I’m sitting in Lisbon at a bus station waiting for the yellow hop on hop off bus to come along. Apparently they stop at 5 PM so I’m going to buy a ticket for 24 hours and hopefully I’ll be allowed on tomorrow. I’ll check that out first. It’s a good way to see the city just with an overview. The first time I was here I spent a lot of time in Lisbon waiting for buses. I remember my first arrival day February 1, I had waited and waited and found out later the bus had been cancelled.
OMG! The seat is vibrating. I realize there’s a subway right beneath me!
It wasn’t a bad drive in this morning, but when I got here, even with Google map directions, I circled around and around until I got the right turn off, to take the car back. Oh, was it frustrating? I got a cab to my hotel. I’m staying in the old part of town; it reminds me a lot of Porto. The Avenue da Liberdade, a boulevard in central Lisbon that I’m sitting on at the moment, is similar to Barcelona’s Las Ramblas, all tree lined, maybe all inspired by Paris’ Champs-Élysées. Avenida da Liberdade is apparently, according to my taxi driver, the most expensive street to rent or buy property on in Portugal!
It’s weird being in a big city again; I’m really not quite as comfortable as I was in Zambujeira. It’s as usual with cities , always under construction, noisy ,with traffic jams.
Oh but it isnice not having to worry about the car. I could barely fit everything in my suitcase. I actually have my backpack stuffed and I having another bag, so I’m going to have to sort that out. I didn’t buy anything. That’s the funny part but I came with warm clothes on my body, because it was cold when I left Toronto and cold when I got here, and it all seemed appropriate but now, it’s warm, so I either have to dump some stuff or look at my packing again.
I had my breakfast/lunch, whatever you call it, mid afternoon because I was really hungry by then, at a restaurant just down the road from my hotel, called Lusitania. I had my usual omelette, which is a staple for me when I’m travelling. The restaurant was nice enough, but it felt a little bit intimidating for some reason, not the warm feeling that I got in restaurants in the small town I was in.
Tonight, I am at an Indian Fusion Restaurant for dinner. It’s just around the corner from my hotel. I am late because I was on the hop on hop off bus cruising in the city. I will be back on that bus tomorrow, once I do some reading on where to get off and walk around.
It was a great meal tonight, chicken tikka . Lovely atmosphere here and I felt welcomed.
Back to my little room after and watched a movie for the first time on TV in a couple of months. I laughed. It was the Robin Hood movie with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett in English with Portuguese subtitles
Sleep certainly came quickly even though it is noisy , as a city is.
