We arrived in Lisbon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon) on Friday morning, September 27. We had beautiful weather for exploring the city. The port is very near the old downtown area, making it very easy to get into the city quickly. Many of our shipmates left Lisbon for overland trips, planning to meet the ship in Cádiz a few days later, but we have never been to Portugal so decided to stay. We enjoyed our short time there, walking around the city and using the hop on, hop off bus to get around. We found the Bélem (http://www.travel-in-portugal.com/Lisbon/belem.htm) area to be particularly interesting. Many Portuguese explorers left for their voyages from this part of the port. We also enjoyed walking in the area of the Parque Eduardo VII (http://www.golisbon.com/sight-seeing/edward-park.html); the view looking down the long hill to the port is spectacular.
Although we had to be back on the ship the evening of the 28th, we didn't actually leave the port until the next day. The trip to Cádiz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadiz) was quick and we arrived the morning of Monday the 30th. We enjoyed Cádiz as much as we had on our first Semester at Sea trip, this time doing a bus tour to see more of the beaches and outskirts of the town. The area around the port has undergone some change since our last visit, so we were a little disoriented at first and had trouble locating the plaza near the Cathedral and the market that we enjoyed so much the first time, but it didn't take long to figure it out. We had only one night in this port as well, and had to be back on the ship and ready to go on Tuesday evening, even though we didn't leave until Wednesday. As happened last time (http://muellersatsea.blogspot.com/2009/02/leaving-spain-and-refueling-in.html, http://muellersatsea.blogspot.com/2009/02/in-casablanca.html) we were warned that the waters on the way to Casablanca could be "violent" and that we should put everything in the cabin away. We were believers after our last trip (although it was the departure that was so bad last time http://muellersatsea.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html), so spent some time finding a place for every little thing, but this time, while there was some rolling during the night, we didn't have the extreme movement of the ship that we had last time. I was awake around 4am anticipating it, but was happy when it never happened. I hope our departure will be as calm!
We are now in Casablanca (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca) and enjoyed a bus tour our first day here, visiting again the Hassan II Mosque (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_II_Mosque) and other areas of the city. We actually were able to visit the inside of the Mosque this time, and it is an amazing structure. Fifteen thousand people are employed for its upkeep. We have spent a quiet couple of days, once again finding a hotel so that we could have a break from the ship and catch up with some things on internet. We are overlooking a tramway stop and the Place des Nations Unies (United Nations Plaza), a great location for sitting, drinking coffee and people watching. We will be returning to the ship tomorrow afternoon to be on board for our departure to Ghana.
We are now in Casablanca (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casablanca) and enjoyed a bus tour our first day here, visiting again the Hassan II Mosque (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hassan_II_Mosque) and other areas of the city. We actually were able to visit the inside of the Mosque this time, and it is an amazing structure. Fifteen thousand people are employed for its upkeep. We have spent a quiet couple of days, once again finding a hotel so that we could have a break from the ship and catch up with some things on internet. We are overlooking a tramway stop and the Place des Nations Unies (United Nations Plaza), a great location for sitting, drinking coffee and people watching. We will be returning to the ship tomorrow afternoon to be on board for our departure to Ghana.
