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Published: August 29th 2013
Last night we had a great welcome reception that led left no man hungry, in the old district of Alfama. It beauty was being a quaint restaurant slightly below grade, with the original floor pre-earthquake which was quite cool. There was an old church from the 1600th century just 2 door shown that managed to survive, of course I have a heap of photos but on my SLR and they are in raw format so can't show you until I get home. Should just start taking photos with my iPad, if only for blogging!
This morning we left for our full day of sightseeing, and man was it packed and wonderful. However the most interesting part of my day was when I decided to go stroll the streets of Portugal, and listening once again to Lonely Planet and 'get lost' in the labyrinth of old Alfama. Britney Spears comes to mind with her 'oops I did it again' lyrics as not only did I get lost I ended up in an area of Lisbon I know is not for tourists and managed to flag down a cab to take me to safety. I figured if there were cabs in the area it couldnt be 'that' bad, but suffice to say the hairs on the back of my neck were at attention, and all the whistles and Ola's i got had me wishing for my little red shoes. There's no place like home.....
I wasn't exactly lost, I knew which direction I needed to go, but I couldn't find streets to get me there. Not a fan of pulling out a map in public if I can avoid it, but even when I did it was of no use. I knew in relation to the sun that I was heading too north and needed to go west (I sound like a mountain dork when I say that, don't I!) but every intersection had small windy hilly roads that seemed to curve into no-mans land and didn't feel right. I did it to myself, it wasn't the first time and probably won't be the last, but I put on my big girl boots, and my 'don't mess with me' face and strutted liked I belonged and knew exactly where I was going. HA! I probably looked like a pasty lost little girl tourist but in my head I was fierce!
Saw a cab at an intersection, the first one that I could head westish, and flagged him down. Was still a couple of KM away and truth be told I would have not found the route he took, but for $5 euros it was more than worth it to be home safe in my beautiful Trafalgar hotel! Sometimes I even shake my head at myself, but at least, once again, I'm here to tell the tale with a small sigh of relief, and a false promise to myself to not do it again.......
Tomorrow morning we are off to the Algarve and I will do my best to blog about today, so many wonderful sights and true hidden treasures to share!
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Quack
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The only way to travel
Getting lost, that is. It makes it much more fun!