Blogs from Lisbon, Lisbon & Tagus Valley, Portugal, Europe - page 15

We touched down in Frankfurt airport at 9 am and with twelve hours to spare before our next flight; we hopped on the train into town. I lived here in Frankfurt for a year, sixteen years ago and it felt really good to be back; it was Paulo's first taste of Germany. As we walked along the shopping streets of the city, we spotted a busy food market and went in for a closer look. Older German men sat in groups drinking beer, smartly dressed workers stood around eating snacks on their lunch breaks and hundreds of people filled the square. We spent the afternoon eating bratwurst and schnitzel and drinking wine with the locals before making our way back to the airport for our onward flight to Portugal. We flew into Faro and travelled north ... read more

Walk into an 'Iper' in Portugal, as any self respecting self caterer who happens to be in Portugal will do at some time - we are actually secretly carrying out a world wide review of supermarkets of all kinds but that is another story - and you will immediately pick up the whiff. Walk down a road past a restaurant, almost any restaurant it seems, and you will smell it being cooked. Even now, around our camp, your nostrils will be quivering at the lovely aroma of bacalhau in its dried and cooking states. Cerverjas is simply Portuguese for beer and it goes well with bacalhau. 'Dios' is 2 in Portuguese and if you don't know what 'por favor' means then you haven't watched Fawlty Towers. And enough with the language lesson. You obviously get used ... read more

A couple days after my last update we were in Gibraltar. Although I didn’t get off the ship it seamed like a bumpin place. Lots of small little shops within walking distance of the port. From the ship you can see 3 different countries; Morocco, Spain, and Gibraltar which is technically the UK. The port is incredibly busy and apparently it’s because of cheap fuel, but it’s clear that the waters are still crystal clear and full of fish. I can’t wait to get off somewhere and go diving. The straight itself is only 6 miles wide and because of the massive currents between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic (up to 5 knots) over time the straight has become over 1000 meters deep. Corsica is an incredible island; I think I’m going to have to come ... read more

As today is a travel day and my last day in Lisbon I didn't do anything real exciting. Went down to the Santa Apolonia train station to book my overnight train just to be safe. The plan is to try and rush from the Chamartin train station in Madrid where I will arrive, to the Atocha station where I would get a train to Granada. It's going to be close making that connection. If I miss it Ill just put my bag in a locker in a station and go wander around Madrid waiting for the evening train, not the worst back-up plan. Anyways, after that I went and took a nap on the steps of some monument in the main square here. Now hundreds of tourists will have pictures of this beautiful city square with ... read more

Got a great night of sleep last night to compensate for the night before. Checked out of the dull hostel I had got into just the night before so I could go get a little taste of Coimbra before heading to Lisbon. Coimbra was really not much more than I expected. It is still a very attractive city and fun to talk around for a day in but I dont see much more than that. I walked around the university which has been around since 1290 I believe. Its on top of a hill which overlooks most of a city which is pretty cool. After that I didnt really plan on seeing much else so I went shopping for a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to replace the ones I left at Adam's back in ... read more