Hendaye to Lisbon
Hendaye 18:35--Lisbon 07:30
Day time Hendaye is a land that time forgot. We searched for a cafe where I might be able to work, and laughed as all the suggestions were in Spain. Were it not for the fact of needing internet (and preferably coffee) to work, I'd have found the un-cafed nature of Hendaye charming. Luckily, we stumbled upon a lively establishment, hilariously run by a Briton called Dave. Later, as I was wrapping up work from a desk in the train station, Ben said he was having a beer in Spain! Apparently, there was a bridge across the water, where the border is as I wish all borders to be: a nominal boundary of no consequence to one's life.
Hendaye to Lisbon, run by Renfe, was Ben's first overnight train experience and the journey possibly knocked me into double digits of nights moving over tracks... in honesty, it wasn't a great night's sleep. We paid 8euro each for the seat reservation. You can probably imagine.
The train also felt a bit of a relic from the past. A huge CRT screen at the end of the carriage and immoveable armrests between seats hosting ports we couldn't even identify, presumably associated with the screen, were the key features of our evening's accommodation. We lacked the means to charge anything - it was a long night. We quickly sought out the bar, though, where we encountered a couple of inspiring travellers - Christine and Dave - who have practically traversed the globe without flying (including, a thrilling tale, aboard a container ship).
We embarked to a cloudy early morning in Lisbon, slightly worried we were ahead of any breakfast offerings, but pitched up to a cafe with nostalgia written all over it. Hello Fabrica. We're still in 2020, you say? Oh good.