Day 25 Lisbon

 

We knew this was going to be an unusual day. It was a public holiday in Lisbon, to celebrate International Workers' Day. Government buildings and monuments were going to be closed and there was a big question mark over businesses.

We had breakfast at a local cafe. Pigeons managed to make breakfast a bit of a trial as a flock swooped in and even ate straight off the tables. The pigeons were only a little more irritating than the waiters as they rushed out and smashing metal trays against the metal tables trying to drive the pigeons off. Still it was entertaining.

From here we planned a route up the hillside and across to the Lisbon Castle. We thought it would afford us a great view across the city but as well as the building, the the garden was closed so we worked our way through the tangle of streets and just appreciated the streetscape. We came across a delightful stone plaque that has burnt into it a photo of lovely old couple who had lived in the area for 50 years. The plaque celebrated their half a century of a loving relationship with each other and their neighbourhood.  We passed a small shop where a young man was conducting a workshop with tourists on the skill of producing Portuguese tiles. There were so many quirky sights as we ambled down the hill working our way to the Pantheon.

When we crossed the street and began the walk down a laneway towards the Pantheon. suddenly there was a flash of recognition as the monument came into view. This was where we had attended the flea market with Britt at the beginning of our stay in Lisbon. Without the crowds, the stalls and the chaos of speeding tuk tuks, the area looked totally different. There was a wonderful quiet elegance about it. We stopped for refreshments at the Copenhagen Coffee Lab and then walked through a really delightful garden beside the Pantheon. This had everything.. glorious views, a fringe of flowering wisterias, loads of lush lawn and seats, a kiddie area, a dog park and even a range of exercise equipment, which Johnny insisted on using. It was like finding a little diamond. It also afforded us a great view of the looming hulk of the Pantheon.

It was an easy walk down the hill to the waterfront where we planned to get tickets for a long river cruise that would take us all the way past the bridge that looked like the golden gate, to Belem and back. Our waterfront walk began at the cruise ship terminal and took us all the way back to the main square.

Some ticket offices  were open, but others celebrated Workers' Day by not working. Buying tickets involved a hefty wait as the young woman went though all the options with the groups in front of us, in painful detail. When we got to the front, she was about to launch off again but I butted in and said we were OK and just wanted the tickets. This must have saved us at least 10 minutes.

Rather than jumping on the next departure, we walked back into town to get some lunch first. We came across a restaurant that was also doing take away and bought two utterly fantastic hot roast pork rolls with salad. They tasted amazing and we ate them sitting in the main square, in the shade, on the steps of the statue of the horseman in front of the huge and glorious arch. It was wonderful. 

I took a photo and sent it to a colleague at work. She wrote back straight away. After taunting me with the suggestion that on my return, she was happy to organize with our most loved and interesting "leading teacher"  a debriefing and catch up on everything I'd missed, she then thought better of it and wrote "Just stay there LL. Eat Portuguese Tarts and stuff school". Very sound advice I thought. 

It was a short walk to the boat and we were delighted to see that there was shelter from the sun, which by this time was beaming down on us with some intensity. As we waited to depart a massive cruse liner arrived in the port and with a deft manoeuvre, the skipper turned it around and placed it neatly by the dock. Done this once or twice before we assumed. 

We took off across the sea towards the distant shore where Britt had previously taken us for a great lunch. Suddenly, our skipper eased off the throttle. A pod of dolphins were crossing in front of our boat. They played hide and seek with us for a while, before speeding off. We had seen many of the sights from our previous walks through different parts of the city but it was still exciting seeing them from the water. This was also an opportunity for Johnny to play with some of the settings on his camera to get some special effects. 

It was well after four when we returned to the hotel, to book our ride the airport for tomorrow morning, check in on our flight and have a rest before setting out for our last night in Lisbon.

The last night of the trip to Portugal was special, so the restaurant needed to be special too. Johnny took us to Sacramento. It had an elegant but relaxed vibe. Apparently was over the years a royal palace, a royal stable and a university building. We arrived quite early and there was no trouble getting a table. By the time we left, the main dining room was full. There was something about the décor that reminded me of the 70s restaurants we visited many years ago. The walls were covered with a multiplicity of round mirrors and the central lights were huge and slowly revolving orbs covered in pink and red cellophane. The food was equally quirky. For entrée we had a plate of cured meats, cheeses and jams. Johnny had a mains of octopus rice. I had a leg of roast pork with (smashed) potatoes and greens. We shared a dessert of fig ice cream with egg pudding and shaved orange. It was a lovely and memorable meal and a short walk home and straight to bed.   

Day 24 Lagos to Setubal and Lisbon

 After having our breakfast on the terrace of the guest house we were off...but not quite. The door was automatically closing and we had half of the luggage in the car when the door closed. Hmmm. I took a chance and knocked on the first floor windows, hoping another guest would let us in. He did, then went back to bed. Finally, we were off to Setubal, and yes, this time I did check under the bed for any credit cards that may have been dropped. This time the priority was to travel quickly so we took the freeway. For a lot of the journey we seemed to have it to ourselves. Travelling at 120km plus, we made it to our lunch stop in no time. Again, we travelled through vast agricultural acreages. 

We saw a swoop of hawks but the most astonishing thing on this journey was seeing how the storks had colonized the electricity pylons that criss-crossed the freeway. At every meeting of the girders a huge shaggy nest had been built. On one pylon, we counted 12 nests. 

We had expected Setubal to be a picturesque little fishing port as it was known as one of the main locations for the fishing of sardines. In fact, it was a vast fishing port and a huge and prosperous city. The sea front was very much a home for the fishing fleet and there was row after row of fish processing buildings. The streets were wide and down the middle of the main street stretched a wide garden with cafes, shade and seating. The city was hosting a marathon which must have finished as we arrived as throughout the market and streets there were tired looking participants still wearing their yellow shirts and numbers, walking home.

Our first stop was at the Freedom Market. This was a large working market supplying the locals with food for cooking. We searched high and low for a place selling sandwiches or something similar for lunch, but almost every stall had only cakes, coffee and wine. We had almost given up when a closing stall saved us. The lovely kid behind the counter even spoke a smattering of English. We took our picnic back to the garden and walked on for a while before setting down to lunch under the shade of the plane trees.

Down a side street we could see the sea and we walked off in that direction. We could see a lot of activity in the distance, past the moored fishing boats so we gravitated it. This was where the dolphin watching tours left from and there was a whole street of restaurants selling fish apparently straight off the boat. Being only an hour from Lisbon, I imagined that the crowd of diners in Setubal was a mixture of locals and tourists. The restaurants were overflowing and despite the heat and the intensity of the sun, there were people waiting in lines for tables to free up..

For us it was back to the car and a short drive back to Lisbon to drop off the rental car and get a taxi to our hotel in central Lisbon. Again we crossed the massive 12 km bridge, but today's sun made the central supports look like enormous sails. 

Our taxi driver from the train station next to the car rental spot was heavy on the accelerator, the brake and the horn, but my god, he got us to our destination quickly. We were rapidly delivered to the My Story Hotel a short distance from the waterfront. This was our first stay in a hotel, on this trip. We had stayed at the Adega and then and guest houses and apartments. The hotel cost heaps, but it was centrally located and there was a LIFT! 

We had our priorities right..1. dump the luggage..2. link to Wi Fi.. 3. find a mini Mercado and buy some cold beers...4. Plan where we would go for dinner. Johnny was determined to have a dinner meal of sardines. Lisbon was just as we had left it, busy, exciting and a bit intimidatingly large, but hey, we had been here before and as Britt said to us, we were almost locals by this stage.

Dinner  was around the corner from the hotel and yes, it was cod croquettes, sardines with salad and potatoes and a huge glass of red wine. There was a great atmosphere as the streets that were crowded with people from around the world.  Afterwards we walked down the main street to the river front through the massive arch, for ice cream and just managed to catch the departure of a cruise ship to parts unknown. The setting sun lit up the sky and ever watchful Venus followed us home.

While we snuggled into bed, the young ones were hurtling down the road below us on their electric scooters. Each to their own.