Blogs from Portugal, Europe - page 4

Today we headed out of Lisbon on an Into Lisbon operated tour to Fátima, Batalha, Nazaré and Óbidos. We walked over to the Hard Rock Café where it seems all the tour operators arrange to meet their tour groups. There were people everywhere at the appointed time of 8.20am, but not a guide in site. We were somewhat reassured that we could at least see a vehicle operated by Into Lisbon Tours. At 8.30am guides appeared seemingly out of nowhere and started calling out the names of the tourists on their lists. We were paired up with Tomás and our group of eight headed off with him into the underground parking lot to his minibus. Thank goodness for a Lisboan local to navigate the roads leading out of the city! I am quite sure we would ... read more

This morning we headed off planning to catch the 10:04am train to Évora. We caught the metro from our local station to Sete Rios Station where we would catch the inter-city train. We allowed plenty of time and even though we went overland between the metro station and the inter-city station (we could have transferred between them underground!) we arrived with heaps of time to spare. The appointed 10:04am departure time arrived … and passed. Hmmn, announcements were being made, but only in Portuguese. No-one was leaving the platform though so we decided the train must be delayed rather than cancelled??? We waited and waited and waited and then people gradually started leaving the platform. We asked a young Asian man heading towards the stairs if he knew what was going on. Yes, he had asked ... read more

Phew, another hot and uncomfortable night with no air conditioning. The owner/operator of the apartments did respond to Bernie’s email about the a/c. They are aware of the situation, but it is the outdoor machines that have a problem and it is being investigated. Well, der, it is the outside unit that does the heavy lifting, just get them serviced or replaced! We are very cynical about this and feel that the owner/operator has probably been telling clients all summer that the air conditioning is ‘being investigated’. All we can console ourselves with is that we are not in residence during one of the three extreme heat waves that Lisbon has sweltered through this summer. I mean at least daytime temperatures are only in the 30s not the 40s!! So, we slept with the pedestal fan ... read more

When long-haul flying it is sometimes hard to decide when one day ends and another begins?? I decided it seemed logical to finish recording Monday’s activities after dinner and record the rest of the flight as being on Tuesday. Flying west chasing the sun, I think Tuesday is going to be a very, very long day. After dinner we both watched ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3’ seeing as we missed it at the cinema. Then we slept a bit and then I binged seven of eight episodes of ‘Colin from Accounts’. Oh, no, what is going to happen next? Episode 7 ended on a bit of a cliffhanger! Hopefully I can finish Series 1 on the next leg??? Bernie ate a small chicken and leek calzone when it was offered overnight, but I waited until ... read more

Its always exciting when driving off to new location. Leaving Lisbon it was extra exciting as we would be driving over the Vasco de Gama bridge, 7.6miles long with 2 elevated sections for vessels to pass under. Later we would meet a Portuguese man, (who incidentally works and lives in Luton, who said when it opened in 1998 15,000 people had a street party on it, with tables joined end to end over the whole length of the bridge! It was time again for a bit R+R again. So we headed for a campsite inland that was situated on the edge of a reservoir and was as close to nature as you could get. The receptionist said you could pick your own spot as long as you are 10 metres apart. Well, we could have had ... read more