In Vancouver it was an overcast morning and in the afternoon the sun began to shine. Not a good start in the airport given as we were going to go through Customs I discovered my boarding pass was missing from my back pocket. I found it at Information as someone had turned it in. Phew! Given Lana has Elite status with Air Canada, we enjoyed their lounge before getting to the gate. When checking in Lana decided to purchase an upgrade to First Class as it is a 9 hour flight. I am good with not paying the extra money and sitting in economy. My seat is 24K beside the window. During the flight Lana has the stewardess bring me her tart and a generous glass of port.
Except for a screaming child for almost the entire flight it was pretty uneventful. In addition, my neighbour in the middle seat believed all three seats were his domain as his hands, elbows, arms, legs, feet etc. were constantly in my space/body/feet etc. Even after speaking with him early in the flight he just didn't get it.
Landed at London Heathrow airport (Friday, August 22nd as London is 8 hours ahead of Vancouver time zone) with about a two hour layover before we board another plane for Lisboa. Connecting corridor from our arrivals gate to Terminal 2 where our TAP flight leaves. The lounge was too far of a distance so we sat at the gate. Much smaller plane to Lisbon and the flight time was 2 hours and 20 minutes in the air. Lisbon is in the same time zone as the United Kingdom. On the flight operated by a Portugese company we finally got to hear Portugese spoken. It doesn't sound like Spanish.
We arrived in Lisbon to 27 degrees Celsius and sunny skies. Passport Control was occupied by a younger guy who asked Lana where Moose Jaw was located? He spoke perfect English and then told us he lived as a kid in Thompson, Manitoba before relocating to Portugal with his parents.
Luggage quickly off the carousel. My grand plan to get to our Airbnb apartment in the Bairro Alto neighbourhood was a little convoluted versus simply taking a taxi from the airport to our place. I wanted to save money and have a bit of a logistic adventure. Plus, we have three (3) suitcases and two backpacks. The third suitcase is for our 18 bottles of wine we plan to purchase. We take the wine skins and separate the 18 bottles into the three suitcases thus needing the extra space and weight limitations.
We found the Aerobus pickup point outside of arrivals, but just missed the shuttle bus. We needed to wait 20 minutes for the next shuttle. There was a long queue for the taxis. 3.50Euro per person to the downtown central station of Cais do Sodré. This is a train/subway station and when we went to enter the subway system it wouldn't let us use one card with two fares. Each customer needs a separate card as your entry and exit are through locked gates. After we took the Green subway train to the first station (Baixa-Chiado) we were dependent on the Google Map directions I had printed earlier. (Subway trains require a card + one zone cost was 1.40Euro per ticket).
Yikes, the first direction was to go South on a small street, but given the time of day we weren't sure to go right or left. We went the wrong way of course and when we corrected we missed the first turnoff. Lana was pretty good with the map and we made it up a steep hill whereby the directions were super confusing. Eventually, we decided to simply hail a taxi for the short trip to the apartment. With tip the taxi was around 7Euro. We were both pretty hot from pulling suitcases and walking up steep cobblestone streets and swerving to avoid other tourists.
Basically, this adventure became a shuttle bus, subway, walking and then taxi. Maybe not next time. Get a taxi might be a better idea... ;-)
Lots of people in this neighbourhood and the streets are the steepest we have ever encountered in any other city. Our host Maria Paula was working next door at an Atelier she owns so that was convenient. It is just before 7 pm when we arrive at our apartment. We have lost some time for certain. Fortunately, Paula was very helpful and understanding. She spent a lot of time with us going over a map, restaurant recommendations, local stores etc.
Our Airbnb apartment is ground floor and off the street. You enter through a heavy metal gate and then down a lane to enter the main building. We are in apartment number two. It is small, but functional. Everything is clean and tidy and modern looking. We have a double bed and lots of closet space. There is another bedroom with two single beds. The bathroom is tight, but has an excellent shower. The kitchen is in the back. Free wifi and an air conditioner. Both necessities when travelling.
I discovered that my 3 prong converter I brought along for the European electrical wall socket just doesn't fit into her rounded sockets. This means I cannot charge my Macbook that I use for my blogging. Yikes! We showered with enough time to get to our restaurant reservation for 8 pm. I had called a few weeks ago to make a reservation at Tascardoso Restaurant as it was just up the street and highly recommended. Our host Paula confirmed they had great food and it was a neighbourhood hangout.
We arrived about 8:05 pm and the greeting from the male server was pretty gruff telling us they never take reservations. Hmmm, not a great start. They did have a table available so we were seated. The menu was in Portugese of course and the place was super busy with people lined up waiting for tables. Very quickly, they brought bread (2 different types), a plate with cheese, tomatoes and nuts and some deep fried beans. The server spoke some english so helped in our ordering. The appetizers they bring out without you requesting are charged to your bill. I don't think we got charged for the bread which was our usual experience of fantastic European bread with hard crusts and soft insides.
I did order a small glass of Reserva Port and then a glass of white wine for my dinner. Lana ordered some carbonated water with her meal. The food came within a reasonable time and was excellent. Yes, this is a neighbourhood 'gem' with locals and tourists alike. We were asked to change to another table so they could accommodate a group of four. No problem. We were seated beside two couples from New Zealand so that was fun. This place was busy the entire time. Of course, it took a long time to get a server's attention and to then get the bill. Very common to wait for the bill in European restaurants. The final bill for everything was 34Euro so food is pretty inexpensive and the portion sizes were very large.
Appetizer plate
Deep fried green beans
Lana's Squid
Randy's deep fried sardines
Side dish of rice and beans very common in Lisboa
For tipping, we were advised by our host Paula to round up. This would mean for our bill we would round up to 35, but given there were two of us and it was good food and service we made it 37Euro. We always try to find out what are the restaurant tipping etiquette. Some countries there is no tipping. Really, North America is one of the few places where tipping is common and expected.
It was a great night to walk back to our apartment. We decided to venture out to the main street near our place called Calçada do Combro to look around and better understand our location. Many people out late and many more hills to climb. It looks like a very interesting area to be staying and very central. We were both exhausted and Lana was quickly in bed and asleep. I made some notes and in bed around 22:15 local time after taking a Gravol pill to help with sleeping.
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