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…when in Bordeaux?

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Welcome to the world capital of wine, red especially. It’s pretty exciting to be here and get amongst the main attraction, but first….domestic duties!

When traveling it’s imperative to plan accommodation according to certain criteria….cost, location, wi-fi, and….laundry facilities!

A slight miscalculation has left us perilously close to bereft in the jocks & socks department, so the sight of a washing machine has made Rachael giddy with excitement.

A flurry of activity and we resemble a Chinese laundry, unmentionables airing everywhere!

All that nervous energy caused Rachael to head off for a run while I tendered to the sea of fresh clothes. The worlds smallest ironing board came out, supported by the crappiest iron, bed made, pillows fluffed and ready to start the day.


With only two full days in Bordeaux I had been madly trying to book a tour of the Medoc region today, as we have a car tomorrow to do our own thing, but the cost of tours is outrageous. Some operators seem to think the mere thought of a Medoc visit is excuse enough to charge eye gouging prices.

One mob would take you out in air conditioned comfort for eight hours, visiting three quality Chateau plus tasting, for the bargain price of €399 for two….lunch extra!

Sorry, the price included a bottle of water!

Not every tour was that bad but most were outrageously priced, crazy expensive!

You can book a private visit to most Chateau with a tour and tasting for between €10-15, all you need is transport to get there. Hard to justify the expense, I know you get the tour guides expertise and experience but it seems the captive market has dictated pricing.

The Medoc is sort of the Mecca for wine wankers, but perleeese! We’re not all rich Chinese!


As you may have guessed, we stayed in Bordeaux for the day, which was a good thing as there are plenty of places to check out, the old city has some beautiful buildings and parks, plus the river side is very attractive.

First things first….connectivity!

I mentioned wi-fi before, it’s amazing how you come to rely on it, so when it goes down alternatives are needed….stat!


We were always going to find data sims and cheap data/calls for the iPhone, but now it became more urgent so we headed out in search of the same.

The phone got organised pretty quickly, but for some reason they couldn’t do the iPad, so off to Orange, which was suggested….and 90 minutes later we were away. 90 minutes waiting in an electronic queue at Orange to finally be served, and five minutes to get organised.

90 minutes of red wine drinking time!!!!!!!


Exasperated, we headed back home for a five minute regroup, then hit the pavement to make up lost time. Walked up the river la Garonne, for a while then wandered the streets and parks till we found our way to La Bar a Vin, a wine bar which is funded by the industry as a pseudo education experience.


Tremendous place, all wines by the glass, most very cheap, and all we tried excellent.

Honestly, we have no idea how they can sell at the prices they do? All between €2-8, which would be unheard of back home. That’s $3 to $12 per glass! Our little wine bars in Melbourne don’t sell house wine for less than $5! And these were Bordeaux!


Once again, would love one of these back home.

One of the benefits of Airbnb apartments is a kitchen, which we decided to utilise again to help with dwindling funds. Down to the local Carrefour express to buy salad, yep…SALAD, for dinner.

We sat out on our little balcony watching the action on the street below while munching on all this strange colourful stuff on our plate. Not a pastry in sight, in fact none today at all!


As the body goes into shock we head out to see the lights of Bordeaux at night, from the most popular point, Place de la Bourse. In front of this magnificent palace is a reflective ‘miroir d’eau’, a huge area covered in a few centimetres of water which changes depth and mists up periodically. It gives a mirrored impression against the background and makes for a most impressive sight.


Camera’s to the ready!

Probably the most photographed sight in Bordeaux, on all the brochures, but what the heck? I’ll join the queue and fire off a few dozen myself, all the while Rachael uses the iPhone, takes one photo and it looks just as good as any I take with the you ‘beaut camera’.


Oh well, it’s been an impressive night, off to the wineries tomorrow.

Gluttonous Shenanigans.

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After last nights revelry, a run along the foreshore was mandatory. After a sleep in, of course.

I turned left at La Concha beach, while Rachael headed right towards Playa de Zurriola, which is the surf beach across the river.

The beaches are spectacular, overlooked by imperial hotels and apartments, all very French Riviera like, combined with beachside pavilions housing bars, restaurants and the best positioned gym in Spain.

Sunday morning saw the promenades packed with people walking or running off the previous nights indulgence!

La Concha is by far the larger, sweeping around a small bay with the Isle Santa Clara plonked in the middle. Plenty of yachts complete the scene of relaxed opulence, bobbing on the gentle swell drifting in from the Bay of Biscayne.

Forty minutes later we meet back at the start…and our day commences.
With breakfast! At another great patisserie, packed to the gills on a late Sunday morning.


Our body clocks are all over the joint, and breakfast at 11.30 doesn’t seem out of place. Croissants anyone?

We headed towards the surf beach to check it out and came across what we thought was some kind of cultural event on the bridge. Spanning both sides of the river, plus three bridges were a massed crowd all decked out in logo inspired t-shirts, holding banners that swept along the boulevard.


Bands playing, groups singing, happiness all around. Could this be a religious convention, a pre game ritual before the footy, the worlds biggest bucks party?


Non…as we discovered later it was a political march for the local Basque party, who like the Catalonians don’t seem to like the rest of Spain and consider themselves almost a separate state.


During the Franco years after the civil war, the Basque people were persecuted, their language outlawed, and summarily punishment handed out for those that supported the rebel forces opposed to Franco’s fascist regime.
Off to beach at last, not much in the way of surf but plenty in the way of shapes and sizes…unfortunately barely covered! After our commitment to all things pinxtos I kept my shirt on.

How to recover….a beer and pinxtos?


Sure, almost digested breakfast, why not?!
Then, what about a white wine and pinxtos? Ok!
It’s almost three, may as well have a G&T with pinxtos!


Getting the picture?
Time to regroup with a swim at La Concha with all the bodies beautiful…and not.

Tricky business getting to the water with frisbee’s flying, and footballs whizzing everywhere.

Hard to duck after all our pinxtos action!!
The water was beautiful, a refreshing break in our hectic, gruelling schedule of eating and drinking!
A small siesta back at the hotel, then across the road for a beer while the blog is updated. Got to keep hydrated!
We actually gave food and grog a break for awhile and walked up the hill to the old castle, Monte Urgull mendia.


Once the barracks and protective fortress for the city, it is now a very nice viewing point for the city, plus a great excuse to break up consumption…pretty steep climb too!


Exhausted, we headed back into the Parte Vieja (old town), time for dinner.


Unlike last night when it was packed solid, tonight it’s much calmer, plenty of room to squeeze into a bar for another pinxtos and wine.
The sign of a good bar is the amount of tissue on the floor, ‘coz when you finish eating you just drop them to be cleaned up at the end of the night.


Now it may seem like we’ve been on the grog all day, and in reality we probably have, but it’s well spaced out, the glasses (except the G&T) are small and the wine lower in alcohol than we are used to back home.
But hey, never let the facts get in the way of the story!!
We finished off the night at another bar, had a Negroni on the steps under the Eglise Santa Maria Church, and called it quits!
Long, fruitful day.


Like I said, San Sebastián is rubbish!

Onward to Bordeaux

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Our time in Spain has come to an end, normal eating habits about to realign.

San Sebastián was fabulous, all we had heard and more.

  
Not sure we could keep up the pace for much longer, so probably a good thing for our waistline and liver if we head up the road to France.

No chance of overindulging there?
Spain and Portugal have been tremendous, beautiful countries, lovely people, and exquisite food and drink. Sangria has put pressure on Spritz as our drink of choice, with Negroni making a late charge for line honours.
We had planned to spend our last meal in Spain eating pinxtos and having a glass of Cava for breakfast, but the health Gods must having been watching and our venue of choice was not open, nor were second or third position.

  
Oh well, patisseries and coffee it is then!
We caught the local train to the border, then the fast train on to Bordeaux. Only problem was the ‘fast’ train stopped all stations so took about three hours. For those traveling on to Paris, it would have been a long, tough trip.
We got to Bordeaux at three, and were immediately hit by a wave of hot air…big difference in temperature, low 30’s and quite humid. Up until now we have had very pleasant weather in the main, with temperatures in the mid 20’s, so this was quite the shock.

Can’t complain though, could be stuck in the middle of winter back home.
Taxi driver didn’t have a clue where to go, but still managed to find our apartment, and what a place it is. Facing a small courtyard area filled with bars and restaurants, the apartment is on the second floor, has two large rooms, a small ( tiny) balcony and high ceilings.

  
A big tick! Great position in the old town, close to everything….brilliant. Airbnb strikes again. Anyone coming to Bordeaux, this is the place.

We wandered around, turning left instead of right, back tracking, trying to find the supermarket, failing…succeeding, getting provisions, trying to find our way home….done.

It’s been a hectic time so we decided to use the facilities and cook dinner, so finally a square meal….pasta at that, on the balcony listening to the crowd below enjoying happy hour.

  
A beer or two, some Portuguese red…oops! Then an early night!

This traveling to a new country sure tires you out.

Onward to San Sebastián 

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This morning we are up and at ’em, as we have things to see and a car to drop off, so we forgo breakfast and hit the road to a “quaint” seaside village…according to the hotel manager.

About an hour later we reached this quaint village thinking it would be an old fishing town full of shanties and sea salts, all terracotta and rust.

But, non.

It was a modern(ish) holiday destination with a nice beach and plenty of high rise apartment blocks. More Torquay than Wye River!

Anyhow, we parked and found a tiny cafe with fresh baked goodies, and a lovely Spanish lady with no English to compliment our no Spanish. First time we’ve encountered this, we’ve been spoilt till now, but no problem, lots of waving of hands and smiles all round and we had breakfast in front of us.

Goodbye ‘village’, next stop Bilbao and the Guggenheim Museum.


Our initial plan was to spend time just looking around the outside of what is a spectacular building, as time was pressing, but when will we be back? So in we go….and thank goodness we did.


It is unbelievably good, maybe even better!!

The space itself is huge, voluminous indeed. Vast rooms with minimal art so as to highlight each piece.


Spread over three enormous levels only two were open, and the majority was dedicated to the artist, Jeff Koons.

I must confess I’d never heard of Jeff Koons, neither had Rachael, but we won’t forget him any time soon.

Just fantastic….look him up!

Sort of pop art, but not like Andy Warhol and painted soup cans, a bit surrealism and a whole heap of fun.

His sculptures made to look like balloons, some like those balloon animals clowns make, are in fact very intricate metal works of art.

The attention to detail is amazing, incredible! Below is an image from his website which may help explain. No photos allowed inside the gallery.


Loved it!


We have been lucky enough to go to a few of the leading galleries now, including the Louvre, Prado and Mona but this was the most fun we have had at an art gallery.


It’s no wonder the Guggenheim name is so well regarded.

Enough gushing….off to San Sebastián.

Managed to get a park right out the front of our hotel, dropped off our bags and got rid of the car.

Time to explore before our pinxtos (tapas) tour tonight.

You know when you just get a vibe about a place almost straight away…San Sebastián is going to be wicked!

Great architecture, beautiful beach, nice people, bars everywhere!


We met our tour group at the outrageous time of 6.30pm!

Twelve of us plus our guide, Vicki, headed into the old town on a pinxtos expedition.

San Sebastián is filled with bars selling these pinxtos, most displayed on the bar, and accompanied by a glass of something wet!


The array of food is incredible, from garlic prawns to beef cheek, anchovies with pickled peppers and olives, smoked cod, tenderloin steak, fried peppers, cheese risotto, beef hamburgers, etc, etc.

All in bite sized portions.

All delicious!


We went through five bars sampling both pinxtos and specialty beverages from beer to cider, white and red wine, and Pedro Ximemez (Rachael’s favourite “church wine”).


Once the tour was done we headed to another bar, ‘coz we could!!

A couple more drinks, including a nightcap Negroni, which is actually an aperitive, but ‘what the heck!’


Huge day, great day!


San Sebastián is crap…..don’t bother visiting….you’d hate it?😉

A Long Day in the Saddle

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The one down side to traveling by car in this part of Spain is the time spent on the road.

Today we are off to Santillana del Mar, breaking up the very long trip to San Sebastián by stopping at this picturesque village some 450kms from Santiago de Compestela for the night.

When you are planning these trips you look at the map and say ‘she’ll be right’, just down the road.

Non! A long way down…and up, the road.

Our trusty stead, a Corolla, was ok on the flat, but struggled up the hills. 

Luckily the road system in Spain is great, and the scenery when we hit the coast was spectacular. Hills and valleys separated by flowing rivers, charming little villages dotted around, all terracotta and white washed walls! Incredible engineering…some of the bridges are mind boggling.
A word on the roads in Spain….plenty of tolls, easily manoeuvred, speed limits that don’t apply to Audi & BMW, trucks that stay in the outside lanes and never speed….or tailgate! Cars that overtake then quickly move to the outside, minimal indication required. Everyone knowing how it all works, and behaving accordingly. Little or no fuss.

Would never work in Australia!!
Our trip was uneventful, which can only be a good thing, and was broken up for lunch in a smallish town called Aviles.

We planned to find a little patisserie in town, but saw what we thought was a large shopping centre so pulled in to save time…it had free parking!

The shopping centre turned out to be a huge department store, with a Kmart come Safeway at one end.

The department store was great, enormous, chockers with bargains… perfect time to replenish the suitcase with some new clothes. 

One years clothes shopping done in 30 minutes in Spain, too easy!

We celebrated by having a romantic lunch….in the carpark!!

  
Refreshed we pushed on and reached our destination by about 4.30pm, happy to be out of the car, and to find a free car spot right outside our hotel.

Car parking costs are a hidden killer!

Our hotel was very quaint, an old 1850’s palace that had avoided the renovators touch with considerable success. 

Actually it was perfect for a pit stop, right next to the historic town centre.

  
Santillana del Mar is regarded as one of the, if not the prettiest villages in Spain. Time seems to have stopped still, sometime just before the long winter in Westeros. 

Very medieval, very Game of Thrones…..even has a museum dedicated to torture!!

  
Strangely, we found ourselves at a bar.

  
Later, a couple of bars later to be precise, we found a charming little restaurant for dinner.

Fixed price dinner…..alarm bells!!!

€15 for 2 courses, plus booze. What could possible go wrong?

Well….nothing, it was really good, including the wine.

€30 total for two courses plus a bottle of red; they’d go broke in a week at home.

  
Suitably refuelled, we wandered around this great little town, usually awash in tourists but pleasantly empty tonight.

A worthwhile stop over, a very pleasant dinner, and a most fascinating little town.

 
Giddy up!

Porto to Santiago de Compestela 

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We decided to start our final day in Porto early and walk around town taking some photos as the sun was hitting this wonderful city.


It’s a shame more people don’t choose to visit Portugal, it has so much to offer and we have thoroughly enjoyed our stay in both Lisbon and Porto.

 

With a final breakfast of coffee and Hugh’s new favourite pastry, Nata, we packed our bags, which now included a mandolin case, headed towards the car via the popular ice cream shop, which we thought opened at 10am, but disappointingly opened at 11am!! Oh well, who needs ice cream for breakfast anyway???


Our trip to Santiago De Compestela was estimated to take 3 hours so we were keen to leave Porto by 10am. The drive was uneventful yet relaxing for me, whilst Hugh battled the cars on the freeways cruising at over 120kms
Once checked in we hit the pavement and headed towards the famous Cathedral of Santiago De Compestela, the main reason for our stay in this town. As is always the case when we travel, the front of the Cathedral was covered in scaffolding and really took away from its presence.


The cathedral is the reputed burial-place of Saint James the Great, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. The cathedral has historically been a place of pilgrimage in the way of Saint James since the early Middle Ages. The building is a Romanesque structure with later Gothic and Baroque additions.


Speaking of pilgrimage, today tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims and many others set out from their front doorsteps or from popular starting points across Europe, to make their way to Santiago de Compostela. Most travel by foot, some by bicycle, many take up this route as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth. For the most dedicated the walk starts in the Pyrenees and takes 6 weeks at least.

The town was thick with them!


With the heat of the day now hitting its peak, what better way to escape it than walk through town in it!!! We lasted an hour before surrendering to the call of our afternoon thirst quencher, the beer. Duly satisfied we soldiered on before heading back to our room for a freshen up before hitting the night life.


We found a quaint little spot overlooking one of the many plazas and proceeded to be serenaded by a man with his guitar and an amplifier that gave him too much volume. His repertoire included the likes of Radiohead, Coldplay, Bob Dylan and many more, which have now been so butchered it will be hard to listen to these artists again without being taken back to this maestro.


As we walked home after dinner we couldn’t get over the fact that at 10.30pm it was still light outside, no wonder the Spanish have dinner so late. With a big drive ahead of us tomorrow it was time to retire.

Porto

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Today is for just wandering around without any real plans, soak up a bit of the city vibe and go with the flow. That is after Rachael went for a run along the river. I was sacrificing my exercise routine and doing the prep work for the day, i.e. Sleeping!!    Breakfast next door with the old Nonna serving up croissants, coffee & Portuguese pastry called ‘Pastel de Nata’, an egg tart custard pastry. Dee-licious!     To work off the calories we headed up the road to look at books, in the fanciest book shop in Portugal, called Livrarian Lello & Irmao. Lonely Planet classified it as the third best bookstore in the world, and it would be hard put to find any better.    The place was packed, so much so we didn’t bother going in at first, but walked around for 30 minutes hoping the tours would have eased. Yep, this place is an institution and tours roll through it like a flood. Not sure how any books get sold…they should charge admission.    JK Rowlings inspiration for Harry Potter is said to have fermented after a visit. The building is about 150 years old, and centred around an incredible wooden staircase and stained glass ceiling.    There are even railway tracks on the floor to move books around.    It was a great place to just potter about….get it??    There are plenty of cool stores to wander into, all displaying old nicknacks and curiosities on the walls.      From there we went down to the Douro River, along the Zona Ribeirinha which is filled with outdoor restaurants and all they entail…touts hawking for business! What was once port caves for storage, and transport down the river is now a haven of mediocrity. Pity, it does look good from a distance.    We headed over the Ponte Luis bridge to the other side of the river, home to all the old port houses still operating.    A quick lunch, which just happened to have pastel de nata as part of the meal deal, and back over the bridge for more exploring.    When we go on our travels we like to bring home a momento of our time away, something of significance to remind us of all the great memories, and an appreciation of all we have achieved to make our travels possible.    We never know what it will be until we see something, and today we saw what will represent our time away, especially in Portugal. We bought a Portuguese Mandolin, freshly strung left-handed for me, so no excuses not to learn to play it. It’s a beautifully made instrument, which looks (and sounds) great, and will take pride of place in our house.    We’re in Porto, so time for a port tasting! We went to a small port cave, and were lead through a flight of different port styles by the very passionate attendant. First up two ‘blanco’ ports, then two ‘tinho’ ports, then two ruby ports, one of which was a vintage. We’d never tried white port before, and Rachael hadn’t tried vintage, so it was a great experience for us both. More old ports came out as comparisons, and by the end we had tried about ten different styles, all interesting, some excellent. More weight in the bag with a bottle purchased!    Redemption was required after last nights dinner abomination, and suitably attained when we dined at a fabulous little wine bar, eating the freshest produce of our trip so far.  A final sangria before bed at a traditional style bar, then off to our apartment down the lane to what looked like a nightclub. Crowds snaking around the corner of a non descript white building with no signage. Had secret bars come to Porto? The Stones playing one of their famous warm up gigs under an assumed name? The Bieber in town? No….it’s a gelato shop! Obviously a very successful gelato shop.    Santini gelato to be exact! Santini is wildly popular elsewhere in Spain, and this new store must have just opened. Think Krispy Kreme’s when they first came out! The place was packed! The biggest queue in Portugal, bigger than outside the Sagrada! Too big to join, so off to bed.

Lisbon to Porto via Sintra

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Today we actually go to Sintra, as we have to leave beautiful Lisbon, and head north 300km to the second largest city in Portugal, Porto…home of Port.

Before heading off we have breakfast next door at a smashing little cafe, full of brick-a-brack on the walls, and the best croissants in town.

I wish we had something similar back home, it would kill it.


Lisbon has been wonderful, and deserves a longer stay, but time is afoot, and we need to push on. It’s going to be a busy day!
Sintra is another heritage site, Unesco have been busy handing these awards out, and has numerous sites worthy of our attention, but time constraints mean we can only visit two, and in an abridged version at that.


Without too much trouble we find a carpark in town, and head off by foot to our first pit stop, Quinta da Regaleira, which is just down the road.

It is home to a smallish palace, and the most amazing gardens, filled with wonder and surprise. Everywhere you go is hidden grotto, for waterfall with linking tunnels. Subterranean towers with spiral staircases, nooks and crannies, lookouts and towers, surprise after surprise.


We spent about an hour wandering around, finding interest around every corner.


A really great place, beautiful!


Time against us we needed to push onward and upward to our second, and last stop, the Palace of Pena and surrounding gardens.

I mentioned ‘upwards’ didn’t I?

Being the geniuses we are, we proceeded to walk to Pena. To walk UP to Pena, and to walk and walk and walk. UP!!

For 40 minutes, the equivalent of 128 floors according to our trusty Iphone App. UP!

A lovely walk, and all, but holy moly!

Here we are, time poor, and we decide now is a good time to start our Everest training!

Will we ever learn?


The Palace of Pena, by the way, is strikingly majestic! Once we finally got to see it!


The colours and shapes are awe inspiring, the Palace sitting high above the stone hills that give it an incredible view over the valleys way below. The building is regarded as one of the finest examples of nineteenth century Portuguese Romanticism.


Built by the royal family, it was handed over to the state in the early twentieth century, and declared a Unesco site in 1995.


If you ever happen to visit Lisbon, Sintra is a must see. Maybe for more than a few hours though!


We had to get moving, so no walking back down, bus time which took about five minutes….exhausting!!

Quick lunch, then on to the tollway north to Porto.

The tollways are great, 120km limit, completely ignored by every Audi & BMW that shot past like tracer bullets, but such an effect way to get from point A to B in the quickest time. 300 km took about 2.5 hours and we were in downtown Porto….in peak hour, on narrow one way streets full of cars, buses, taxis, and pedestrians. Plus a GPS trying to send us up one way streets the wrong way!

‘Recalculating…’

Finally found a 24hr carpark, and hoofed it up the hill to our apartment….and a brilliant apartment it is, perfect position, plenty of room, a hammock….and a lift!! Ours is the one above the ‘E Barato’ sign.


Porto is fabulous, such an exciting town.

Our host had left a couple of pages of suggestions for places to eat, drink and see, so we followed her suggestions and firstly found a bar that made great sangria…and they did, delicious!

Then we went to a cafe that she recommended for the Portuguese specialty ‘francesinha’ which is a mixed meat sandwich with melted cheese….yuck!

We have tried to make a point of looking for interesting eateries which don’t have laminated menus and huge photo displays of their food (i.e. Touristy crap!), and up until now our judgement has been pretty sound…..up until now!

The cafe suggestion was ordinary in the extreme, more ‘Coles cafeteria’ than restaurant, but with restaurant pricing.

Oh, dear!

Lesson learned, follow your instincts from now on, and move on.


So we will, to tomorrow.

Sunshine in Lisbon

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After the rain and drizzle of yesterday it was good to wake up to sunshine this morning, and what better way to start it than with a run?!

Anyway, Rachael ran to the bridge and back, and I may not have made it that far!!
The plan today was to go to the nearby town of Sintra, which necessitated an early start, but then I changed my mind!

The thought of driving out of town, then back in was giving me the heebie geebies, so I gently suggested we put our plans off till tomorrow….and sorry ’bout the sleep in.
So, breakfast time. Obligatory croissants & coffee, then off for more exploring.
Lisbon is built on seven hills, and when I say hills, I mean HILLS! Everywhere is up, that is of course till you reach the top, then everything is down!!

We seem to like walking instead of taking public transport, for some strange reason, but today we threw reason out the door.

Call us crazy, but we ventured into new territory folks, and caught a tram!


Mind you, the tram in question is probably the most famous icon in Lisbon, the no. 28 tram. It’s not one tram, but a group of old wooden rattlers that snake their way up and through the labyrinth of narrow roads and sharp inclines, with impossibly beautiful vista’s all around.
Naturally, we walked to the highest point, through the Alfama & Graça districts, for those who may know those, and jumped on the tram at the starting point high over Lisbon.

These trams are very, very popular and therefore normally packed, so imagine our excitement to get on one…and get a seat!!

The trams leave every 10 minutes or so, and ours slowly creaked off down the hill on the start of our journey…..then ground to a halt 100 metres later!
I’ve mentioned the narrow streets, haven’t I??


Well, some bright spark had parked his car and not left enough room for the tram to get past! And ‘cos last time I checked trams can’t divert off the tracks, we were stuck until the driver came back.


One other thing famous about the no 28 tram is the distinctive bell they ring to get the attention of any wayward pedestrian, or car. Well, we certainly heard the bell!!

Unfortunately, the driver of parked car didn’t, and slowly another tram backed up behind us, and another, and another….
After about five trams started an enforced ‘siesta’, we bailed, and headed in the other direction to catch a tram. Problem was, the whole network seemed to have ground to a halt, so after about an hour, we headed back to see if the situation had improved, to find the offending car being towed, finally!!


Narrow streets, one idiot, and the tram system grinds to a halt.

We jumped on about the third tram in the gridlock, got a seat….again, and settled in for a great trip through Lisbon. It may be a bit naff, but we had a great time as the tram lurched and shrieked, bounced and rolled and peeled it’s bell through the city, up and down hills and through both wide boulevards and narrow lanes.


It finished outside the old cemetery next to the Lisbon cathedral.

And next to another market, so in we went for a late lunch. These markets are great, offering a wide variety of foods and drinks, of which we partook in empanadas and a glass of red, as well as a salad. Yep…a salad!! With green bits in it!


Not many veggies consumed on this holiday yet.

We caught the tram back to the Bairro Alto region, and checked out the ruins of the old convent, the Church of Santa Maria do Carmo, wrecked in the earthquake of 1755 and only partially rebuilt.

The 1755 earthquake destroyed much of Lisbon, and this is just one reminder of the distruction wrought upon the city.

The ruins were very atmospheric, offering a glimpse into another time.


More wandering, a bit of shopping, sightseeing stuff, then back to our apartment for a ‘legs up’.

We decided to eat in, as the wallet was shrinking, so grabbed chicken and salad (again!) and a bottle of vino, settled in with a tune or two on the turntable.

A quick night trip up the hill on the tram, and a stroll back down, and we were done.

It’s been a tough few days on the go! Seems to have aged me somewhat?

Look what happens when Rachael’s sugar levels drop!!!

Our first full day in Lisbon

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The plan was to get up early and go for a run along the Tagus River. However having endured the previous nights dinner torture and not getting home until 1am the plan was quickly shelved and we enjoyed a well needed sleep in and a late brekky.

  
The weather was looking ominous today but this was not to deter us from seeing the sights of Lisbon. First stop, Castelo De Sao Jorge, a steady climb from our apartment to the top of the hill. Along the way you can stop to view the city of Lisbon from platforms called Miradouras. 

  
Once at the Castelo we had a wonderful panoramic view of Lisbon and Hugh duly captured the scene with his photographic eye. The strongly fortified citadel dates from medieval period of Portuguese history, and is one of the main tourist sites of Lisbon, overlooking Lisbon from all sides. A very imposing structure!

  
With the temperature slowly dropping and the clouds moving in, the drizzle that had accompanied us for most of the morning had now become rain and we were forced to take shelter within the Castelo until it passed. 

 
 20 minutes later and the rain not abating we took off and headed back down the hill, where we purchased 2 overpriced PVC umbrellas that we were not confident would last the 10 minute walk back to our apartment. Quick pit stop to change and dry off and we were back out with our still intact umbrellas.

  
As we walked around the city not heading anywhere in particular, we were pleased to stumble across another Market, Mercado da Ribeira. This place was pumping, it was dog eat dog trying to find a spare chair let alone any table space to eat your lunch whilst standing. Fortunately, as the time was now 3pm and people were starting to leave, Hugh stumbled across 2 vacant seats. 

  

  
With lunch now devoured it was time to move on and with the sun desperately trying to peek through the clouds it was time to hit the shops. Success!! With arms now laden with purchased items it was time to head back to our apartment and sort out where to go for dinner over a pre, or two!

   

  
   

We ended up at a quaint little restaurant in the Bairro Alto district that was full of people which is always a good sign. Before we knew it we were served a platter of cheese, olives and bread and 2 menus. With alarm bells ringing we knew these items would not be complimentary, and sure enough at the end of the night, there it is on our bill, the aforementioned items totalling €10, and I thought corkage was a rip off!!!!

  
So despite the poor weather we had a great day in Lisbon strolling the streets and taking it easy. Happy to see that the next 2 days will bring back the sunshine and with it, plenty of sightseeing.