Lisbon Nights

So I find myself in a cab with my two female friends and one extremely helpful driver. We had just pulled away from Lux, the most exclusive club in the city because the line was around the block and I had no intentions of paying big money to get in. It is about 3am and our driver offers to drive us to another happening spot in town where all the other late night clubs are located. We all agree and soon we are on our way.

We are all talking on the way over, having a good time, and our driver jovially announces that he might just join us at the club. I was obviously a bit skeptical at first - being the only male in the group you always have to be aware of the potential intentions of any random guys that show up. But when traveling I like to remain optimistic and give people the benefit of the doubt. And he seemed like a good guy. On the initial drive to Lux he told us about his previous work showing British tourists around Portugal and how he really hated when some locals would prey on young female visitors. That and a few other anecdotes gave me the sense that he was a standup guy.

We get to our destination and our driver parks. At this point we just start to follow him, really having no idea what to expect. We pass a few places that all seem pretty lively but all the lines seem very substantial. We follow our driver to one of these clubs and he proceeds to walk towards the front of the line. He nonchalantly walks past everyone standing in line, shakes the bouncers hand, and walks straight in. My two friends looked back at me with slightly confused expressions. I had no idea what was going on but at this point did not need to ask any questions. We all followed closely behind our driver. No line, no questions, no hassle, no cover.

The club was first rate. A very good crowd, neon-green lazer lights, bumping techno (or house, or trance...whatever is big in Europe right now) An overall great atmosphere. But before we can get our bearings we find ourselves being led by the driver to the back of the club. Again he shakes the hand of a bouncer and we are suddenly getting escorted into the VIP section. Unbelievable.

To show a bit of gratitude I offer to buy the driver drinks. He told us that he was still on the clock so he would just take a Coke. The rest of the night we just danced and hung out in the VIP section. At around 4 or 5 the driver annonced that he was leaving to work a bit more but that we should stay and enjoy ourselves. He never hit on any of the girls or wanted anything in return. We stayed at the club until dawn and finally made our way back to the hostel as the morning bustle of Lisbon was starting to come to life. The rising sun made everything even more surreal - did that really just happen.

My travels so far have taught me that for every hustler and crook there are dozens of honest, open hearted people who are after nothing more than a good conversation and a good time. If you keep yourself open to new people and experiences good things will happen. And I suppose a little bit of luck doesnt hurt as well


(Sorry this post was a bit rushed. The keyboards in Morocco are adjusted for French and Arabic and make writing anything substantial an extremely frustrating effort.)