Lisbon Holiday June 2009

Tuesday 30th June 2009: heading home

2009-08-31T12:42:00.000-07:00

The various alarm clocks worked and we were down for breakfast at about 6.30am with our bags packed. We checked out and thanked the staff for a great time before wandering out into the early morning sunlight to wait for our cab. After a few nervous minutes, he appeared outside the hotel and drove us smoothly to the airport.

Checking in took some time but we were among the first for our flight in the Easy Jet queue which meant we got put in group A for boarding. Having off loaded our baggage we headed off through passport control, using a microchip scanner for the first time. It was very simple to use, you just lay your passport down on the reader with the photo showing, and then stepped into the booth where there were two green feet for you to stand on. Don't look down to check your feet are on the right place because the machine will take a picture of the top of your head and you then have to wait for it to try again...but once it has taken your picture it lets you through. We then wandered off to the waiting area for our flight.

We were late taking off as the previous flight didn't leave on time due to lots of late passengers, apparently there had been a problem with the passport control system after we went through and hundreds of people were having to dash down corridors to make their flights. Eventually, we were moved to another gate, luckily it was on the other side of the corridor from the one where we had been sat for the past 2 hours, but we did have to take a bus to the plane because of the problems with other flights not being able to leave on time.

The flight home was quiet and we had plenty of leg room in the front row of seats. The landing at Luton, to quote the steward sat opposite us, "was quick". He did seems a little wide eyed at the rapidity of our descent, but we were all alive and ready to go home.

After customs clearance and baggage collection, I rang up the parking company and the car was delivered to the airport for us. We loaded up and headed home in the glorious sunshine of an English summer's day...

Post script - just the 980 photos to download, weed out and process. the best ones are available on Flickr.com in my Lisbon Holiday 2009 set.

Monday 29th June: Butterflies and bus trip

2009-08-31T09:21:00.000-07:00

Monday morning started as Sunday had, with rain showers. After the reception staff helped us confirm our airport taxi pick up for Tuesday morning, we headed out for the day. But this morning the Sao Sebastian metro station reopened and it was a quick dash into El Corte Ingles for the Guardian and a coffee while we waited for the shower to pass. Having a metro stop within the shop meant we did not have to get wetter and we headed off into town, getting off at Avenida metro and walking through the back streets to find the entracne to the Botanical Gardens.

A stroll round found us at the butterfly house where they were breeding Monarch and Cleopatra butterflies. They flew around us and settled long enough for me to take several pictures.

We then headed out of the gardens and off into the Bairro Alto until we came across the viewing point on Rua Dom Pedro V (Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara) at the head of the Elevador da Gloria funicular which we took down into the square.

Once down, Sonia bought herself a fan from a traditional hat shop before we went to the Swiss cafe for lunch. Sonia had burgers and a salad while I went for the Portuguese staple of boiled cod served with whole fired potatoes, which we topped off with port and coffee mousse/cake. From here we headed up to Largo Sao Domingos (the square by AGinginha) for a photo of the Jewish memorial and off through the grid of streets of Baixa to a Fair Trade shop where, surprisingly we didn't buy anything!

With our shopping heads on we caught the 28 tram to Largo by Baixa Chaido metro and Rua Garret and walked down the "The Wrong Shop", but it was closed with a "back soon" sign up. We headed round the corner to the cafe in the square for a glass or two of iced tea. Sitting at the table, we realised that we were at the entrance of the Elevador de Santa Justa. We rode the elevador down to the square and took an open top tourist bus trip round the city for 90 minutes.

This took us to several places that we had already visited but also to many parts of the city we had not had the time or energy to see.

When we got back, we headed back up the elevador to The Wrong Shop and I finally bought a souvenir tee shirt. Having done our tourist shopping, we got on the metro at Baixa-Chaido. Getting off at Sao Sebastian meant we were able to walk straight into the supermarket section at El Corte Ingles to each buy a bag of local sweets to take back to the folks back at work.

We made it back to the hotel about 6ish, and as the night before, we settled down in the bar for sandwiches, beers and cuba libres while watching England lose to Germany in an Under 21 game. We gave up at 9.15 with England 2-0 down as we had to be up early the next morning for our flight. The hotel staff assured us that breakfast would be available at 6.30 if we wanted it so we thanked them and headed off to pack.

Sunday 28th June 2009: Tram and boat trips

2009-08-31T08:15:00.000-07:00

Sunday did not look promising as we woke to a grey sky and rain drops on the balcony. With all plans on hold we decided to spend some time tidying up all the leaflets and guides that we had collected. Then, while Sonia read her holiday book, I "snoozed and snored". The rain passed and we decided it was OK to head out about 11ish. We walked down to the Parque metro station, hopping off at Restauradores to pick up a copy of The Observer and to have a drink at Cafe Nicola.

Having pepped our selves up with caffeine, we caught the Elevador de Santa Justa up and out through the back streets of Chaido to Praca Los De Camoes.

We caught the 28E tram from Praca Los De Camoes to Graca. We had an entertaining journey as we headed into the narrow streets of Alfama. The tram tracks merged into a single track due to the narrowness of the streets, and we came round a corner to find the downhill stuck. It had come down just too far for our tram to pass, but it couldn't reverse back up hill so our driver had to swing the boom and she then reversed back down the hill to the points so we could let the other tram pass. Hidden behind the tram were a load of cars and two other trams who had been held up while this "tram jam" had been sorted out.

We eventually made it up to Graca, where we jumped on to another tram and headed down to Rua Victor Corden. We then cut through the back streets, heading for Cais do Sodre where we planned to catch the boat trip. When the rain suddenly started up again, we dived into a handy Irish Bar for lunch.

The rain eased up a bit and we headed across the road to the Cais do Sodre station where we bought tickets for the boat trip to Belem. We set sail from Cais do Sodre and headed down river toward Belem, passing under the Ponte 25 de Abril, and enjoying the panoramic view of the city.

We arrived at Belem, where we had half an hour to wander around before the boat headed back. We decided not to go into the famous Torre de Belem but visited the memorial to Overseas Combatants, that not only commemorates those who fell in Portuguese wars but those who died on UN and humanitarian duties.

The trip back was another chance to enjoy the panorama of the city. We passed two contrasting forms of water transport on our way back, the sailing ship Principe Perfeito and a submarine (possibly Russian from the flag).

As we turned to dock at Cais do Sodre, we looked back at the approaching rain clouds (see above) and decided that we might not bother with any more walking than was absolutely necessary, so we caught the metro from Cais do Sodre up to Prace da Spanha. From this metro station it was as short walk to the Gulbenkian museum for coffee and a donut in the cafe. We made it back to the hotel at 6pm just as it started to rain again. Looking at the weather, we decided this evening would be the ideal opportunity to try out the hotel's bar snacks. While I watched the USA lose 3-2 to Brazil (having been 2-0 up at half time) on the bar's TV screen, Sonia used the netbook and the the hotel's wi-fi connection before we headed up for the night.

Saturday 27th June 2009: Parque das Nações

2009-08-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning found us on the metro to the Parque das Nações (Park of Nations), with a brief stop off at Baixa-Chaido for the Guardian. Getting off at the Oriente metro station, we found ourselves walking through the giant Vasco da Gama shopping mall to get to the park. We arrived just before the ticket office opened so we had a little rest in the sunshine before buying a ticket each that gave us entry to the various exhibitions as well as a couple of cable car rides.

We rode the cable car down the front to the Oceanarium. I took a lot of photos in there...penguins and sea otters playing in the water, a giant sun fish, sharks, and rays swimming past at eye level. I could have stayed in there all day. Here's just a few of the hundreds of photos I took...

After the Oceanarium, we visited the Water Park and the Science Museum (which is wasted on kids) where I rode a bike on a high wire.

After playing with all the scientific "educational" stuff like the giant bubble maker and hovering ball in a stream of air, we caught the cable car back to the other end of the park to have a look at the Torre Vasco da Gama and Ponte Vasco Da Gama.

Having sated my desire to look at tall buildings and big bridges, we walked back through the different botanical gardens until we ended up at Anthony Gormley's Rhizome II sculpture.

This stands near the Pavilhao de Portugal, an amazing structure with it's swooping curved concrete roof spanning an open space that is used for civic events and concerts.

We then decided it was time to use the bits of our tickets that allowed us a ride on the little train around the site.

This was fun, waving to the kids as we went past and bumping along over the cobbles, it brought out the big kids in us both. After all that excitement, we headed off into the Vasco da Gama shopping mall for some crepes with ice cream and a pint of lemon iced tea each. A wander round the shops and we headed back to the hotel. I was impressed with the coordinated public transport set up. The metro station was linked to the bus and train stations above via a futuristic concourse, and the train station canopies especially caught my eye.

We got back to our room at 7pm, having left the hotel at 9 that morning. A quick freshen up and we were off out again at 8pm for dinner, catching the metro at Parque station and heading out into the streets from Baixa-Chaido. We found the Cervejaria Trindade restaurant up Rua Nova da Trinidade. Set in an old monastery, the food and drink was great. Sonia treated herself to a Mateus Rose while I enjoyed a 50cl glass of black beer (the local stout). Sonia's Portuguese steak came grilled with garlic and a slice of ham/bacon, my Black Pork loin was served with apple sauce. Both came with what the menu described as "old style fried potatoes". These turned out to be freshly made hot crisps. We followed these with a couple of creme custard based desserts, served with sauces - mine was a rich port and caramel sauce and I could have licked my plate clean. Finishing off with a cup of tea for Sonia and a Bica for me (small sweet strong coffee, a bit like Portuguese Espresso), we wended our way back to the hotel through the evening crowds for a well deserved rest.

Friday 26th June 2009: A day trip to Sintra

2009-08-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Lord Byron described it as a "glorious eden", so we thought it might be worth a day trip...We caught the train out to Sintra and then hopped on a bus to the "old town" where we stopped off for a cappuccino and pastelaria de nata in the little cafe down the alley on the right in this photo.

Suitably fortified, we began our climb up to the Moorish Castle overlooking the town.

It was a long hard slog up the back streets, following the signs to "Castelo dos Mouros" until we took a turn off the roads and on to a woodland footpath that zig-zagged it's way up the hill to the castle. We stopped off to "enjoy the view" at regular intervals to get our breath back due to the heat. The climb was worth it. The castle occupies the hill top overlooking the town and you can see for miles around.

Walking the walls, we enjoyed views down to the town of Sintra and the various Palaces of the former Kings of Portugal.

From the top of the highest tower, you could see one of the Pena Palace and look back to Lisbon and the Ponte 25 De Abril over the Rio Tejo.

Having walked the walls of the castle, we headed back down the hill into the narrow winding streets of the old town, stopping off for sandwiches and cold drinks in a small corner cafe (up this street and turn right).

We stopped off in the post office on our way to the bus stop to send the traditional post cards home and to people at work. Our bus back to the railway station took us some very steep roads and at one point the driver had to manage a three point turn on a hairpin bend. He looked calm and at ease as he probably did it every trip but a lot of the passengers were nervous. One of the stops on our trip was a back gate into the castle which would have saved us half the climb if only we had known. Oh how we laughed...

Once back into Sintra "new town" by the railway station, we took a stroll down to the Modern Art Museum but it was closed for a change of exhibition. So I had to make do with taking pictures of the couple of bits of sculpture in the forecourt.

Having been thwarted by the closed museum, we sat down in the shade outside a cafe in the 30C heat and introduced the waiter to the concept of the coke float. We have also done this in Croatia & Greece and often struggled to get the idea over. It provides us with a treat and the waiters with something to laugh at (crazy Brits put a lump of ice cream in a tall glass of coke that then foams up and they eat it with a spoon until it turns into a creamy fizzy slop that they then drink through a straw!)

We made it back to the railways station just as the train was about to leave and were soon back in Lisbon. We stopped off at the Swiss cafe on Rossio Square for our tea. Sonia enjoyed her roast chicken and I my platter of mixed meats and pickles (including pickled carrot). These were washed down with glasses of wine and then the traditional pot of tea before we headed back to the hotel for a well earned rest.

Thursday 25th June 2009: Cultural chilling

2009-08-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Our second day as tourists started with a stroll over to El Corte Ingles shopping centre. While wandering round the store looking for the section where I could buy the European edition of the Guardian, I spotted a "man bag" that I thought would be a good idea after yesterday's attempted pickpocketing and we bought a couple of Lisboa Guide Books (in English).

We then walked the short distance to the Gulbenkian Museum and adjacent Modern Art Museum. Spent all morning wandering the exhibitions in both museums. I especially loved the Lalique items in the Gulbenkian.

We settled in the Gulbenkian Museum's cafe for lunch. I had a very enjoyable large glass of red wine with mine and we then headed out into the grounds. We comandeered one of the giant bean bags set out by the duck pond under bright yellow canopies that had Portuguese poetry printed on them, and settled down for a snooze.

Having thoroughly chilled out and watched the ducks watching us, we decided to head back to El Corte Ingles to buy the "man bag". To describe it as a department store is to understate El Corte Ingles. The lower ground floor is a supermarket, the upper floors include the usual department store stuff like clothes etc but there are also a couple of cafes, a restaurant and a multi-screen cinema. We went up to the restaurant on the top floor for a quiet drink, a Galao for me (milky coffee) and a hot chocolate for Sonia that turned out to be pure melted chocolate in a cup! We decided to "stay local" for our evening's entertainment so we bought tickets for the Tom Hank's film Angels and Demons on our way back to the hotel.

After freshening up (and downloading the 90+ photos taken in and around the museums), we headed back to El Corte Ingles for some food in one of the cafes. The movie was an interesting experience as it was mainly in English but with Portuguese subtitles. This was fine until you get to the bits where characters speak French, German or Italian and the subtitles are, of course, Portuguese. The cinema seats were very comfortable and there were only three or four couples in for our screening.

We finished the evening in the hotel bar chatting to Manuel the barman and having a nightcap before stumbling up to our room.

Wednesday 24th June 2009: Our first day wandering round Lisbon

2009-08-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

Our first day proper as tourists in Lisboa. The nearest metro station, Sao Sebastiao, was closed for redevelopment so we decided to walk down in to the city centre as a means of getting our bearings and enjoying the morning sunshine.

Our first stop off was in the area to the north of the Parque Eduardo VII. We found a poolside cafe (closed) in the Jardim Amalia Rodrigues where I took some photos.

We then came across a statue, Maternidade by Fernando Botero (1999) overlooking the road across the top of Parque Eduardo VII.

After this it was a short stroll to the giant flag pole at the top of the Parque with a picture postcard view down to the city centre and the river.

After taking photos of the earthquake memorial, we headed down the hill though the park. We stopped off for iced tea and custard tarts at Cafe Nicola in Praca Dom Pedro IV and picked up a copy of the European edition of the Guardian on our way down to the river. We bought travel cards at Rossio Station that gave us access to the metro, trams, and elevadores of the week. The grid of streets in the Baixa was amazing but we were disappointed to find that the Praca Comercio was boarded off for retiling.

From Baixa, we caught the 28 tram up to Santa Luzia and its Miradouro (viewpoint). A man attempted to pick my pocket but the buttons on my pocket stopped him. From the viewpoint we headed up the hill towards the castle where we had lunch surrounded by peacocks and peahens.

After lunch we walked the castle walls and visited the museum.

Having had our daily dose of archaeology, we left the castle. It was so hot we stopped for an ice cream in a small cafe which served delicious creme brulee flavoured cornettos - why can't they sell them in the UK?

Feeling the effects of the heat and the walking, we caught the 28 tram back to Baixa and then the metro back to Saldanha. We strolled back to the hotel and attempted to have a nap. In the early evening we headed back to the Saldanha metro, heading down to the Baixa-Chaido area to wander the streets looking for Bernard's english book shop to buy a replacement Rough Guide as one of us lost our copy at some point during the afternoon. Having bought an old version in English, we then wandered down into Baixa for dinner. We found a street cafe on Rua dos Coreciros near the junction with Rua de Santa Justa. I had a beautiful salmon steak and Sonia loved her salad Nicosea. We followed our meal with a walk up to Largo Sao Domingo where we each had a cherry brandy from Aginginha - a small "hole in the wall" shop counter selling small cups that warmed you up. Having refreshed ourselves, we gently staggered to the Restauradores metro and headed up to Praca de Espanha. From there we eventually worked out where the Gulbenkian Museum was and walked around the perimeter back to our hotel.

I finished the evening sat on our balcony looking at the Guardian Cryptic Crossword and planning the next day's excursion.

Tuesday 23rd June 2009: Getting there

2009-08-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

As with most holidays, you first have to get there...

We headed down the M1 to Luton Airport, and dropped the car off with a parking company who then took us to the terminal in a bus. A longish wait in the terminal but I passed the time with the Guardian crossword while Sonia read her book.

The EasyJet flight wasn't bad. Had an interesting conversation with the lady in the next seat who was going to visit her grandchildren.

Picked up from the airport by our driver, who loaded us into his very swish Mercedes. Unfortunately he decided to drop us at Hotel Principe Real (near the botanical gardens) instead of Hotel Principe Lisboa. The hotel receptionist was very helpful and tried to ring the company but they had closed for the evening, so he then rang us a cab to take us to our hotel. A not so new Mercedes this time but at least he knew where we were going. Only cost us E10 (can't find the Euro symbol on this keyboard).

We checked in and then headed off down the street to a cafe for a snack. Local soup and a can of cola before a night cap drink at the hotel bar and off to bed, swiping a local tourist map to plan the first proper holiday day.