Sunday 21st April - Monday 29th April (9 Nights) in Portugal
Summary: Four nights in Lisbon. Train ride to Porto, with a few hours stop off at Coimbra. Two nights in Porto before catching a river cruise up the Douro to a lovely Quinta (Vineyard) near Pinhão. We had two nights there before catching the train back along the Douro river to Porto for one more night. Then, we caught the train back to Lisbon (Because of my goof up - I should have booked a flight from Porto) to catch our flight to Barcelona and the next leg.
The four places we visited in Portugal
Sunday, 21st April 2024 Day 44 ~ Touch down in Europe.
After the frustration at being delayed for three hours in New York, it was at least some kind of relief to finally get on board and fly across the Atlantic to Lisbon. It was a long flight - almost seven hours - and we must have slept for most of it. As Portugal is five hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time in the US it meant that we'd arrive late in the early evening the next day.
Damn it!
Any delayed flight is frustrating at the best of times but this one was especially annoying for me as I was kind of planning to arrive in Lisbon in time to watch a big Forest match. Forest were playing away to Everton in a Premier League relegation six-pointer and I really wanted to see it. I'd found a suitable sports bar and planned my journey there with Google Maps which, all being well, I'd be able to get to just in time for kick off. Of course, a three hour delay meant that all was not well and by the time we landed the game would be finished.
The Air Portugal flight was very comfortable
Lisbon Metro
When we landed we picked up some Euros and caught the underground to Alameda station which was on the main drag into Lisbon called Avenida Almirante Reis, where our hotel was waiting. "My Charm Suites" provide clean rooms with a shared bathroom but had annoyingly loud (if efficient) electronic locking system on the doors. If went to the loo in the middle of the night you had to be really careful not to set off an alarm that would wake the whole floor up.
Anyway, I quickly found out that Everton had beaten Forest 2-0 so perhaps it wasn't too bad to have missed it after all.
Forest were in big relegation trouble
Once we'd settled in, unpacked and had a short kip, we decided to explore the neighbourhood nearby and find a restaurant to sample some Portuguese cuisine.
Outside My Charm Suites
Our charming suite
We chose a place called Tati on a corner nearby. It was very reasonably priced and the waitress was extremely friendly. Perhaps too friendly. She was full of advice as to which of their delicious dishes we should try.
"Do you trust me?" she asked.
Unfortunately, we said yes and she went off and served us far too much. Three dishes, when really even one was too much. One was basically a rich medley of sausages, including some black pudding. Even I found it all a bit too much. Leb had a nice sangri.
"Ttábua de enchidos" Portuguese Sausage Platter
Anyway, it was good to be back in Europe where the prices were much more reasonable. The thought of paying $266 (AUD) for four nights here, after paying $1,355 for three in New York helped us to sleep well that night.
Monday, 22nd April 2024 - Day 45 - Bimbling around Lisbon
We planned four nights in Lisbon to give us a few days to recover from any jet lag and just bimble around a city we'd last visited back in the year 2000 when weekend trips to European cities was a regular thing to do.
Once we'd got up and checked at reception the situation regarding coffee and tea (frustratingly too many hotels do not provide the kettle and tea making facilities you learn to take for granted in England and Australia) we set up to explore.
Lisbon has two main roads leading to its centre. The one we were on pretty much runs north to south from the airport to the old town - Avenida Almirante Reis - so it was a no brainer to just walk down it to the center.
Avenida Almirante Reis
One of the pleasant sights of Lisbon you soon get used to are the lovely old trams, which were apparently established in the 1930s. We decided to keep walking though.
Many Brits like to think of George and the dragon as being an "English thing" but, of course St George (or local forms of his name) are everywhere, including Lisbon, and the castle named after him dominates the skyline to the east as you get closer to the city center. We'd maybe go and visit that later.
Castelo de Sao Jorge
We stopped for a simple breakfast at a café near the center. When you're on holiday you can indulge so we had Pasteis de Nata - those delicious Portuguese custard tarts and a coffee.
Soon, we arrived at Baixa (downtown) in the city center and our first priority was to buy a new SIM card for our phones as we'd be in Europe for the next few months. We managed to find a Vodafone shop and that was us set up. Around the corner was the iconic street Rua Augusta lined with many cafes and restaurants. One thing we remembered about Portugal from our previous visits were the delicious sweet tarts and pastries, especially the marzipan sweets from the Algarve. We couldn't resist sitting down to have a very modest selection of them.
Rua Augusta
Santa Justa Lift
We'd go up the lift later.
Almond pampilhos
Algarve Marzipan Sweets
Waiting for the goodies
A VERY modest selection!
... with a lovely lady and a lovely hot chocolate
Portuguese Tarts
The end of the street is dominated by the very impressive arch through which you can walk across the magnificent Praca do Comercio (Commerce Square?) to the impressive shore of the Tagus itself and the two icon towers - Cais das Colunas.
Arco da Rua Augusta
By the Tagus next to Cais das Colunas
We bimbled around there for a while before deciding to head up to see St George's castle.
Sculptures in the Sand
The road up to the castle was narrow and steep and, being part of the old town, not all that obvious to find. Some of the narrow streets were cobbled, which made navigating them just a little more difficult than perhaps it could have been.
Narrow alleys to St George
Portugal is Tile Paradise
When we finally reached the top, I must say I was relieved. I was not feeling the fittest I've ever been, I have to admit, and I was quite looking forward to a relaxing bimble around the castle grounds.
Castelo de São Jorge
Leb, though, always Mrs Frugal, balked at the entrance fee of 15 Euros so we decided not to go in. I must say, I would have gladly paid it but then it's only thanks to Leb that we're doing this and she's almost always right about money matters.
We're not paying that!
The nearest we got to going in
On the way back down.
Our next destination was a big central market called the "Time Out" Market since it was revamped (meaning, I think, that it was made more up-market and pricey) by the media group. It apparently has a great history, having opened in 1882 as the Mercado da Ribeira. Part of the original still remains but even through the new section was very modern we were still glad to have visited.
It was about a twenty-five minute walk down the hill back towards the estuary and then along the river. We passed through the Praca do Minicipio which looks even more stunning from above.
Praca do Municipio
The view from above
We stopped for a beer at a nearby cervejaria...
... before reaching the impressive-looking market hall.
Arriving at the Market
It is clearly a popular place with few spaces available to sit down. We decided that we'd come back again tomorrow to have something to eat.
Cafe dedicated to Portuguese Tinned Sardines
Next stop for me was the sports bar where I had hoped to have watched Forest the day before - the Couch Sports Bar. It looked like a good place to watch football and it would have been good to have seen the match there, despite the bad result. I had a bit of a chat with the Brazilian manager/barman. He complained about English fans and how they often ruin it for everyone by being too loud and aggressive. I could only apologise. He said there hadn't been any trouble the day before from Everton of Forest fans but I don't think he actually showed the game to be honest.
Come On You Reds!
Time was getting on and we were getting tired. We walked all the way back stopping off at various points for a break and taking in the sights.
Before crashing out, we stopped for a very nice pizza at a restaurant opposite our hotel...
... and that, as they say, was that.
Lisbon Bimbling Route Day 1
Tuesday, 23rd April 2024 - Day 46 - More bimbling around Lisbon
The next day we planned to pretty much do a repeat bimble but to see Lisbon from a few of the heights other than Castelo de Jorge that would hopefully be free! So this time, after walking down Avenida Almeda Reis for a short time we turned left and headed up what seemed like a hundred steps to Monte Agudo.
The View from Monte Agudo
We then continued south, past many of the beautifully tiled buildings so characteristic of Portugal and Brazil.
Lovely lady in front of lovely tiled buildings
Soon enough we arrived at our next view destination, Miradouro da Nossa Senhora do Monte.
Miradouro da Nossa Senhora do Monte
From there we walked along to Jardim da Cerca da Graca for another lovely view of Lisbon's red roofed old town before catching the funicular back down.
We headed back down toward the river and then downstream back toward the mercado where we'd been yesterday.
My choice for lunch
A light lunch at the Time Out Market
Next stop was an old cervejaria, Trindade, which was apparently a former monastery. It had more of those beautifully tiled walls. I had a beer, whilst bizarrely having a phone conversation with Toby, a young Forest fan who had recently immigrated to Portugal. He recommended a couple of other bars we should visit whilst we were in the city.
The place he recommended was unfortunately booked out for a wedding party or something, so instead we walked to the bar at the top of the Santa Justa elevator and had a beer in a very weirdly shaped glass and a strange cheesy pastry thing.
We went down the escalator and found a cafeteria specialising in chocolate, Landeau, where we had another most delicious hot chocolate.
On top of the Elevador de Santa Justa
Hot Chocolate, Drinking Chocolate
It was about this time that we made our greatest discovery in Lisbon - the delicious Ginja de Portugal - a kind of sweet cherry liqueur - not as strong a the Polish wisniowka but much easier to knock back. Be bought a bottle but it had gone a couple of days later!
A ginhinha without rival - the oldest and best in Lisbon
Cheers!
Art Deco Theatre in Lisbon
To finish off our time in Lisbon we decided to experience some Fado, a traditional type of music I'd first come across in Recife in Brazil. We found a café which had nightly performances and we booked a table.
Let's just say the food wasn't as delicious as we'd hoped and the music wasn't that great either - a bit sad but not as melancholic as blues.
The band would sit here in the corner
Still it was nice to have a musical end to our short stay in Lisbon. I am not ashamed to say we had "a little drop" to help us get to sleep that night.
Bimble 2
Wednesday, 24th April 2024 - Day 47 - Train ride to Porto via Coimbra
Nicely relaxed and slotted pretty much into the European time-zone without any difficulties it was time to get travelling again. One of the key aspects we'd planned for this trip was to mix up the modes of transport quite a bit. Car hire in New Zealand. Bus in Mexico. Train in the USA. Of course, flights, to get from one world destination to another. So, to travel north from Lisbon to Porto it was an easy choice to catch the train. That way we could stop off on the way at a suitably interesting city before completing the journey.
Train to Porto from Lisbon, via Coimbra.
Goodbye "My Charm Suites"...
We had an early rise followed by a quick walk back to the metro station and then caught the underground to the mainline station - Lisboa Oriente (Lisbon East) which was rather attractive in itself.
Lisboa Oriente
After a nice brekkie down below, we surfaced onto the platform under an amazing roof. It looks delicate and lattice-like something like a forest of palm trees but of course made of steel and glass. The glass panels allow light in though making an open, airy atmosphere.
Roof designed by Santiago Calatrava
The train to Porto, stopping at Coimbra
We were very impressed with the Portuguese train service. It was clean and comfortable. It had a good WiFi service and a handy canteen a carriage or two along.
We got off in Coimbra, a little disappointed to discover how far the station (Coimbra B) was from the city center. We decided to walk which would have been fine apart from the fact we had to lug our bags with us as there were no lockers at the station as I'd expected. Well, there were - but there weren't many and the few that were big enough for our bags had already been taken.
On the way into the city center we came across a MacDonalds and stopped for a coffee and a muffin.
Fortunately, thanks to the internet and Google maps we were able to locate a company that would look after our bags for a few hours whilst we explored the grounds of the old Coimbra University.
The guy who provided the service had gone for a break so we had a coffee next door and then proceeded to gladly leave our bags and set off to explore.
Emporio do Tuca - looked after our bags
Bags safely stored
The Baixa (old town) of Coimbra is set up on a peak overlooking the river Mondego. There are classic Portuguese narrow cobbled roads leading up to the top.
Close to the top, of course, was a cathedral - the Old Cathedral of St Mary, apparently. Now, I know it's not what you're supposed to write about these buildings but, frankly... once you've seen one ridiculously and obscenely over-the-top monument to the great mythical "god" in the sky, you've seen them all. We took a few pictures of the façade, popped our noses in and took a couple more and then headed off to look for buildings dedicated to something more rational - human learning.
Old Cathedral of St Mary
The University of Coimbra is the oldest in Portugal, having been completed in 1290, and it's the second oldest on the Iberian peninsula, second only to the Spanish University in Salamanca. It ranks ninth in Europe, with the university in Bologna being the oldest (1088).
University of Coimbra (1290)
I wanted to see anything they had about anatomy and zoology so, after waiting for them to re-open after lunch, we went into a couple of exhibitions.
Lunch was in the student canteen. It was very nice too. Quite a few of the students were decked out in regalia. I'm not sure if they had some kind of presentation on that day, or if it was just what they had to wear. Law students there, apparently are expected to dress up.
The first science exhibition we visited was the bizarre, and somewhat macabre, Cabinet of Curiosities which contained some fascinating exhibits from an evolutionary point of view - but also some that were rather confronting, including some disturbing looking animals born with congenital deformations.
There was also a section about student life which included some elegant old Portuguese guitars.
We also visited the chemistry museum which included a restored part of the old lecture theatre.
Old Lecture Theatre
After our visit to the University we had a beer in a nice café before heading back down the hill and collected our bags. We had a train to catch and the plan was to go to the bus stop and go to the station via public transport. That would save us half an hour carrying our luggage across town.
Murphy's Law intervened and the bus that Google promised didn't show up early enough so we cut our losses and walked. It was quite a stressful and exhausting trek back the way we'd come but we did get to the station easily in time in then end.
Soon enough the train arrived and we got on board to complete our journey to Porto.
The last thing I really fancied was another long walk but when the train arrived at a different station (Campanha, in the east of the city) than I'd anticipated (Sao Bento in the center) we decided it would at least be a way of seeing a part of Porto that we might otherwise miss.
So we had our second long walk, carrying our luggage, across a Portuguese city in one day.
Soon enough, we walked past the Sao Bento station I remembered from when I was last in Porto in2019 for the European Nations League Finals. It has such a beautiful entrance hall, typically tiled in that inimitable Portuguese style.
After a quick stop for photos we continued up to our hotel for two nights which was, unfortunately, situated right at the top of a long steep hill, on Rua dos Caldeierieros. And upon arrival, we learnt our room was at the very top on the fifth floor. Still, the view we got from the bedroom window made it all worthwhile.
After unpacking, we went downstairs to a local cafe (Garcia & Marquez) on the corner and had a great meal (bizarrely served on old Vinyl LPs) and a nice beer to round off the day.
We slept like logs that night!
Thursday, 25th April 2024 - Day 48 - Pottering around in Porto
Our hotel in Porto was delightful, even if the flights of stairs were a bit of a challenge. In the morning we went down to the breakfast room and met up with a lady on her own from the USA who had come over for the Camino walk.
American. Religious. Mmm... that made me nervous. "Don't mention the 'T' word" I thought. But it soon transpired that my prejudices were unjustified. Somehow the subject of the US election came up and she was soon sharing her fears about a Trump win or, worse, a narrow Biden win. She was a medical professional who worked in prisons a lot and so knew many prison guards who had told her they were getting ready for a civil war if the election was "stolen" again. The poor lady had lost her baggage on the flight over from the states and so had let her friends who had come with her for the pilgrimage to go on the walk whilst she stayed behind to decide what she was going to do.
Now, what were we going to do? As I'd spent a few days in Porto back in 2019, I had some inside info and thought the first place Leb should go and see was the beautiful old bookshop, Livraria Lello, made famous by JK Rowling. As I'd already seen it I thought it best if we saved half the entrance fee and I'd have a wander around whilst Leb went in.
Since the last time, it had suddenly got extremely popular - good old Harry Potter, eh? - and there was now a requirement to buy a ticket on-line and then queue up to go in. When I was there last, you could just pay a small fee on the door (refundable if you bought a book) and walk in.
Queuing and paying to go in a bookshop
The amazing winding staircases of Livraria Lello
Leb said she thought it was lovely, so money well spent there. I just walked around the local streets and had another delicious hot chocolate.
More delicious hot chocolate
Walking around the city looking for a café to sample yet more hot chocolate, we soon became aware of people selling red carnations. Of course. It was the 50th anniversary of the "Carnation Revolution" when a peaceful military coup ended nearly five decades of authoritarian rule. Two years later, democracy was restored. It seems ironic to be commemorating that in Portugal at a time when much of the world seems to be heading in the opposite direction, towards kleptofascism.
Of course, I had to buy one and put it behind my ear, like some right camp puftah!
Celebrating 50 years since the Carnation Revolution in Porto
The most important duty of the day was to make sure we knew where our cruise up the Douro left from so we set off to the left bank to find it. This meant crossing over the magnificent Ponte Dom Luis (the big bridge) completed in 1886. It does remind you a bit of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and it's not a coincidence as it was designed by Teofilo Seyrig a student of Eiffel's. It took a while to find the dock, and we had to ask a few people, but after a few rejections we found the spot. So we knew where we had to return to the next morning.
The magnificent Ponte Dom Luis... with the magnificent Lesley Jane.
The rest of the day was just spent traipsing around the streets of central Porto around the river that cuts right through it. We watched some live street performers and visited a few cafes and bars but I can't really remember we did much else that day.
Vimara Peres Statue
Pillory of Porto
The wonderful Douro
The view of Porto from the top bridge span is awesome.
Ponte Luis I
Magnificent lady by a magnificent bridge
It was time to stop for some lunch. After carefully looking at the menus and prices we chose one that was quite reasonable near the river and the bridge.
Sardines by the Douro
Praca da Ribeira
Night Cap
Our Poets Inn Room
Friday, 26th April 2024 - Day 49 - Cruise up the Douro to Pinhão
When I visited the north of Portugal in 2019 for the finals of the European Nations League, I hired a car from Porto and drove north into Spain, across the northern coast almost to Bilbao and then headed back south the Valladolid and then on to Zamora, where I picked up the coarse of the Douro. I then drove back into Portugal and followed the river back towards Porto. One of my fondest memories of that trip was a lovely day I spent in a small riverside winery town of Pinhão.
So, it was always going to be part of my planned itinerary to return there with my darling and actually spend a couple of nights there. Continuing our plan of varying the modes of travel, we decided to hire a cruise up the Douro to Pinhão and then catch the riverside train back to Porto.
Two nights at our Porto hotel, The Poets Inn, seemed too little as we headed off down the almost scarily steep cobbled streets towards the river. Before we left we quickly had a look at a strange kind of "museum" of odd stuff they had downstairs by their reception. Some (but not all) of them had an understandable poetry theme, consistent with each room being named after a poet.
Every room is named after a poet
Adeus, Poets Inn
Carefully stepping down steep wet cobbles the next morning
Heading up the Douro...
Over the bridge for the last time to catch the boat
The black caped iconic symbol of Sandeman Port can be seen all over Porto and also along the river.
We were very early and had time for a coffee before boarding the boat with maybe a hundred other passengers.
All aboard!
We were fed and watered on the boat as we set off upstream from Porto
Once the hustle and bustle of Porto city had been left behind, the river banks became much more countrified and peaceful-looking. This continued for some distance until we approached the first of (I think) three planned locks.
It is quite a site when you approach a dock from the downstream side. It looks like a dam straight ahead, and you're left thinking how on earth are we going to get up to the top of that?
I filmed the passage on hyperlapse mode to speed it up. All of these locks were built to facilitate the transport of wines and ports down the river to Porto for export.
Soon we were approaching the Carrapatelo Dam, which incorporates the second lock on the sequence, the deepest in Europe at 35m. This was most spectacular and a little scary as the currents gushing over the huge dam section was causing significant turbulence near our boat as we closed in on the lock. Apparently there had been a lot of rainfall upstream and it was making the river conditions much worse than usual.
Approaching the Carrapatelo Dam
Once we cross the second lock we were back to plain sailing again and the Douro valley was at it's most beautiful so far, with terraced wineries on both sides and the cute train line passing along the river on its right (north) side.
The cruise still had a fair distance to travel upstream and we were supposed to go through a third lock but after experiencing the turbulence at the massive last lock at Carrapatelo Dam, the call was made to not proceed to that one and, instead to disembark at the last major port before Pinhão, at Peso de Regua.
The docking was an event in itself as it was already full to capacity with docked cruise ships. It took the crew a while, but after very careful toing and froing, we sidled up to another boat that was docked and clambered over onto it, and then onto the shore.
This was an inconvenience, but not a huge problem, for 95% of the passengers on board as nearly everyone had booked a cruise with the return on the same day option. The plan was to sail up to Pinhão, spend the day at a couple of wineries, and then catch a bus back to Porto. For us though, this was more of a problem as we had booked two nights accommodation in Pinhão. The cruise organisers were very good here. They promised to get us to our Quinto at no extra cost to ourselves, which meant hiring a taxi for us - and they were true to their word. It was still a good 27 km away which took over half an hour to do.
Soon we were at out home for the next two nights, Quinta da Casa Cimeira, which we'd chosen for a bit of luxury for us at $293 AUD.
Our room at the Quinta
As soon as we arrived we were greeted by our host, Miguel. He showed us to our room and then left us to unpack but invited us down to the the bar area in half an hour or so for a welcome drink before we could sit at his big table to be wined and dined.
Waiting for us at the bar was Miguel pouring out his delicious port into huge wine glasses, with other guests already standing around sampling. Together with us was a pair of sisters from Denmark and their partners from Sweden.
After lubricating my social inhibitions with alcohol we went through to the dining area - a huge table already laid out for a feast. Miguel prepared all the food himself - three courses of it. There was no actual menu but each course had a variety of dishes that seemed to satisfy most tastes. We certainly enjoyed it.
There were also a group from France and some from Germany. There was even a Portuguese couple.
After a good chat with our new Scandinavian friends we headed off for a good night's sleep.
I must admit, I do love a glass or five of port and I was certainly so well lubricated I seem to have fallen asleep whilst tapping away on my phone. It was beautifully captured by Leb.
Saturday, 27th April 2024 - Day 50 - Day at the Quinta da Casa Cimeira, Pinhão
When we booked this Quinta, the dream was to spend a day relaxing by the pool in the warm late spring / early summer climate of Portugal but the reality was quite different as the weather wasn't really conducive to our hopes.
So, instead of a day swimming in the pool, I had a very nippy two minute dip after which we just had a nice walk around the vine covered hilltops in the local village where we befriended a lovely dog.
Spectacular views over the Douro
It was never exactly warm those few days by the Douro, but in the afternoon it did, at least, warm up sufficient to tempt me into going for a dip. It honestly felt better than it looked. In fact, when I saw the video Leb made my first reaction was "how come she's filming Joe Biden going for a swim?" It really is embarrassing how when you get old how one's self image is so different from reality.
In the evening Miguel did a repeat performance of serving copious amounts of port to welcome anyone staying for the night. There were a few new faces, including a very interesting German accountant who was, shall we say a little "on the scale". He showed us his mobile app designed for for motor bikers which he used to take the most scary, cliff-edge, windy routes to get to the quinta. He also told us about the famous Portuguese ham, jamon iberico, where the pigs are fed on acorns. It is expensive, but worth it, he told us.
Miguel served up a meal that, in other circumstances, I wouldn't have touched with a barge pole - octopus. I must say though, it was rather nice. Although the experience wasn't so good as to change my default hestitation to eat such fruits of the sea, I must admit it has made me more likely to try it again in the future. Some of our Danish friends didn't eat any of it.
Hearty Sausage and Mushroom Platter
Baby octopus with shrimp
The yummiest desert
Sunday, 28th April 2024 - Day 51 - Train back to Porto along the Douro
So after a very pleasant, if a little chilly, stop in the wine growing region of northern Portugal, we headed back to Porto by another scenic train ride, most of which was right by the Douro river itself.
Rather than climb down the very steep hills back to Pinhão, we ordered a taxi - after all the journey there had been a free ride.
Adeus Miguel
Once we arrived in town we immediately set off for its beautifully tiled railway station to check the times and the platform that our scheduled train to Porto was going to be leaving from.
I had visited the station back in 2019 and waited on the platform for over an hour an a half before I realised the train just wasn't coming. On that occasion I ended up paying a small fortune for a taxi ride to my hotel up stream, so I wanted to minimise the risk of it happening again.
We had about an hour to kill before the train was due so we had time to walk along some of the streets. We went half way across the town's bridge and also went past the much more modest accommodation I'd originally planned to stay at before waiting for the train to come.
Gorgeous
Where we were going to stay originally
Pinhao bridge
Waiting for the train
A little late, the train arrived and we boarded on the left hand side to get the best view of the river.
Whereas the Amtrak Crescent train journey from New Orleans to New York was, in truth, a little disappointing in terms of the view - this one exceeding all expectations. For two thirds of the journey the train is right next to the river giving you the most breathtaking views of the Douro valley.
Not that I caught all the view. I must have snoozed off for some of it. Again, perfectly captured by my dear Lebley Jane...
At one point we even saw the boat we came up on - doing its daily journey up stream.
The boat we'd come up on two days before
About an hour an half after departure we arrived at Sao Bento station and my first priority was to find a bar to watch Nottingham Forest's big game against champions-elect Manchester City.
The Adega Sports bar was pretty full of fans, many of whom were there to watch the English Premier League games, and many were specifically interested in the Forest v City game.
Always happy in a pub watching football... Simple things please simple minds.
With Forest struggling near the relegation zone and Manchester City looking strong for a fourth successive title, it was never going to be easy for the reds and Man City won 2-0 in the end.
Forest were just a point off the relegation zone after that
After the match we went back to our cheap accommodation for just one night in Porto at the Rivoli Cinema Hostel, so named because of its close proximity to an old cinema theatre. It was cheap and cheerful but we had a bit of a scare at there was a power outage in the middle of the night and we'd set our alarms for very early in the morning so that we could catch an early train back to Lisbon to catch our flight to Barcelona.
In one of my more embarrassing planning goof-ups, I'd somehow booked a flight from Lisbon airport to Barcelona, instead of Porto. How that happened, I have no idea. It wasn't the end of the word. It just meant that instead of a half an hour metro ride to Porto airport we had a three hour trip back to Lisbon. Luckily. the flight didn't leave until the evening so we had plenty time.
Monday, 29th April 2024 - Day 52 - Train back to Lisbon to fly to Barcelona
And so our last day in Portugal required a very early start and then a bit of a stressful walk across the city (why didn't we just take a taxi?) to a train station we'd never been to before to catch the train south back to Lisbon.
The station our train departed from was in the south of the city so we had to cross over the Luis Bridge again. It was covered in fog as we crossed giving that part of the walk a bit of spooky feel to it.
The station itself was a bit out of the way, to say the least, but after a long walk we got there in good time to sit down and have a breakfast in the railway café before boarding our train south.
Quick tart on the way to the station
Our station... at last
Definitely the right platform
Waiting for the train back to Lisbon
The train ride was smooth and comfortable but I could help thinking "what an idiot!" if only we'd have been flying from Porto like any sensible itinerary would have done.
Safely back in Lisbon and in good time
Last leg of the Portuguese adventure
We arrived back at the Oriente station and caught the metro to the airport. Checking-in and the departure all went well and soon we were on our way across the Iberian peninsula to Barcelona.
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