LISBON .....trip part 2

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LISBON……..END OF PART 2

Tomorrow, I’m off to Berlin after a total of 5 days here in Lisbon…….so I’d better bring everyone up to date.

We got here in the middle of a heat wave…….mid 90’s for 2 days. The hotel is a bit out of city center and required about a 10 minute walk downhill (remember, what goes down will have to be traveled up later on!!) walk to the underground Metro or the city bus system. Of course we got here about 2.5 hours before the rooms were ready so down the hill we went to find out how the transport worked. I saw a very nice Kodak moment courtyard…..only to get waved off by a security guard who wanted to see what pictures I took. Seems it was the Spanish ambassadors residence and they don’t like photographers. There is lots of security throughout the city. I have to add here that our hotel room is smaller than our cabin on the ship!!! Back up the hill, get our rooms, change and off on our first tour which was on an electric tram….up and down hills. Some parts of the city are so hilly and steep that they actually have elevators to get you up there!!! The city is mostly rebuilt from a 1755 earthquake with some parts showing wonderful restoration and other parts that could really use it !!!! Another thing is that the Portuguese do not like to speak Spanish, but have no problem speaking French…..so much for Dick’s Spanish lessons and thank goodness for my French!!!

On Friday, we went down towards the river to see a bunch of museums, statues, parks ect. Timing is everything…..most of the places had free entry!!!! We stopped at a fish restaurant for lunch where the fish came right out of iced window…..and came to me still with the head and tail…..which I had to remove!!!! For dinner, we met a judge and his wife from West Virginia that we became friendly with and had dinner at a typical local restaurant. Not that very expensive, either. Their hotel suite was about 5 times the size of our room, but then they paid a lot more for it !!!!

On Saturday morning, we went to the flea market then took another tour up and down hills, in and out of churches, seeing this square and that one. Later in the day, we went out to one of the soccer stadiums to see about tickets and some young ladies turned me on to a deal where if I bought some Adidas stuff, we would get 2 free tickets……….a deal I could not refuse.

Sunday, we took a train out to Sintra… where the royal family and the rest of the “swells” summered. Only problem was that it wasn’t summer any more and we were in wet drizzly clouds. On the positive side, we found out that that the palaces had senior citizen entry charges (like mostly…FREE). Back into Lisbon, we changed and took the Metro out to the soccer stadium for the 7:15 start of the game. The stadium, the atmosphere was incredible……as was the cold wind that blew thru our “free” nosebleed section seats!!!! I swear the wind chill was down to 45 degrees!!! Anyway, the local team, Benfica, won 2 to 1 !!!!!

Today, Monday, has been an easy day. We took the bus system up to San Jorge Castle…again up some very steep hills…..for some stunning views of the city and the River Tagus, had a leisurely lunch and now its time to pack. Dick has a flight at 7:50 and mine is at 11 to Berlin, but I don’t mind being early cause I have some duty free stuff to get tax money refunded plus have to sort out my flight and get some Euros.

So now you have the lowdown on Lisbon. No pictures cause I haven’t emptied the camera into the computer yet!!!!!!!.

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