Life after Camino - Lisbon (28th May - 1st June)

Transit to Lisbon 28.05.23

We knew in advance the wisdom of pre-booking transport out of Santiago, with so many pilgrims on the move. However, we hadn't considered the impossibility of a taxi. The night before our departure, we rang several taxi numbers, even used Whatsapp and email methods of securing a booking. To no avail. The response was uniformly the same. Apologies but no. They all asked for the destination first before rejecting us. They were seeking out the airport fares. Ours was too brief. Understandable.

So the option was to trek to the bus station with all our baggage, two backpacks and two pull along cabin luggage cases. It actually was a good outcome. The 1.5 km to the bus station was downhill and straight forward. Our departure from Santiago was smooth. We enjoyed a pleasant journey on our coach with beautiful scenery as far as Porto. It was green and lush, with exotic colourful buildings and misty clouds giving it a magical wonderland appearance as we transitioned from Spain into Portugal.

In Porto we had to switch lines for the second leg of the journey to Lisbon. As anticipated, we had a gap of a couple of hours. We waited patiently at the bus station on the cold hard seats, until the time when our coach should appear on the transit board, revealing which platform was ours. Confusingly, it never appeared and Jenny sought assistance from a staff member. His response? “That is not a bus ticket. That is a train ticket.” Oh!

Helter skelter we raced to the adjoining station and speedily located our 'train' platform. Phew! We made it! On board we were seated in very comfortable seats for our passage to Lisbon. There had been two options - a fast train or a slow train. It was just our luck we were on the slow train. I actually mean that, no sarcasm! It was relaxed and scenic. We genuinely enjoyed the more leisurely speed. It was mostly along the coast and we were surprised by the presence of rice crops and paddies. Had no idea that grew here. The rest was interesting housing and fields but much virgin bush.

Caught a taxi from the train to our accommodation and were deposited right at the door of 'Lisbon Calling'. (No it's not what you are thinking. It truly is just a holiday apartment.). Single lane street was surprisingly busy despite being extremely narrow and appeared only to service the apartments of the street. Our new digs were nice on the second floor and above a surprisingly spacious dance academy. Our room has a large bedroom with private entrance and a stepped up bathroom, the toilet and shower raised above the vanity. In the common area are the doors to four other rooms and a communal kitchen/laundry, that we used daily for our breakfast. Saw other guests a few times but very briefly. Really we seemed to have the communal areas entirely to ourselves.

First night in Lisbon was a massive contrast to earlier days. Eager to explore, we strolled down the crowded streets. Following the direction of the music, we found ourselves in a huge park which divided multi lane roads going north and south. And in the park were hundreds of people enjoying themselves, many kicking their heels up literally, dancing the tango. A wonderful dynamic atmosphere and Jenny was keen to join in. (This was the first time I had a very good reason to appreciate my sore leg.) Further on we found a dining precinct crammed with multiple alfresco restaurants, packed with happy diners and tourists lingering and gawking. This inner city region backs on to steep hills and we found ourselves walking the steep streets as well as connecting stairways both down and up in our attempts to explore and discover. Numerous apartment blocks line the back streets, many of which are rough and run down compared to the tourist areas.

Lisbon 29.05.23

A lazy start and a wander through the streets, down to and along the waterfront. Found two train stations. Made some plans for the next two days and purchased a ticket to get us by metro to a station close to 'Tram 28' which we were informed would transport us up a steep hill to the castle. Tram travel seemed novel so the idea appealed. Catching the metro was straightforward and with some help from locals, we even found the right tram stop. All good. NOT! Little did we know that we would be waiting 1.5 hours for a position on the tram. Should have realised as the queue was over 100 m long and each tram took roughly 30 passengers. Finally on the tram, swiped our freshly purchased travel cards, only to find there were no funds remaining. Really?? Having waited this long, we didn't want to miss out now. So we paid a premium for our long awaited positions on the tram and we rattled away along the tracks up the steep hills and around tight corners on one lane roads. At times it seemed impossible for the tram not to scrape against carelessly parked cars. But there were no mishaps. Along the way our tram continued to accept more passengers without off loading and to say we were like sardines in a can is not an exaggeration. Our sideway seating gave us a fine view of the standing passengers, but that was about all.

We had no idea where to get off for the castle but assumed that was why everyone was onboard, so we simply waited for the mass exodus. It never happened. About 1.5 hours later the tram stopped abruptly and we were all told to get off, the ride was over. I don't think we were the only ones left wondering. We gazed around. There was nothing of particular interest there. We had the option of waiting for the next tram to return us home. (By this time we had given up on the idea of visiting the castle, which didn't worry us too much. We almost feel that with our experience of multiple castles in Spain, we are quite the castle experts now.) But we decided we'd had enough of the novelty of trams. We just wanted to walk. Besides, we were now as far uphill as we could go so it would be predominantly downhill. Jenny checked her GPS and determined the direction. Off we went. A very good decision as we were able to see so much more on foot than within the confines of the tram. Funny how things work out for the better in the long run. We even stopped at a local (non tourist) cafe on the way down.

Lisbon 30.05.23

Disturbed sleep because of the noise from the road outside. Partly due to the clanging and banging of the garbage collection which took place around midnight! Partly due to people walking and talking, audible 50 metres before reaching our block. The solid wall of apartments on both sides effectively channels all the noise. And we wanted to have fresh air. But it was one or the other. We opted for shutting the windows and using the air-conditioning to keep cool without the noise. A perfect solution.

Breakfast in the morning was a bowl of muesli in our communal dining area. Then down to the train station for a ride along the coastline to a popular beachside town called Cas-cais. However, a quick change of plan when we realised we were at the wrong train station, so immediately resolved to instead head to Sintra which is accessed from this station and also a popular town to visit. It was a 45 minute ride in a tourist packed train. A second breakfast in Sintra of bagels with smoked salmon - I could not resist.

Sintra backs onto a 500m high hill with a castle on top (like most hills) and many other massive structures. There is a colourful casa which was built as a monastery and stacks of huge homes mostly with famous film star names attached. Scenes from a movie starring Johnny Depp (The Ninth Gate 1999) were actually filmed here, including the train station and a grand mansion on our tourist route.

Somehow we ended up with the services of a driver and his black convertible Peugeot to guide us around. Somehow we managed to get a 3 hour hire to see all the attractions at half the advertised price. And somehow we were away for closer to 5 hours. It was quite an exhausting day. The place is inundated with tourists, buses, tuk tuks and other vehicles. The road up and down is single lane and stopping for photos is problematic as everyone is working to schedules. Except our guy, whose name we never did find out. He is a happy smiley man in his late 40s and extremely happy to be marrying the love of his life soon. He is a little shorter than me and 30kg heavier. He has a huge smile and teeth which provide amusement. He is buck toothed but with clear gaps between each, like Chad Morgan. A genuine nice man. But he was true to his word and showed us everything and took time to ensure we were happy with our experience. When Jenny said she would like an ice cream he drove us the extra distance to Cas-cais for the very best there was, from a vendor overlooking the ocean. So it turned out that we managed to see both locations in the one outing - both Sintra and Cas-Cais. Had a good train ride home and a Nepalese dinner in an exceptional restaurant with the nicest staff and outstanding cuisine.

Lisbon 31.05.23

Our last day in Lisbon so we chilled out and walked the streets. And yes we bought some stuff. It was fun not having to go anywhere in particular and we enjoyed the slower pace immensely. Oh and we enjoyed the Portuguese tarts so very much that we consumed three each! (Not all at once.)

A final comment about Lisbon. It truly is a tourist mecca. We were almost in shock when we arrived to see so many tourists and to hear so much English spoken, particularly with an American accent. (British also) A bit of a culture shock after our time in Spain. We almost wonder if Lisbon has lost its iconic identity, evolving into a culture of tourism and tipping.