Blogs from Lisboa, Portugal, Europe - page 12

We are back on the train to Lisbon. This train is a bit more crowded than the train down yesterday, plus there is the added bonus of the screaming toddler across the aisle from us. The woman across from Jerry is very pleasant not, taking up the entire other side, because obviously she is Portuguese royalty, oh that’s right I don’t think they have a royal family here. Maybe she forgot. We had a good night sleep in the very comfortable king size bed. We had the luxury of sleeping in today because not too much was on the agenda. When we went to breakfast I was expecting pretty much what we have been having, meats, cheeses and bread. Instead it was a huge spread of everything, including the meats and cheeses and really good meats ... read more

May 10, 2016 Lisbon Day 2 I am writing this entry a day late and doing so on purpose. If I had written it at the end of the day, which is my routine, it would have been very negative and that is not the impression I want to leave the readers with. More importantly, when I am 95 and looking back at these blogs because I forgot I ever took the trip, I don’t want to read negative things about my past travels. A few words on why it was better to blog about yesterday, today. First, we woke up very late, yes we were tired, but normally we just push through as there is so much to do. This is especially true when it is a country and city we have never ... read more

23-03-16: Arrived in Lisbon after sleeping the whole flight, waited an hour for my friend to arrive and then jumped on the metro to the city. Had to change in Sao Sebastian to go to Reatauradores and from there we could walk. We did not have the name or adress of our hostel written down, tried asking for directions but asking how to find G-Spot hostel was not super tempting. We managed to find some wi-fi and find it on Google maps and it was only a 10 min walk. Arrived around 21 at the hostel and the two young British guys that checked us in where both already a bit drunk but super nice and very helpful, gave us a map and pointed out good spots to go. We went to the room with our ... read more

Monday, Jan. 11. Lisbon, Portugal 8:00AM-4:30PM cloudy start to the day, becoming sunny and warm up to 16C. Lovely day! Feeling right as rain this morning! Whew! Ended up hiring a driver for a couple of hours. Jose Dantas da Silva. Delightfully classy Portuguese gentleman With excellent English, impeccible manners, and a wonderfully ethnic moustache. Took us to St. Jorge Castle, a church, Belem Tower and Henry the Navigator Monument (celebrating 500 years of teaching navigation!!) Dropped us off downtown. Paul was offered (very suspect) marijuana the instant the driver moved off. Lovely city. Definitely on the list of 'return for a while'. Tuesday, January 12. Gibraltar, UK. 4:00-11:30PM. Sunny and pleasant. 15C Finally sunny and warmish. Up and to breakfast by 10:00. Sent out first laundry, 'cause it's free!! Entered the Straits of Gibraltar around ... read more

After breakfast we headed out on our bus ride to Lisbon, Portugal. We stopped at a pretty little Portuguese port town on our way to Lisbon, recommended by our bus driver, Mario. After a little walk around the town and a quick lunch it was time to head back on the bus. We reached Lisbon in early afternoon. It was too early for us to check into our hotel, so went to see the Christ the King statue. The Christ the King statue was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. It was erected to express gratitude because the Portuguese were spared the effects of World War II. You can apparently climb to the top of the statue to get a great view of Lisbon city. However, we decided to stay ... read more