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Our last two ports of call were Casablanca and Lisbon. We reached Casablanca on April 30th after 3 days at sea. It was a lovely day with bright sunshine and warm weather. We were booked on a bus tour as we did not want to walk too far as I have been having problems with my back. We left the ship after lunch and headed off into the city. The last time we were here, seven years ago, we had toured the huge Hassan 11 mosque and driven along the beach front. This time we got to see a lot more.
We drove into the city past the old Portuguese fort and our first stop was a brief one outside Rick's Cafe, made famous in the movie. Then it was on to the mosque. This is massive as it can house 25,000 worshippers inside and many more outside. We were not able to go inside this time, but we had seen it before. Then we drove along the Corniche, a beautiful stretch of beach. We went past a shanty town called Fisherman's village, in front of the lighthouse and then stopped at the Tropical Cafe where we had an icecream. It
was the same one we had had lunch in 7 years ago!! After 20 minutes there we were taken through the very affluent seaside suburbs where there are many beautiful houses.
We eventually went into the heart of the city. We had not seen this part before. We were impressed by how modern and clean it was. I was also struck by the fact that most of the advertising was in French, a hangover from colonial times.We were dropped off near the Town Hall . Here there was a largeeopen square and a fountain as well as other main administrative buildings. There was an old man dressed in a colourful red outfit who carried cups and was a water seller. Then we walked the short way to United Nations Square. Here we were given some free time and the government souvenir shop was nearby. We browsed there for a while but the T shirts were only small sizes and I had bought Moroccan pottery etc last time. We sat in the square for a short while. On one side is the Medina and there was much activity around. Eventually it was time to get back on the bus and return
to the ship. It had been a short but pleasant visit to a truly cosmopolitan city.
We had another sea day which for me was mainly taken up by rehearsals preparing for our choir concert. Then we arrived in Lisbon. This is a beautiful old city with many outstanding buildings and monuments. We had also seen most of them. This time we remained in the old part of Lisbon, the Alfama district which was close to the ship. Here there are narrow streets and attractive squares. The buildings are often covered in beautiful tiles and many were undergoing renovation. We went into one of the many churches but there was a service happening so we discreetly withdrew.
After a couple of hours strolling around we went back to the square in front of the Fado Museum. Here we had lunch at an outdoor cafe, Bico de Cavados. Fletcher ordered sardines and I had fish soup which was listed as an appetiser. It was huge and I couldn't finish it. Fletcher enjoyed his fish, but again there were 5 large sardines which defeated him. We had a very nice Vino Verde to accompany the food. After a lovely but filling lunch
we returned to the ship as we were leaving at 3pm. We saw only a fraction of the city, but a part we had not been to before. The sail away took us under the 25th April bridge and we had great views looking back. A lovely day.
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