Gibraltar

It was time this morning to leave Portugal. We went through Spain to Gibraltar. Christof has arranged a place to sleep via Couchsurfing which was great. We’ve allowed us to spend 3 nights there.

However we were some nervous and also curious what was comming up on our first Couchsurfingexperience. Nicky, our host was a nice and funny man, born in Colombia, grew up in London, adopted by a family from Gibraltar.

There were already two other Couchsurfers in his house, Emilio from Argentina and Lorena from Valencia. This couple traveled through the world for the last 5 years. A lovely couple, real nomads, we are far away from that.

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Gibraltar is something special. It is United Kingdom or something entirely own. Actually, it’s both. The border between Spain and Gibraltar is so surreal. Even the airport is a challenge, not only for the pilots. The runway crosses the main road which is also the entrance and border to the city. Unbelievable.

The interesting thing about Gibraltar is really the history of this 6,5 square kilometer thing on Earth. Spain, GB… Moors, Arabs etc all lived here and left traces.

Then there are the monkeys of Gibraltar. This funny and cheeky animals are something like a tourist magnet. But please do not feed them or take food with you on the mountain. They can become pretty annoying and aggressive then.

We went up the rock with Emilio and Lorena. It took us over 2 hours to the top of the mountain from which you can enjoy a wonderful view and look over in good weather even on Morocco.

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On the way to Algarve…

After a cup of coffee with Anita and a wonderful Pastéis de Belém, a pastry that has its origin in Lisbon, we spent our last time together with a walk in a park close to the CCB.

With a heartfelt goodbye, we went over the giant 17-km-long bridge towards the south. We’ve decided to take the slower route along the coast on the way to Lagos. Passing many beautiful and breathtaking beaches with empty parking places and park grounds filled with camping cars from people of all over europe. Passing surfer beaches where boys and girls already jumped out in the morning before sunrise with their surfboards to get some good waves.

We slept there several nights, at these beaches, in our car.

Nights, where the background noise was determined by blowing wind over the car which went into the sound of the sea in complete silence.

 

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Lisbon

We’re in Lisbon YEEEAAAHHH!

We were very curious and excited. Anita offered us a bed for 3 nights which was really nice. Thereby we knew eachother just through texting on mobile. Arrived in front of her house we called her shortly and she came running down the stairs. Together We had a wonderful and long first evening with delicious food and great conversations. Anita, is a great and warm person.

The next morning she took us on her way to work and dropped us off at the next Metro station. In the city we met Svetlana at Parca do Comércio. She came together with her two sweet kids and we walked together through the city. Thanks to her, we had our first drink around noon. „You don’t know Ginjinha?! You have to try it! When my girlfriends from Moscow are in Lisbon this ist he first thing we do.“

Some minutes later, we stood in front of a Ginjinha-Bar, a very small nice bar surrounded by elderly portuguese men and she invited us for a drink. Very tasty thing! „Whenever I fly to Russia I have to take a few bottles with me…“ After that we went, through fairy-tale streets with charming buildings and decorations from other times. Trough parks with views over the city and haunted trees which we previously so have never seen before.

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We had a cup of coffee and a rest in one of these wonderful parks. That was the moment to say good bye to this wonderful woman. Afterwards we had an appointment with Daniel from Germany and Angelica from Italy. They live since two years in the city after living for 13 years in Egypt.

As drinking some portuguese SuperBock we talked with the two minds behind Lisbon Insider about personal stories, which had space for several days. They showed their home and then we went to a nice wine bar where Anita joined. A unforgettable night and stay in Lisbon.

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