Portugal Trip

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We were all up early for breakfast this morning as Cath and I head back to Canada today. After breakfast our cab arrived and we were off to the bus terminal for our trip back to Lisbon. The trip was uneventful and we made it to our hotel without getting lost (imagine that). After we got registered we decided to go back down to the old town for dinner and some more touring. We found our way into the metro and headed out.

The metro system in Lisbon is a wonderful system. It’s very modern, fast and clean. The security in the underground and on the train is very good so we felt very safe. The train is very fast and the pictoral maps make it quite easy to navigate. We even made it through a transfer with no trouble. The trip to the old town took less than 10 minutes. We found a quaint little cafe and we both had cabrito no churrasco (lamb on the grill). This meal, alone, is worth the price of a trip back to Lisbon - it was that good!! After dinner we decided to catch the old town yellow tram for a trip up to the Castelo de Soa Jorge (Castle of St. Jorge). This a rickety old electric tram that still travels the original tracks throughout old Lisbon. The castle is a hilltop fortification that was built before the arrival of the Roman Legions. In later centuries the castle walls were strengthened by Visagoths and Moors before falling to Portugal’s first king, Afonso Henriques, in 1147. It’s a huge castle, as you can see from the picture, with a commanding view of Lisbon and the ocean.

Part way up the hill to the castle we decided to stay on the tram and to the tour around the old town and then go back to the hotel. The tram wound its way through the warren of the old streets and alley ways that make up the old town and, in most streets, we were only inches away from many of the residences and businesses. What an amazing way to live - such organized mayhem. We clicked and clacked our way around for over an hour and saw what Lisbon used to be - lots of churches, squares and statues. There are many old churches here and many of the homes are in disrepair and various states of ruin. Laundry is hung out to dry everywhere. This is really quite a rundown area and there is graffiti everywhere. In fact, there is considerable graffiti everywhere we went in Portugal. Most of it is garbage, greatly defacing walls and buildings - really too bad.

Part way around the circuit the tram came to an abrupt stop and the driver shouted something that made everybody get off, it seemed in the middle of nowhere. We asked where we got on a tram that would take us back to the water front and the driver pointed to a spot about 15 feet away. We thought he was going to drive away in some other direction but 5 minutes later he pulled up in front of us and we got right back on, only we had to pay again. Nothing slow about Lisbon Transit!! We rode until we thought the tram would take us back to our original pick up point but we realized we were heading back up the hill to the castle and we didn’t want to go there again. We made a hasty exit from the tram but now didn’t know for sure where we were (sound familiar?) So we walked again, this time back in the direction of the water front and for once we were right. We poked around a few more craft stalls and then headed back to the hotel on the metro. We found a Mercado (grocery store) and bought a couple of bottles of port and a couple of cheeses to bring back with us. A hot bath later and we were ready for the final leg back home.

This will be the final entry in my blog for the moment. Cath and I are currently at about 38,000 feet winging our way back home early as we both have work commitments. Pete, Renita and Jo are on their way to Tavira today and will be there for the rest of this week. I’ve asked them to chronicle their last week in Tavira and if they send me their adventures and pictures I’ll do a follow up blog.

I had a really good time recording our trip for you and I hope you enjoyed our adventure. Thanks for being a part of our holiday with all of our little side adventures and excursions.

Best regards,

Don

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