Home isn’t just a place on a map; it’s where my soul finally exhales.
The flight took 6 hours and 30 minutes before I landed in Cairo. First, I had to go to the immigration counter. There were several queues for All Passports. It was pretty slow, and there were many Chinese people. When I reached the counter, I said to the officer, who was a lady, that I was continuing my flight to Lisbon in transit. She understood that I would have to proceed to the transit area. While walking there, I thought that this was not correct as I needed my baggage. I went back and asked the lady again about that. Then you have to go to the Tourist Choice counter for a Visa, she said. There were many Chinese people in a queue or in a group. I couldn’t walk forward. Next to this counter was another counter for changing money. I got myself to the bulk of people and understood that I have to buy a Visa for $30, in my case, for €30. It seemed that they don’t accept debit or credit cards. A big rip-off to make money with bad exchange rates and selling Visa. There was one guy who received the Dollars for a Visa card, and another one received the Euros. I gave him 30 Euros and got my card. I went back to the immigration counter, queued up, and got my stamp in the passport in the end. I could claim my baggage now and proceeded towards the check-in from Aegean Airlines. A friendly lady was checking me in. I had to pay €40 for my baggage; I wasn’t aware that I hadn’t done that during the online booking. The baggage was only included for comfort or flex tickets. However, I checked in, and my baggage would go directly via Athens to Lisbon. I passed the security check and proceeded to the gate. The gate was already open, and I could enter the plane.
It would take me two hours to get to Athens. The flight was smooth, and I landed in Athens. It is quite a big airport, I don’t remember this from the past. I had three hours before entering the plane to Lisbon.
The last flight was four hours and 30 minutes. I safely reached Lisbon and felt at home immediately. I got my baggage and left the airport, walking to the Metro. I bought a ticket, it’s only three stations to Lisbon Oriente, from where the bus would start to Portimão. I didn’t have to wait long; there was a red Rede Expressos bus with number 67. I stored my baggage and entered the bus. From the bus, I booked an Uber for 23:00 to Quinta Alta Vista in Monchique. After three hours and 15 minutes, I reached the bus terminal in Portimão. The Uber came just one minute later, and we drove towards Monchique. It was a small electric car, with Fabio, the driver. We reached Monchique, and we were driving up to Quinta Alta Vista. The last bit on the dirty road he couldn’t pass due to a big ditch cutting the road. I told him I would walk the last 400 meters. I put my headlights on and started walking, pulling my suitcase behind me. I reached the Orange Room, took my key, and went to my car to get my beddings. I had a good night’s sleep, woke at 05:00, then continued sleeping until 09:00.
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