We said good-bye to our friends and Amsterdam. Headed out via train to the airport, flew to Madrid, transferred to Lisbon and arrived timely, with luggage. We were worried about the luggage piece , since it involved a change in airlines. No prob.
The problem was getting ripped off by a Portuguese taxi driver who charged us 15 euro for a 7 euro ride…….I need to bet a backbone when it comes to negotiating pricing. I also need to follow my gut instincts and common sense…..those are things that always work for me, I just am not use to trusting them as much in a foreign environment. Like the guy who sold me a ticket on the “fast train” to the airport without charging me a supplement fee……..I knew something was wrong, but I trusted his assurance………sure enough, when the train guy came to collect our tickets , we had not paid the extra fee. I apologized sincerely and paid for the upgrade and I was told by a neighboring passenger that he could have charged me a 20 euro penalty for each ticket. He didn’t. I guess he redeemed my opinion of train personnel. Somewhat.
We got to our bed and breakfast hotel in the evening and directly headed down the street to a local eatery. We didn’t know what we were ordering, but Molly ended up with a whole fried fish (complete with head and eyeballs….she thought she ordered a salad) and I had a rice soup with prawns and clams. Seafood is plentiful~windows hold live lobster, crab, tubs of octopus, barnacle looking things, and some other stuff I cannot imagine, nor stomach. It reminds me of my going away party, with crab piled on a table and everyone eating with their fingers, as that is the style at some of the restaurants here.
Lisbon is a beautiful city. I thought it was on the sea. Oops. It is on a huge river……close to the Atlantic Ocean, but not on it. Silly me. It is a city of hillsides and old architecture, red tile roofs and winding brick road. We took a bus tour to get familiar with the general layout and then spent time walking along the river, the marinas, saw the Discovery Monument, people watching, enjoying the warm sunshine (80 degrees at least)…….looked for someone to take us sailing, but found no takers……..
We hiked up the windy, narrow roadways towards the Castelo De Sao Jorge on the highest hill in Lisbon. What an amazing view! Molly and I stopped at a hillside bar for a mojito and relaxed overlooking the whole city and the river. The feeling was hard to describe, a realization that we were here! In such a picturesque, perfect, faraway, place. I was thankful to not be disappointed.
This morning I roused Molly to go do laundry…..nobody in Lisbon seemed to know where a laundry facility existed…..we took two subways, asked 5 people and walked up and down the tile hillsides……we were so excited when we found one, we filled three washing machines, happily put in out pre-purchased laundry soap and felt good…….the lady was so sweet to offer to transfer our laundry from wash to dry…..fold it even, pay when we return……cool! So we went to breakfast, did some window shopping and returned to a 30 euro laundry bill. Sometimes wearing clean underwear is priceless.
After the calming effect of clean clothes, Molly and I headed back out to take a quick train to Cascais, a summer seaside resort that really is on the ocean! Once again, amazed at the richness of our surroundings, touristy as it was, it was still amazing……..we wandered a few small alleys until we found the beach. Sat all day in the sunshine, watching sun bathers, swimmers, boaters, fisherman and a stunt pilot overhead. Similar to Mexico, vendors come up to you on the beach selling designer knock-off watches, purses and jewelry. These vendors are mostly from Africa, unlike the beaches in Mexico and the streets of Beijing……I think maybe Portugal is liberal in allowing the immigration of peoples from troubled countries…….I know England is…….not so much the U.S.
The problem was getting ripped off by a Portuguese taxi driver who charged us 15 euro for a 7 euro ride…….I need to bet a backbone when it comes to negotiating pricing. I also need to follow my gut instincts and common sense…..those are things that always work for me, I just am not use to trusting them as much in a foreign environment. Like the guy who sold me a ticket on the “fast train” to the airport without charging me a supplement fee……..I knew something was wrong, but I trusted his assurance………sure enough, when the train guy came to collect our tickets , we had not paid the extra fee. I apologized sincerely and paid for the upgrade and I was told by a neighboring passenger that he could have charged me a 20 euro penalty for each ticket. He didn’t. I guess he redeemed my opinion of train personnel. Somewhat.
We got to our bed and breakfast hotel in the evening and directly headed down the street to a local eatery. We didn’t know what we were ordering, but Molly ended up with a whole fried fish (complete with head and eyeballs….she thought she ordered a salad) and I had a rice soup with prawns and clams. Seafood is plentiful~windows hold live lobster, crab, tubs of octopus, barnacle looking things, and some other stuff I cannot imagine, nor stomach. It reminds me of my going away party, with crab piled on a table and everyone eating with their fingers, as that is the style at some of the restaurants here.
Lisbon is a beautiful city. I thought it was on the sea. Oops. It is on a huge river……close to the Atlantic Ocean, but not on it. Silly me. It is a city of hillsides and old architecture, red tile roofs and winding brick road. We took a bus tour to get familiar with the general layout and then spent time walking along the river, the marinas, saw the Discovery Monument, people watching, enjoying the warm sunshine (80 degrees at least)…….looked for someone to take us sailing, but found no takers……..
We hiked up the windy, narrow roadways towards the Castelo De Sao Jorge on the highest hill in Lisbon. What an amazing view! Molly and I stopped at a hillside bar for a mojito and relaxed overlooking the whole city and the river. The feeling was hard to describe, a realization that we were here! In such a picturesque, perfect, faraway, place. I was thankful to not be disappointed.
This morning I roused Molly to go do laundry…..nobody in Lisbon seemed to know where a laundry facility existed…..we took two subways, asked 5 people and walked up and down the tile hillsides……we were so excited when we found one, we filled three washing machines, happily put in out pre-purchased laundry soap and felt good…….the lady was so sweet to offer to transfer our laundry from wash to dry…..fold it even, pay when we return……cool! So we went to breakfast, did some window shopping and returned to a 30 euro laundry bill. Sometimes wearing clean underwear is priceless.
After the calming effect of clean clothes, Molly and I headed back out to take a quick train to Cascais, a summer seaside resort that really is on the ocean! Once again, amazed at the richness of our surroundings, touristy as it was, it was still amazing……..we wandered a few small alleys until we found the beach. Sat all day in the sunshine, watching sun bathers, swimmers, boaters, fisherman and a stunt pilot overhead. Similar to Mexico, vendors come up to you on the beach selling designer knock-off watches, purses and jewelry. These vendors are mostly from Africa, unlike the beaches in Mexico and the streets of Beijing……I think maybe Portugal is liberal in allowing the immigration of peoples from troubled countries…….I know England is…….not so much the U.S.
