Lucky in Lagos

Call it what you will, I call it luck. It's something I've been luckily blessed with, it follows me like a colourful shadow, through thick and thin it sees me through. Luck is on my side. I became aware of this when I lived with Bobsy whist studying in Newcastle about 5 years back, he mentioned several times that I've been struck with the McIntyre luck (a luck that he believed ran through his family). Whatever it be that you believe or don't, a faithful omen seems to have accompanied me through my travels over the past 4 years. I've met incredible characters, climbed mountains, and experienced amazing cultures, I've spoken words I don't know and tasted foods I don't want to know, and have always come out for the better. A recent venture to a 17th century lamasery in inner Mongolia (china) reassured me I had not lost this luck, when I threw my coin into a giant terra-cotta pot of water aiming for a 5cm circumference in the middle at the bottom of the meter depth (where the lucky ones land). My bronze coin splashed through the settled water and flipped straight to the side, hitting it and spearing straight into the middle joining only a few other lucky ones. Coincidence? Perhaps, or a reflection of absolutely nothing? yeah maybe, but I chose to believe in luck.

Arriving at the bus station in faro an hour earlier than I had anticipated I set off to find chloe assuming she would not be too far. After a brief stroll in the port of faro sweating in my black plane clothes I put some pennies in a pay phone in an attempt to make contact. No answer but a MSG with something that slightly resembled pub i searched for the closest cafe with beer. Sure enough under the sagres (local beer) umbrella I spotted a familiar face! A quick cold later and we made the 4.30 bus to Lagos. Unfortunately a little too eager to get there, and dying for the bathroom we stumbled off at what we thought was our stop. Whist the area looked a tad familiar, we seemed to be orientating our way though strange streets that weren't on the map. Not until we stopped to ask a local to point is in the right direction did we clarify that we were in fact in the wrong town! Back on the bus, another 5 euro later, we foolishly laughed at our efforts as we headed for our final destination.

We found our way to the shangri-lagos, which was the hostel I had emailed about volunteering and staying there for the month. Having received an email back "hey magic bees, things are looking pretty good, just show up" we weren't sure what to expect. Walking around the cobble streets in the dusk we finally found the door and buzzed, pleasantly welcomed by the lovely mumsy of the house Savina; no one can back themselves up like this incredible and positive lady! ('white wine!!!') "You don't know who I am, but I know who you are, you're my baby bees" she said as she embraced us with a warm and genuine hug and led us straight to our two beds (bunk) in a private room (separated with a curtain). She showed us around what was to be our home for the next month and instantly we felt comfortable and accepted!

It is the best hostel I have ever stayed in and we are so incredibly lucky to land such a unique opportunity to volunteer and be apart of the loving shangri Lagos family! We were introduced to tom (crack cat) another Aussie volunteering for the summer and the three of us have become close friends! We also met the owners Ben; a quirky and loving man, with a abundance of creative energy who never stops, and John, a very placid and lovely observer who is so easy to be around! And finally we met Hugo; our manager who I had been exchanging emails with; an ideas man, from Portugal that has the greatest sense of humor and will constantly make you laugh! ("where's my baby bees motherbitches?") Then there's Paulina the lovely hardworking cleaning lady, and last but not least jaeo, the easy going and mellow night owl (does the night shifts). Like one big happy family full of eklective and different characters, the house seems to work together to give our travelers the ultimate shangri Lagos experience!

Lagos itself is a beautiful small costal town with amazing beaches and small cobble streets lined with quirky bars beckoning you in with cheap cocktails and sangria. Renown for its intense and raging night life it attracts all types of travelers, the only down fall is that the majority of them being loud mouth Australians!!! (obviously a generalization, and i do love my own kind...but really...so many twats!!! Besides this, I can't fault it...it's small enough to make friends with the locals, walk home by yourself at 6am and spend your days sweating out the previous nights boozing at the many beaches! I have fallen in love with living in Lagos.

Now although over two crazy weeks have passed here it seems that I can sum my days up quite easily; generally a 10am start to the day to do a load of washing, and gossip in our garden with our guests over breaky about the previous nights adventures! Another few loads of Washing and a general clean up later we either take the guests to the beach, go on a bees walking tour on the cliffs or go for an epic hostel shopping trip with Ben (for some reason I think of a game of American football to describe what happens here). The afternoon is spent perhaps on reception checking guests in, napping or lazing around the garden making friends and planning activities that the hostel can offer; so far two "love" boat trips, a big BBQ and cheese and chorizo night have been done! In the eve we either take the guests out for a family dinner or cook in! Swapping shifts at the bar we have in the garden, serving my sangria (made with a lot of love) and cold beers the pre drinking begins! Sometimes escorted by a few tunes from Shane (a talented musician that hangs out a the hostel) soon enough midnight strikes and we leave! Starting the night at our favourite bar; whites, owned by the lovely Denise and Andy, craines and I order the "usual" which happens be an incredibly large and delicious cocktail (we receive for free)! A few drinks later, mates rates and hectic dancing down stairs we all head onto grand cafe! With the occasional stop at another bar on the way...usually this part of the night is a little hazy! Waking up hung over...if the guests are happy we are happy, hence we don't "work" we "volunteer" an exchange of a bed to make friends and generally help out at the best hostel in Lagos...what else could you call this but luck?!

Seeing so many guests come and go over the two weeks, saying goodbyes to travelers we now call our friends, it is a hard cycle and it does take its toll! Well that, and the extreme partying we have been doing Craines and I decided a little trip away was needed so we headed for a detox in Lisbon! We caught the four hour train north, changing once and arriving into the capital to check into the old town hostel about 5pm. It felt bizarre to be traveling just with a hand bag (only two nights worth of stuff) and being in a bustling city again! The metro system was simple and the directions to the hostel were great! Lisbon is very hilly but easy enough to navigate! The streets were lined with lovely old terrace houses as they plunged down into bar areas! We stayed central in bairro alto area which happens to be the old part of town where everything is in walking distance. The hostel was huge, very clean and they were very helpful! Soon enough hunger hit and we wandered the streets searching for something to feed our appetites. We stumbled upon a little family run Goan Indian restaurant with a large tv screen in view (to watch the game; portugal vs Spain)! We devoured our delicious meal and made friends with the staff as we stayed there for near two hours to watch the outcome! With Spain winning on a penalty shoot out, we shared our sighs with the disappointed locals and headed home for an alcohol free night! The next day we went on a wild walkers city our to St. George's castle, cathedral and main square! Lisbon is very charismatic and pretty, with squares, monuments and ruins representing the history rich past, and the colorful graffiti and beating bars provoking the current social splendor. A brief crawl of the streets to find a vintage store we headed home for a nap to rest our exhausted bodies! We then headed out for a delicious local Portuguese feed that the hostel recommended; Casa Cabaccas! I ordered a grilled steak of salmon and craines ordered the famous naco; which is a giant slab of raw beef (from near the bum) which she cooks and cuts herself on a large stone escorted by salt and garlic sauce! A few fried fish, olives, cheese and sangria later we were struggling! Making friends with a few locals at the restaurant they insisted we meet them at Bali bar after they had finished dinner! Paying our pricey but worth it bill (turns out nothing is complementary and we should have got them to remove things from our table) we made a move for the bar! It was like a surf shack with live music, and after just one delicious strawberry cocktail later we bailed on our new-to-be-friends and headed home after 12, (Lisbon happens to have an incredible night life, but due to our daily drinking efforts in Lagos we unfortunately had to decline its offer to party!)

We woke this morning a little late and headed straight for the bus station in order to get back to Lagos! With the 12:30 bus booked out we waited around and caught the 2pm one! A pretty easy and direct 4hr journey I'm glad we got away for a few days! A little bit of a stop, revive survive and im Excited to get back for another crazy week and a bit, who knows what experience the shangri will throw our way? A lucky one, no doubt.

Fanny xx

Svedarn yarr; blondes, booze and banquets.

We arrived into Sweden at half 9 local time to be collected by the lovely Johan. Erica and I met Johan at the start of last year as he was in Australia for business, so on coming to Sweden we took him up on his offer to stay with him in the country about 2hours south of Stockholm. The airport of skavska is about an hour and a half out of Stockholm and about an hour from Johan's so it was incredible generous and convenient that he picked us up. Driving through the Swedish country side was beautiful, full of lush green fields, small windy roads and many old brick villages. We arrived at about 11am to his country house which looked more like a small estate inclusive of about 10 rooms, two stories and a pool!!! We met stanly; his gorgeous golden retriever, and Eric; his business partner, before heading into the small village to check out the local supermarket; Willy's, stocking up on some delicious food and copious amounts of alcohol. Back at the house Erica, Carly and I slept the afternoon away to be woken by cocktail hour at half 5, before setting the table outside to fed a delicious smoked salmon followed by an amazingly tasty rubarb pie which Eric had made. The night escaped us over cocktails, wine and catching up and we were ready for bed again.

The next morning/midday i woke to the sun trying desperately to shine through the hazy clouds, impressed by its efforts I started the day with a swim...by that I mean I jumped in, and jumped straight back out. We then met Annie, Johan's beautiful wife who had just flown in from Copenhagen where she studies. Due to a late start to the day, just one strange Swedish vampire movie later dinner was on our minds... We cooked up an incredible feed of BBQ meat and a blue cheese, honey walnut and rocket salad. Again Eric impressed us with a mouth watering desert...a dense chocolate cake which tasted more like a thick brownie. Too much wine and too many hours of team trivial pursuit later we called it a night.

We decided to make the most of our last day in the country with a little excursion. Leaving the house at 11, first stop was the supermarket to pick up some more food and booze for tonight's celebrations (The return of Johan and Erica parents who had been in germany collecting alcohol...as its cheaper over the border). Packing the goods into a cooler box in the boot we made out way towards the large lake; Vattern. We walked around the old town; the cobble streets and little lanes reminded me a lot of the small villages in germany near dusseldorf, we then made our way though the old moated castle; Vadstena, then stopped for some icecream before heading to some ruins of a church from the 15th century. We also visited the rok; 9th-century memorial block bearing the longest runic inscription known, and had some late lunch of fish before making our way back home to meet the parents.

The country side reminded me a lot of what I saw in Germany around dusseldorf area that I visited a few years back, full of lush green field, old brick pubs and garage sale signs in all directions. We arrived home late afternoon to do the meet and greets, all so lovely and spoke perfect English! We started with some delicious cheese and wine time, soon enough heading to the grand wooden dining table for a banquet of herring fish smoked in all different and tasty supplements. From a creamy mushroom mayonnaise sauce, to a simply salty assortment...it was incredible! This came with a side of tradition drinking games and songs, we sipped/shoted our schnapps whilst the elders sang feel good songs and clapped! "skol" (cheers)!!! Once dinner was devoured then came desert... another incredible tasty treat from Eric; we all tucked into more than one serving of the lemon meringue biscuit tart! Another intense game of trivial pursuit tucked us into bed in the early house of our last day in the country.

Another late rise/food coma, we woke to find a good Part of the day over, Simply to pack up our compact bags to be dropped at the closest train station. Saying our goodbyes to Johan we journey 2 hours north towards Stockholm arriving just after 6! Having no luck booking a hostel Eric and his girlfriend caroline kindly offered Eric's flat to us whist they stay at Caroline's! (*a little bit of McIntyre luck I do believe...) The apartment was so nice, full of funky shanghai style art, and an incredible collection of glass wear (by a particular designer that Eric follows). We immediately felt at home as they served us a delicious real (REALLL) espresso and a delicious dinner of salad and kebabs. Sinking into the sofa a movie staring a young and pre permanently straightened hair; nicole kidnman entertained us and kept us in for the night.

Our first day in stockholm was spent with a map, walking into the city from Eric's over the bridges as the sun was Shining! The city is built up of islands so everything is separated by water, it has a very unique charm and authentic feel. We Walked down the small cobble streets in search of some vintage shops I had google, successful with finding a few we passed the hours trying on beautiful velvet treasures before heading further into the old town for a strong cinnamon coffee. Losing our way down the little European lanes we retired on some stairs to soak up the sun and stair down the sexy swedes. Waiting until 6pm to meet my friend Alex (who I knew from London and was currently living in Stockholm), we headed straight to subway for a cheap but tasty sub! Thirsty for a beer we kicked onto debaser; a sweet outside beer garden with lounges and overpriced cider complemented by a suave and chilled atmosphere. We met up with Alex's Swedish friend boris then all made way for the train to get to strand? To watch the football; Sweden vs ukraine. The pub was two bars long and completely packed, waiting until half time to squeeze ourselves into vision of the large projected screens whilst the cool kids smoked. Sweden lost and the crowd dispersed extremely quickly to shame themselves privately whilst we trooped on to another dirty cheap bar around the corner to continue conversation and take part In a sick off; ( telling ridiculously inappropriate and graphic what if stories to disgust one and other). A little traumertised and in fits of laughter we broke off and caught a cab home.

Our last morning in Stockholm we trained it back to check out the vintage shops that weren't open the day before, unsuccessful, we headed into central station to purchase airport bus tickets for the next day. We then wandered further into the shopping streets to be tempted by overpriced but attractive items! Dumplings drove us through the late afternoon as we checked out Caroline's beautiful jewelry workshop, and before too long our lazy last day in Stockholm was done. We went home to the local supermarket to purchase some packet creamy mushroom soup and stayed in for the night.

The next morning my couch sleep was woken by my 6am alarm, I quietly gathered my things together and headed into the city for my 8am bus to the airport. Briskly walking for my train I pleasantly pondered over my incredible little stay in Sweden, shocking me with their unlocked and attractive hipster bikes, to the overpriced and under poured beers, from the lush green country side to the splendid cobel city streets of Stockholm. Spending time with old and new friends and over indulging in an abundance of delicious local cuisine, I fell in love with Sweden. (the beautiful blonde men are not a myth either.)

The bus ride to the airport took a good hour and a half, and I was several hours early for my flight to faro, Portugal. Finally boarding at 11am, I was luckily dismissed by an over sized carry on as I distracted the lady with conversation. I spent the four hour flight chatting to a young man from sweden talking about plans for the summer, which got me excited for the next stop. Coming out of faro airport I seemed to have avoided customs somehow and stepped straight onto the streets searching for a bus into town. Unfortunately not due to leave for another hour, I befriended an Indian business man and shared a cab into the main bus station to find chloe (craines is coming back!) Riddled with excitement for a month in the sun by the beach at Lagos, but scatter with nerves as to wether or not we will be able to land a volunteer position at a hostel to save our pennies...was quite the seesaw feeling, things can either turn out for the best or worse but either way it swings I will be with a very dear friend and we will make the most of what ever experience is thrown our way.

Fanny xx