with a partner WOD and some new international friends at the gym, was the perfect way to go. As for Anne, I do believe we've made ESP status with each other. We honestly read each others' minds 90% of the time. Cheers to an incredible 3 week journey with culture, history, good food, friendly people, crazy transportation, hot days and stinky days, and a million laughs!
Alas, the PortuGALS headed south to Africa. Planes, trains, and automobiles took us to Casablanca, Morocco. This city is rather dull and there is very little to see except for the incredible Hassan II Mosque, made in honour of their king. It is the highest standing mosque in the world and its vast and intricate doors are breathtaking. Southbound we went, but it wasn't your average train ride on the Marrakech Express. It was hotter than Haiti on the train so we found our way to the area where the carts connect and fell in love with the breeze. Turns out it's a local thing to sit on the stairs to the outside with an open door and watch the world go by. Sitting there would never fly in the developed world, but, as the saying goes, when in Morocco... There really isn't a lot to see in the countryside of Morocco, being that it's Northern Africa, it's very dry and arid. Marrakech.was.insane. I felt like I was on speed for 2 days. Stimulation overload for sure. Your eyes and ears are instantly filled with vendors selling Moroccan oil, potpourri, carpets, mint tea, cactus fruit, cooked snail, tajine (clay pot that slow cooks lamb, couscous, and veggies), spices, brass lamps, and shoes. We even tried the lamb that is cooked underground in a clay pot and was featured in 'Bizzare Foods' (min 3:25 on). https://youtu.be/MSwt_nFz05k You almost get whiplash from looking around. In the midst of this there are snake charmers (yes, I was feet away from the cobra), monkeys you can hold, and a dentist pulling teeth in the town square (dentistry is not overtly affordable for locals). I was surprised to learn that although it's mostly an Islamic country and we entered beautiful Islamic mosques, and palaces from the Ottoman Empire, there is also a large Jewish community. They used to live mostly in the center of Morocco, in the Altas mountains, but eventually relocated into the main city of Medina. The Jewish part of town is beautiful and we visited a Jewish elementary school and synagogue. Our visit in Marrakech ended in a very odd way. Seeing signs for hammam spas made us intrigued to get a massage after many games days in hard beds and wild transportation. Well, in addition to a massage, we were put in a sauna room that appeared to be a UFO, scrubbed down whilst standing up by a woman, our hair washed, water tossed at us, and don't forget two tours of females went through to 'check out the premises'. All we had on? Paper, disposable thongs. I think, no, I know we laughed more than we relaxed. So, after researching the word hammam (public bath), we realized after the fact that we signed up for much more than a massage. Live, learn, and laugh!
Malta bound! I felt honoured to join Anne on this leg of the trip! Her grandparents and aunts lived here during WWII before moving to Canada. Visiting her grandparents' old home, chancing upon the elderly neighbour going out to shop, and being invited into her home to reminisce about her family, was a tear jerker. A dream come true for Anne, who was very close with her grandma, Ava. Malta is a small country south of Sicily that doesn't even show up on Google Maps, unless you zoom into Italy. As we flew in at night, we saw the ENTIRE thing from the sky, and watched fireworks for a celebration. Malta is small, but mighty, as it was the most heavily bombed nation during WWII. We visited Valletta, the capital city and saw the miracle church of Malta, where two bombs fell inside and on the stairs outside of the church in 1942 during a Sunday mass. Neither bomb exploded, luckily. We saw several WWII shelters, too, which her family had to take refuge in. People would hear the sirens and go underground, some families could afford personal rooms while others stayed in common areas. When they heard the ring of the church bells, they could come back up. I can't imagine living in tight quarters such as those for an indefinite amount of time, let alone in fear. Valletta is a city that has 3 layers, 2 dug below the limestone ground. Shelters, catacombs, and hospitals were built underground. Malta is composed of limestone sediment and sea fossils, and you can often see the fish fossils in the buildings' bricks. When digging below the city, pick axes were used. During the war, entire shelters were carved out within weeks. We saw the inside of St. John's Cathedral, a church for the Knights of St. John. We also walked the streets of Mdina, the old capital city during the Middle Ages. The streets aren't parallel, as the sharp turns in the roads were meant for stopping arrows! We also saw the King's Landing from Game of Thrones. After taking in the beautiful Medieval cities, swimming off the limestone, rock beaches, and eating their local dishes of rabbit stew and pastizie pastries, we heading north to the small Maltese islands of Gozo and Comino. We noticed a significant change in pace, such as rural vs urban. Life was slower in Gozo and the people (as in Malta) were so friendly and made us feel safe and welcomed. We met some locals at the pub and had some laughs, checked out the beaches, attended a wine festival and concert, and had dinner atop the highest point in Gozo at the citadel. One of the highlights was swimming in the crystal clear water and through the caves at the Blue Lagoon. Finally we returned to mainland, Malta for one final night before returning home. As luck would have it, I chanced upon a CrossFit gym near our place. Ending my amazing trip with a partner WOD and some new international friends at the gym, was the perfect way to go. As for Anne, I do believe we've made ESP status with each other. We honestly read each others' minds 90% of the time. Cheers to an incredible 3 week journey with culture, history, good food, friendly people, crazy transportation, hot days and stinky days, and a million laughs!
Obrigato and Sahha (Thank You:Portuguese/Goodbye: Maltese)
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