REM // Van McCann

81. Nothing Left to Take

Florence and I waited outside the hotel for our Uber which will arrive any minute now. His car was only a block away and I watched as he got stuck at an intersection for quite some time. Florence sat on her suitcase and stifled a yawn. We were both tired having woken up early to catch a morning train out of Lisbon to Lagos. The train ride is over 3.5 hours and we'll have to transfer at Tunes.

Taking public transportation in a foreign country always worries me. My worst fear was that I'd take the wrong train or that I'd miss my transfer. I'm no stranger to public transportation having taken the train in the UK and the bus in Seattle but it still worried me not having taken this route before. There were so many things that could go wrong that would put a damper on our trip. His car moved towards us and I could see his black Renault Clio in the distance. When he got closer, I could make out his license plate.

"That's him," I told Florence, nodding my head towards the car. Florence got up, smoothed her dress, and got her suitcase ready. I walked up to the car and opened the passenger door, confirming the details with the driver. He got out of the car to help put our suitcase in the boot of the car.

Florence and I sat in the back of the car putting our seatbelt on. The radio was playing softly in the background. It was of the local news in Portuguese which I didn't understand so I looked out the window instead. The driver was taking us to Oriente Station, Lisbon's main train station. From there, we'll buy our tickets and catch the train to Lagos.

Having four days in Lisbon was nice. There were more things to do and see because we were in the capital but we quickly missed the quietness of Porto. It was hard to enjoy the views when there were tons of people around and the wait for popular restaurants was long. The fact that it's winter doesn't bother the locals, especially when it doesn't even feel like winter. The weather here is loads better than the UK and Seattle in February.

We arrived at the train station in good time. Based on my research, we have plenty of time. The train we were aiming for would arrive in twenty minutes which gave us time to do what we set out to do without rushing. We queued along with the locals to purchase tickets and once it was our turn, I explained to the woman working behind the counter that I wanted two tickets to Lagos. The lady knew we were tourists and spoke perfect English, explaining to us how we had to transfer at Tunes which made me feel a lot better. She printed our tickets and handed them to me and I thanked her. She pointed towards the general direction we had to go in order to catch the train.

We knew today was going to be a long travel day so the night before, we bought sandwiches, snacks, and drinks for the 3.5 hour train ride. We went a bit overboard with the food but it was better to be safe than sorry. We'll eventually consume all the food anyway. We sat down on a bench and shared a breakfast sandwich. Florence isn't big on eating breakfast so she asked that I help her. She pulled the wrapper back and placed the sandwich near my mouth. I bit into the sandwich and accidentally pulled the entire patty out.

"Wait—stop! You're pulling the whole patty out!" Florence giggled. She pulled the patty back with her fingers, fixed the sandwich, and then took another bite. "This is pretty good." I chewed, swallowed the sandwich, and nodded my head.

"Yeah. I'm gonna smoke before we board the train," I told her, taking my packet of cigarettes out. I opened it and placed a fag in my mouth. "D'ya want one?"

Florence shook her head. She's not big on smoking but she will have an occasional cigarette when she's in the mood. I made my way out of the train station and looked at the time. I had ten minutes before the train would arrive which was enough time for my cigarette.

I found a quiet spot to smoke, cupped the end of my cigarette, and lit it. Right now I feel fine but I don't know about later. Florence stayed by my side the entire time we were in Porto and Lisbon but I wasn't sure she'd stick around in Lagos. She knows I'm going to all the places I've been to in my dreams. Clara's house, the cliff, the beach. I was going to trace all my steps, trying to piece the story together.