The flight from Washington to Casablanca went just fine. Royal Air Maroc uses a 787 and the business class was only half full so service was friendly, prompt and efficient, which everyone appreciated since the flight was scheduled to depart at 22:15 and was delayed by almost an hour. We had a quick glass or two of Champagne, a light meal and a cognac and slept for five of the seven hour flight.
Morocco was not as fun or interesting as it might have been, but we were only in the airport of course so we shouldn’t judge too harshly. Upon arrival it was the usual lines at security where we had to practically undress to get through. Once out of the restricted area we were able to access their Casablanca lounge, which was really disappointing. We found the last two seats and I was able to queue up for the coffee machine which actually made a decent espresso-like drink. Other than that, there was nothing but noise, clutter and odors, not the good kind either
Our connecting flight was an hour late on departure which gave us more than enough time to decide never to transit in Casablanca again. It is a very disordered airport, very hot and crowded and lacking character. Could have been anywhere in the world, not a hint of local color, not good for an airport. Suddenly we were acutely missing the airport in Bahrain, which was a joy to walk around (lots of local color) and had minimal security as well as a lovely lounge. Truly. We had endless lines while waiting to board in Casablanca since they couldn’t seem to get everyone organized. We finally departed and we were happy to say a long goodbye to Casablanca ... at least we’ll always have Paris.
We finally arrived in Lisbon after a bit of excitement on our arrival from Casablanca. I knew something was wrong when they parked the plane at a very remote location near the military zone. Instead of a small bus for the first class customers, we were all herded onto big buses and when they were all filled we were taken in a caravan to a part of the terminal, all the time under the watchful eye of the Policia! Then every single passenger from the full 737 was examined by two security people, checking our passports and air tickets. They found two people they held in a separate area while we were waiting, not sure how many they eventually found, but obviously they had been tipped off. Lesson learned: Never fly from a known terrorist country to Europe!!
We didn’t get to the Intercontinental Hotel until about 4pm. We were tired and it was cold and windy, but I took a one hour walk and Cindy rested for a bit until we descended on the new and beautiful club. Ice cold Champagne did much to get us refreshed but we were in no mood for wandering the city for dinner we were too tired). Given that there was a big military parade scheduled for Sunday with the roads already closed, making traffic a nightmare, we just stayed in the hotel and had a delightful dinner.
When we entered the dining room we were asked for our room number by the maître d’ - who was impressed since we had been upgraded to a bi-level suite on the top floor of the hotel. There was a table of five Chinese tourists seated right by the entry and they seemed to perk up when he said that our room was his favorite suite other than the big one where Obama and his daughter had stayed the week before. I mention this only because as I was returning from a trip to the loo, one of the Chinese women took my picture!! They must have thought we were big shots and wanted to make sure to capture the moment - and no doubt show their friends in case anyone recognized me. Sorry to disappoint!
We both slept the sleep of the innocent and awoke totally refreshed. Cindy hit the torture room (gym) and I walked in the huge park across the street which was filled with military equipment and personnel marshaling for the parade which was to start in two hours. The night before I had seen several aircraft practicing flyovers, which was cool. By the time we got our act together to get out of the hotel, the parade was almost over but we got to see everything (so many tanks, so many guns!) as they returned to the marshaling area near us.
We walked some more and at the high point of the hill we were able to see all of Lisbon laid out before us with the River Tejo at the end of the Main Street. We watched as dark clouds of rain began to rush in from the Atlantic, being glad that the rain did not ruin the annual parade. We were safe, dry and warm as the storm hit and had a cup of coffee and snacks in the lounge before heading up for a restorative nap.
Obrigado, Cindy and Wm
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