After saying goodbye to Tangier (and the accompanying stomach irregularity), we hopped on the 'fast' ferry to sail back to Spain (where clean clothes stashed in the rental car eagerly awaited us). I finally got to let my hair down and take off the baggy wool sweater that I had worn in the Moroccan heat for four days -- that's a smell I won't miss. In Spain, we picked up our car and drove through the beautiful Spanish countryside for four hours until crossing the border into Portugal (this time without the uzi-clad soldiers and resulting pants peeing). And after a whole day of traveling, we finally arrived at our final destination: the Rising Cock Hostel in Lagos, Portugal.
We felt right at home, as we were assigned to the Teabag Room - how English! I slept in the Earl Gray bunkbed; Will cozied up in Camomile.
The next five days were a mixture of beaching at three different locales (which for me meant sunblocking, every 20 minutes, and holding an umbrella over my head, constantly, to the point that a local commented, in Portugese, 'Why is she under an umbrella like Rihanna?'), volleyballing, city exploring (including finding an abandoned shack that Will wants to adverse possess and turn into a hostel), gelato eating (at least twice a day, and yes, I gained eight pounds), flip cupping (it was Spring Break in the hostel afterall), and finally, an amazing day trip to Lisbon. You'll see from the pictures below why we fell in love with Lagos, Lisbon, and basically the Portugese coastal town lifestyle. 
The streets of Lagos looked like they were covered in mosaic artwork, and you walked on pretty blue and white patterned tiles everywhere you went. The houses were brightly colored and had such charm with their wrought iron balconies and hanging lamps. Such a pretty, comfortable, small beach town, with character.
Beach #1 - similar to Miami
Beach #2 - gorgeous rocky coastline
Will and 'Kev on Kev'
Big V and the Dubya
The Crew
One of the fantastic seafood dishes I had: squid! They were so big that you could see their huge eyeballs, which I had trouble chomping down on... so I gave Kev all the heads. After the sixth eyeball, even he had trouble.
Will and I took a day trip up to Lisbon and spent the day trying to quickly soak up all the amazing sights in this huge city. You could fit 150 Lagos's (population 18,000) inside Lisbon (population 2.8 million)! We wished we had more than just a day, but we definitely tried our best to squeeze it all in. Let's see, we toured:
The Castle of Saint Jorge,
The Lisbon Cathedral,
The Largo das Portas ao Sol,
The Arch at the Commerce Square,
and, Will's favorite, The Jeronimos Monastery in Belem.
In between jetting from Alfama to Belem and all around town to see these (and numerous other) cultural sights, we spent time wandering around the winding, cobblestone-covered streets of Lisbon, where you'd look up to see sunflowers covering balconies and elderly couples staring down at you, whilst soaking up the sun. It was lovely. We even had time for some shopping, some pastry-eating, and a nice long lunch in Belem, on the water, overlooking the Monument to the Discoveries. The perfect day.
We spent our last day in Portugal hanging out at the beach, laughing with our new friends that we'd met along our journey, and helping our host, Selmo, celebrate the opening of his restaurant, NahNahBah that evening. Me and Yas even spun some tunes.
Thus, we had a fabulous time on our holiday, from the cultural experience in Morocco to the relaxing beach time in Portugal. We saw some amazing things, had a ton of fun with our friends, and made memories that will force us to smile (and even snort-laugh) when we think of them that night when we're stuck in the office at 3am writing a legal brief. Now that is some holiday.
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