Today, the mission was to get to get to the Lisbon airport, drop the car, check in to the airport hotel and then rest for a ridiculously early flight. We had set up three side quests, of which we were able to achieve two.
Portugal, Day 7: The Algarve
The Algarve is full of beautiful sights, and if you tried to jam them all in for the sake of it, you’d kind of be missing the point.
Portugal, Day 6: Sintra to the Algarve
We knew that a “beach vacation” in Portugal in March probably wasn’t going to be a thing, in spite of Daina packing three tank tops.
Portugal, Day 5: Óbidos and Sintra
This place is a virtual Disneyland of castles and palaces, with each one having its own specific design quirks.
Portugal, Day 4: Azulejos and Architecture
So I learned today that Daina wanted to be a seismologist growing up and that I can readily be mistaken for a Portuguese waiter if my tan has come in.
Portugal, Day 3: The Many Miradouros of Lisbon
This is a city of hills. Lots of them.
Portugal, Day 2: Belém
Lisbon continues to win me over in spite of a ridiculous line to start the day.
Portugal, Day* 1: Toronto to Lisbon
Now, full disclosure – up until a few years ago, Lisbon and Portugal weren’t on my radar. I think I always had Portugal in my mind as “Spain Junior”, to modify a Simpsons reference.
This is 40: License 2 Drive
Yes, I just replaced “to” with “2”. Next post is about Tokyo Drifting.
Improv: Fun to Watch, Less to Explain
I’m going to call out my own title, and the fact that I’m about to try to do something that…
Pride, Panic and a Pamphlet: A Tale of Jury Duty
The phrase “Glad to have been a part of it” may not be a wholly accurate expression of my feelings, but it’s the first one that comes to mind.
40 for 40: Day 40 – Biking to the National Gallery of Canada
These past 40 days, I’ve seen places I’ve dreamed of since childhood, with a partner I could never have dreamed of at the time, while reconnecting with fantastic friends from various stages of the latter half of my life. I fully recognize that most people don’t get to do all, if any, of those things, especially not in the context of leaving home and travelling for 40 days. I’ve thrown out the word “blessed” a few times on this blog, but it definitely seems like the most appropriate.
40 for 40: Day 39 – Ottawa, Canada
Great little moment of patriotism.
40 for 40: Day 38 – Fredericton to Ottawa
Ten hours of functional driving, and now I’m at point B.
40 for 40: Day 37 – Fredericton, New Brunswick
I don’t know that I would ever have sought out Fredericton as a tourist destination on my own. That said, as a place to be for a friends wedding on a long weekend, it was surprisingly nice.
40 for 40: Day 36 – Fredericton, New Brunswick
So here’s a picture of the Fredericton Legislature, which is really the only historic thing we did or saw today.…
40 for 40: Day 35 – Fiumicino to Fredericton
…the radio played the theme to “The Neverending Story”, which 35 days in, almost seems appropriate, even though the end is in sight.
40 for 40: Day 34 – Ostia Antica, Italy
Dating back to the 4th century BC, Ostia was Rome’s seaport, though thousands of years now sees it three kilometres from the sea. It has several well preserved frescoes, some huge black-and-white museums, a theatre, and an impressive sculpture museum within its huge, huge, hot, unshaded grounds.
40 for 40: Day 33 – Kotor to Fiumicino
While we were stopped at the first border checkpoint, my driver showed me the border line on the regular road via some app. It was substantial. I asked him for an approximate time of arrival at the airport, which he responded with “one”. Language was definitely a barrier, so I didn’t have much choice but to sit back and see if we’d get there in an hour, with me making my flight, or at 1 pm, at which point, I’m scrambling.
40 for 40: Day 32 – Biking the Bay of Kotor
Since this was a long, self-propelled physical activity, all of it beautiful, I’m going with subtitles on this one to keep things organized. Here we go.
40 for 40: Day 31 – Kotor & Budva
Back at the hostel, typing with worst writers block. Tomorrow will be a bit more of an adventure, promise.
40 for 40: Day 30 – Mostar to Kotor
The hostel told us about a way around, a switchback path next to the city that allows you to climb next to the walls, leading up to a window that you can climb through and BOOM, you’re on the walls. The walk up features cats, goats, other hikers and a cheese house that I didn’t stop at because I wanted to catch the sunset. And what a sunset!
40 for 40: Day 29 – Mostar and other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Just based on today, Bosnia has earned a spot on the “Return List” at some point in the future. The stuff I’ve seen today has been beautiful, and I’m sure it’s just a sampling.
40 for 40: Day 28 – Cavtat
The gift shops and restaurants along the main strip definitely let you know that the secret is out, but it never feels as crowded as Dubrovnik.
40 for 40: Day 27 – Dubrovnik & Lokrum
I’m looking at my FitBit. I’ve taken 39086 steps, walked 31 kilometres, 142 steps, and burned 5688 calories. It’s been a monster day. A big, beautiful, monster of a day.
40 for 40: Day 26 – Fiumicino to Dubrovnik
So out of the tours I saw going around today, all of them were talking about Game of Thrones and not once did I hear a guide talk about the history of the city itself. Pop culture has transcended actual culture here.
Egypt: The Best & The Leftovers
I’ve wanted to visit this place since I was a kid. Achievement Unlocked!!!
Final thoughts, recommendations and “bonus material”.
40 for 40: Day 25 – Cairo to Fiumicino
Cairo, we love you, but could this at least be easy?
40 for 40: Day 24 – The Citadel and Islamic Cairo
“Do you realize we were in a car accident, a fistfight, and there was a mass shooting? That’s pretty much everything under the sun.”
40 for 40: Day 23 – Alexandria to Cairo
So, we went back to the Platform Believed To Be Seven, and I was frantically looking and hoping for any indication that the broken-looking train was leaving. Some kind of a sign, either physically or metaphorically.
40 for 40: Day 22 – Alexandria
For the “Rick and Morty” fans out here, the Citadel reminded me of the episode where an Evil Rick was kidnapping Mortys and using their inferior brainwaves to hide his superior brainwaves. I know Daina is a great photographer, and I consider myself a pretty good one, but here, it’s drowned out by all the bad photography that surrounds you. Part of that bad photography was pictures of us.
40 for 40: Day 21 – Cairo to Alexandria
At this point, we’ve been in Alexandria for only a few hours, and the place looks like it’s crumbling in on itself, but somehow, that adds to its charms.
40 for 40: Day 20 – Islamic Cairo, Al-Azhar Park and the Cairo Tower
Cairo doesn’t really care about your plans.
40 for 40: Day 19 – The Monasteries of St Paul and St Anthony
As much as I like cheap DIY, no way we could do it and fit in the rest of the things on our trip, so private car was the option.
40 for 40: Day 18 – Hurghada
…to drive home how much today isn’t about adventure, I’m doing bullet points.
40 for 40: Day 17 – Luxor to Hurghada
We got off of the Go Bus in “downtown” Hurghada, did a rough negotiation for a cab (first guy wanted 100 LE each, we found a guy for 30 LE total), and now we’re at an all-inclusive resort in Egypt.
I know, not what you would expect.
40 for 40: Day 16 – Abydos and Dendera
It was at this point that friends of mine may have read a “Hey, LOL, police escort just taking us out of Abydos with masks on, OMG” type post on my Facebook, because even though I was pretty sure nothing was happening, I wanted there to be some kind of digital record.
40 for 40: Day 15 – Medinat Habu, Tombs of the Nobles, Valley of the Queens, Colossi of Memnon, Banana Island.
“Your friend is rich enough to pay 300 LE for photos but doesn’t have enough to tip guards?”
So this is where the perspective piece comes in.
40 for 40: Day 14 – Valley of the Kings, Memorial Temple of Hatshepsut and Ramesseum
When the place you’re visiting has been considered one of the hottest places on Earth, it’s good to be able to get going early and avoid the heat.
40 for 40: Day 13 – Luxor
Figuring that we’d want to spend a couple of days on the West Bank sites, and having heard that Luxor is the Hassle Capital of Egypt and that not of that takes place in the East Bank, I figured a 9.4 rated guesthouse on the West with a pool would be a solid bet.
…
We are REALLY far away from everything.