Day 2 Lisbon

The day we walked and walked. (18.2 kms)

I woke at 3am, organised my photos and then eventually went back to sleep. Woke again at 6:30 and tried desperately to use the internet but the computer was working below snail speed. In the end I had to give up. But at least the photos are in their files ready to upload.

We “dined in” for breakfast in – basically yoghurt, fruit and I had some rice cakes.

Mary and Judy went to find an optometrist. She broke her glasses yesterday on the plane. I went to find a SIM card shop. I set off for the Votafone shop and was finally served after some issues. However eventually I got a new SIM card. Mary had struck out, but did find the Railway station and some super glue.

Delicious morning tea at one of the local cake shops. The girl’s coffee was so strong they were “fired up” and ready to go for the rest of the day. They ate their first Portuguese tarts. The whole shop was filled with locals enjoying their coffee. Coffee is only .50c. Tea is €2.50. No GF in this shop.

We walked to the big square (the biggest one in Europe) by the river, turned right and walked and walked and kept on walking until we decided that the Monastery was just too far. So we hailed a taxi (€5:50) and drove the rest of the way. We got dropped off at the Belem Fort which is so picturesque and took lots of photos, but packed with tourists.

Then we walked down to the Monument to the Portuguese Explorers. The monument is stunningly beautiful. In front is a map of the world presented by the South Africa showing all the places in the world that were “discovered” by the Portuguese.

From here we walked via the underpass to St Jerome’s Monastery and church.  The carved stone work was amazing in its detail and complexity. The church is free but the Cloisters cost €5 because we were seniors. Luckily I had my card and was able to buy all three tickets. The cloisters were WELL worth the money and the long queue.

We walked up the road to a tiny café for lunch. We chose sardines, calamari and salmon. All were just delicious- so fresh. Mind you by now it was 3 pm. Here was another place where you had the option of paying in either AUD or Euros. I selected AUD and supposedly this way you do not pay the overseas conversion rate at the bank. Beer was 1.50, tea 2.50, coffee 50 cents. On our way to find a taxi we past the famous home of the Portuguese tarts. The queues were ridiculous. Four wide and a block long. We didn’t bother to stop!

We took a taxi up to the Cathedral. It was majestic in its simplicity. As I was taking photos a little old lady “encouraged me” to go through a back door to see the handmade nativity scene which cost €2) It was HUGE. Made by a command from the king for the Carmelite monastery. Clay base with plaster and paint on top.

From here we took the 28 tram back to the city. It cost €3 but it was incredibly crowded and we were squashed in like sardines. We were holding our breathe several times as we went through the narrow streets. We hopped off near the big square and walked to information centre only to find our boat cruise was back near Belem! So we decided our only option was to catch a taxi as the instructions were sketchy to say the least.

Unfortunately the cab we chose was a bad experience. He stopped the meter at one point and the fare cost us €15, when it had only cost a little more than €5 during the day! We were dropped off “near “ the boat ride but it was difficult difficult to find and involved a lot of asking.

It was a brilliant boat ride along the Targus River. A perfect ending to a wonderful day. From here we had to walk quite a distance back to the city in the dark. But the streets were well lit. We had problems finding a taxi because we were on the other side of the railway line which has less traffic, but could not find a way across in the dark. Finally we hailed a taxi and were dropped off at our hotel at 9:30 pm. Again only €5.  We are constantly surprised by drivers in Lisbon, who have inordinate patience. Very rarely do you hear a car horn and they will just stop for any pedestrians who amble in front of them. The streets are incredibly narrow and passing can be a challenge.

I was totally exhausted after walking 18.5 kms on very little sleep over the last three days but I managed to download my photos despite the internet being ridiculously slow.

Day 1 Travelling to Lisbon

Day 1-2 Melbourne > Dubai> Lisbon

After a great night’s sleep I woke at 4:30 and proceeded to accomplish the large number of last minute jobs. Mary and Brian picked me up slightly earlier than 3 pm and then we went to pick up Judy arriving at the airport with plenty of time to spare.

Too early to check in, we had a cuppa and Mary’s son Greg joined us for a chat. Finally we checked-in. The new immigration/ customs check was much faster and we were very impressed, despite the three of us being “done” for a random drug search. We stopped for another drink at Brunetti’s before joining the crowd at our gate. Check-in was on time and all too soon we were in our seats, TV on and settling back for the long haul. The flight took off just before 9:30 pm. Despite medication, I managed only a few minutes of cat naps on the long 14 hour flight and 6 movies. We had lots of short bouts of turbulence, but they were both good flights on Emirates. 

We landed in Lisbon 14+2+8 hours after taking off. Despite two different tablets to help me sleep neither had any effect and the closest I came to having a sleep was destroyed by a hostess delivering my midnight snack! On the other hand Mary won for having the best sleep and Judy wasn’t that far behind.

We arrived on time in Lisbon. A very different set of buildings to Dubai’s excesses. The long queue to clear passport control moved quite quickly. Then off to pick up our luggage. Of course Mary and Judy’s arrived very quickly but mine took 20 minutes longer. Finally we were out the door and joined the rest of the travellers in the taxi queue.

We had a delightfully informative taxi driver. It was €24 from the airport to the hotel. The jacarandas were in full flower and there was only a light sprinkling of clouds. We drove past lots of apartment buildings that needed significant T.L.C. Consequently checking in about 2:30 pm to a nice clean room with en-suite. It’s only issue was the large number of steps we had to lug our cases up- basically two floors.  A basic shared kitchenette was just nearby. It is a centrally located hotel.

After a shower and washing our travelling clothes, we set off up mile after mile of steps to reach our destination of a walking tour of Lisbon at 4 pm.  Our guide was Gui. Born in Portugal. Excellent English and an amazing memory for all the information he shared with us about the history of Lisbon. The walking tour went for almost three hours and ended up down near the huge Targus River.  Ten we made our way back to our hotel, stopping for GF and LF supplies (yes they are available but not common in Portugal's restaurants apparently) at the local health food store and supermarket. Both of which were very close to our hotel. We tried to have a meal at one of the many nearby restaurants. However we had to wait for so long to be served that we were all falling asleep at the table and decided to just have whatever we could find for dinner back at our room.

Didn’t take long for sleep to overcome us. Mary and Judy were asleep quickly, while I kept falling asleep trying to type up today’s notes. 

10:30 now. A great start to this new adventure.