Advertisement
Portugal our whirlwind stop off before Spain, actually turned out to be one of the more interesting (and scary) places we have visited.
We arrived at the Charles de Gaulle airport just as the airline was finishing up the check-ins!!!
So we hurried up to the counter and got checked in only to find that our bags were 6kg overweight! As we were quickly running out of time it was simply a matter of paying for the extra weight at a rate of €12 per kg which wasn't too bad but did mean we had to line up again wasting more time, as we had just been advised that the plane was waiting for us. So we rushed through customs and ran towards our gate only to find a line of about 40 people who hadn't even started boarding the plane. Turns out this guy either thought it was funny to stress us out or is really bad at his job. Probably both. So we waited in line and had a chat to an American guy who gave us a few pointers on where to go in Switzerland. We then jumped onboard and started our flight to Lisbon in Portugal!
We arrived in Lisbon and got out of the airport by about 1pm in the afternoon. We then thought we would try and walk to the bus stop that would take us to the hotel in our everlasting mission to stretch the Euro as far as possible. This didn't pan out as we would have hoped. We walked for about 30 minutes with luggage in tow only to arrive at the bus stop and be told we weren't able to take luggage on a bus. Fair enough but there were 5 people on the bus. I don't think it would have mattered. So after that we got a cab to our hotel.
We checked in and got to our room which would be a serious contended for "Worlds smallest 1950's styled cardboard box". We then headed out to see Lisbon and grab a bite to eat. We walked up a side street and found a few guys who directed us to a good restaurant up the road. The only problem. One of them followed us. Yep that's right. This guy was intent on making sure we got to this restaurant all the while with his 6 year old "daughter" in
tow. At this stage we just went with it to see if there was actually a restaurant but when we got to the restaurant, the staff spoke no English and it seemed as if this "guide" of ours had no intention of leaving. So with that we said "Obrigado" or "Thank you" in Portuguese and politely got the hell out of there before we had no choice but to provide dinner to this man and girl. We then wandered up and only coming back down the street we found a place called Portvgalia. Thsi restaurant was amazing. The service was good, the waiter was really friendly and the food although not the best was still what we wanted. I also got to try a Portuguese dessert called, Portuguese Cream Custard. Still has nothing on the Cornish cream teas but was still delicious. We then headed back to the hotel to crash after a long stressful day!
We awoke the next morning, keen to see what the hotel was providing for breakfast as it was "included" in our accommodation but not paid for. So with that we headed downstairs only to be pointed across the road to a bakery. So
we went in and had what was a terrible excuse for a chocolate croissant (having come from France only days earlier, we knew what was good). We then thought we would head down to the tourist center of Lisbon, where we sat and looked out into the ocean to the sounds of a busker playing tunes from Cat Stevens and Neil Finn. Shortly after arriving in this tourist strip we were approached if we wanted to buy glasses. Pointing to the glasses on my face hoping this would deter the "salesman", we walked away. But no, he followed us then asking if I wanted to buy some marijuana. Having denied this he then finally left us both bewildered and shocked that he would be so stupid out in the open. "Hey want some glasses?" "No". "Drugs then?" I am yet to understand how those two things go together. After this Nimbin like experience we headed off to lunch down on the strip but a few streets back so that we essentially got food half of the price as what you would find on the main street. After lunch we headed back towards the hotel to get a bit of shut
eye before dinner. Dinner came and we went back to Portvgalia as it was so good we just had to go back. This time the food was pretty bad and the waiter was a bit of a snob so maybe it was just a fluke. After that, we headed back to the hotel and pack our things and headed to bed as the next morning we were due to fly out to Madrid in Spain.
Our last morning in Portugal started at 4am when we got up, got our things together and made damn sure we weren't going to be late to the airport again. The hotel manager called us a cab and it actually cost us less than the cab we caught the first day after walking for half an hour!!! We then headed inside the terminal and checked in. Next Stop Madrid!!!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.08s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 13; qc: 53; dbt: 0.0339s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb