Our next stop after Lisbon was in Sevilla, Spain. Spain...the last country on our European tour! Hard to believe.
There is no direct train from Lisbon to Sevilla, unfortunately. So, our route was to take a train from Lisbon to Faro (a main centre in the south of Portugal) and then hop a bus from Faro to Sevilla. Another full day of travel. We had not booked our bus tickets before hand as we were told that the easiest way to go about purchasing tickets was to get them upon our arrival in Faro, at the bus depot.
We arrived in Faro around 11:30am on November 16th and were welcomed with warm, sunny weather! This was what we had been seeking for most of our trip! We were able to purchase bus tickets with no problems, we just had to wait 4 hours until it departed. So, we had a bit of time to explore Faro and do some SHOPPING! First thing's first: grab some things for lunch at the local supermarket.
Now, you have to picture the town of Faro. When I mention that it is the main centre in the south of Portugal, I don't mean that it is a large, urban centre. It is a fairly small community with between 40 000 - 50 000 inhabitants, but it does have its own airport and is a main transportation hub in the south.
The supermarket we found, not too far from the bus station, was a small, local store and I guess J-Sak and I really stood out amongst the locals (really, what's new?) with our backpacks on our backs. We were actually quite a site! Jeni had been having some troubles with her backpack setting off security alarms in stores so she was hesitant about bringing her large bag into the supermarket. Picture it: two travelers who already stick out simply by the clothes they wear and they way they carry themselves, who try to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Then, all of a sudden, a calamity of security alarms start ringing as if to shout out, "Look at those two at the front of the store! Everyone, drop what you are doing and stare directly at them, and keep watching them the entire time they are in the store! Please, make them feel as awkward as possible!" I can see why J-Sak wanted to leave her bag at the entrance of the supermarket. I, however, tromp right in with this cumbersome load on my back, nearly knocking piles of produce over as I try to maneuver through the extremely narrow aisles. I can barely do a 360 in this store without demolishing products on the shelves. Mothers! Watch your children! Anyways, with that said, I did get quite a few stares and felt quite out of place.
We decided to have our lunch outside, beside the marina. We found a nice bench where we parked ourselves and our children (backpacks) for a few hours. Before we headed to the marina though, we stopped in a few stores along the way. I found the koolest, most awesome pair of indoor soccer shoes! SoOoo great! I love them! I'll post a pic of them when I get all the pictures of our trip from Jeni.
As we were waiting for our 3:30pm bus to depart for Sevilla, we sprawled out on this bench, in the sun to relax and eat our lunch, which consisted of bread with meat and cheese, yogurt, oranges and some cookies. After, Jeni read while I pounded out a blog post on her iPhone...I think I was writing about Venice that day. I liked that day. Two souls with their lives on their backs, lazing on a bench in the sun, watching people go by, and taking delight in a seagull attempting to shove an entire crusty bun in its beak. Livin' the dream...
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