Blogs from Lisbon, Lisbon & Tagus Valley, Portugal, Europe - page 8

Thursday 29th January, 2015. Lisbon, Portugal We awoke really early so we could get a phone signal to see where and when we had to meet our friend Eva. After several exchanges of texts we arranged to meet Eva at the Casa dos Bicos - our only instructions being to be there at 11 am and to look out for a grey Renault Clio. We found the Casa dos Bicos easily and were early so went into a cafe next door to post our really boring blogs from the first few days at sea. Trena - I have now added some photos! Lisbon is the capital and largest city in Portugal. It lies on the Tagus River and the Atlantic Ocean in the Western Iberian Peninsula. The city is globally recognised because of its importance in ... read more

The capital of Portugal is full of dichotomies. The people are friendly, polite, open and expressive, but also wary. The buildings are grand, charming and quaint all at once but there is graffiti everywhere. You can't help but marvel at just how beautiful the city is—filled with beautifully tiled houses with red roofs and winding cobblestone streets that snake between multi-story homes draped with Portuguese flags and hanging laundry. But there is also a niggling feeling of unease, particularly around the tourist traps, where you get a glimpse of unadulterated poverty. Old men scanning the ground where the tourists walk to and from McDonalds looking for dropped coins, young men loitering in gangs selling umbrellas, sunglasses, whatever. The food, and almost everything else, especially alcohol, is incredibly cheap but not always great quality. The meals in ... read more

I arrived in Lisbon Tuesday evening and immediately found the aerobus that I needed to take to my hostel. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the night was very clear. I hopped on the bus, which I rode for about 20 minutes before getting off at Restauradores, my stop. It was a nice square surrounded by shops and restaurants. The hostel was only a short walk from this point. I walked to the hostel, which was very nice, and checked in. I took a short walk around the area before climbing into bed to get ready for the big day ahead. Wednesday, I had a double decker bus tour scheduled. I arrived at the tour, and boarded the first route, which was the red route. It took us to all of the major parts of the ... read more

Today is our day to see what we can of Lisbon. After another late wakeup (8am+), and an okay breakfast, we headed down the street to the Citysighseeing Hop-On-Hop-Off bus terminal on Praca do Pombal. This is also where the Yellow Bus and Gray Line bus tours start from, but there were both more expensive. Since the 18 Euros each ticket covers both their Red and Blue lines, we decided we'd try both, supposedly just doing the complete loops without getting off, then go back to the places we wanted to see up close and personal. It didn't work out that way, but we did ride the whole Blue line without disembarking. The Blue line goes downtown, just west of where we'd been on foot, then runs along the shore until it reaches Praca do Nacoes, ... read more

We got to the Pensacola airport in plenty of time, checked out luggage, and boarded our first U.S. Airways plane to Charlotte, North Carolina. In Charlotte, we had about an hour layover for our next flight to Philadelphia. Since it was lunchtime already, and we didn't have that much time, we decided to buy some sushi to take with us and eat when we could. Good choice, since we went to the wrong terminal and gate the first try and had to back track almost all the way back to the terminal we landed at, leaving about 15 minutes before boarding. Our next flight, from Charlotte to Philadelphia, also left on time, more or less. We arrived in Philadelphia, supposedly having about 4 hours of layover there (as planned for safety sake), but that connection didn't ... read more