The World As I See it

I caught a late night (or early morning!) flight out of Dakar, landing in Lisbon, Portugal at 6:30 a.m. I had splurged on a driver so that I wouldn't have any difficulties finding our accomodation, and I enjoyed my first glimpse of Portugal lit up by the rising sun as we crossed the bridge into Almada. We'd chosen an Air BnB that was removed from the hustle and bustle of the Lisbon city centre, and we were based across the river in the neighbouring municipality. The apartment  had beautiful views of the river and passing boats, and as I've always loved ferries it seemed ideal. The hosts had stocked the fridge with milk and juice, and left us bottle of red wine and a plate of pastéis de nata - the famouse Portuguese custard tarts. After a nap, I wandered down to the ferry dock to meet my husband. We had been apart for two months - the longest separation in our 30+ years of marriage - and I was looking forward to our reunion. I texted and told him he'd find me under the l...

This post has been left in limbo for months, so my memory is foggy. I'll do my best to share a few highlights from my whirlwind final days in Dakar. I revisited my favourite café before it closed down for Ramadan, and after having these pancakes I wished I'd tried them sooner! My daughter and I finally got the chance to visit the Village des Arts, a unique collective in a cluster of small buildings where creators have set up indoor and outdoor spaces to showcase their work. Unfortunately, most of the shops were closed (see above re: Ramadan.) One of my daughter's colleagues took us on an early morning birdwatching walk along the urban coast, and we spotted a wide variety of avian friends. We then enjoyed brunch at Mamelles lighthouse - where we spotted a hornbill in the trees overlooking the sea - and then visited the African Renaissance Monument. We had a long wait to enter the museum - despite being told that we could enter when another group came out, we waited for 30 mi...