Day 00 – get across the pond
May 27
We woke up and started all the things you can’t do until the morning of: packing tech and chargers, covering the rest of the furniture in sheets to keep the dust away, unplugging everything we could, etc.. Then we learned the first-of-several bits of chaos.
- Our first flight was delayed. It was delayed by 40 minutes, but our arrival time was only going to be 5 minutes later; cool.
- We had an aggressive rideshare driver, a train on a damaged track, and a bus to take us the rest of the way to DIA.
- When we got to security, there were two lines (on the day after a holiday). Luckily, we were in front of 40ish teens and their chaperones. But we were behind the lady who wore so much jewelry that the TSA guy made fun of her to the rest of us and a woman who managed to get every one of her family’s bags opened to be checked by hand. (We thought the agent running the scanner was new, but a few days later, we learned the scanners themselves are new and are auto-selecting a lot more luggage.)
- We were at the gate plenty early. We had snacks and chatted. When our Zone was called for boarding, we had to do an extra passport verification. The gate agent insisted he had been calling us; he had not. His accent would have for sure butchered our names; we’d have heard that.
- The first leg of the flight was mostly fine. But I do wish they would drop 10-20% of the seats and charge us 30-40% more. Delta also needs to lose the saddle bag containers for the service carts. There isn’t room for them when aisle seaters are trying to give room to the middle seaters.
- It’s a pet peeve of mine when people won’t use the things as they were designed. There was likely a lot of engineering that went into the design of those carts and the width of the aisles. Use that, don’t try to make it different.
- At JFK, we walked from the first gate straight to the next, where we were among the very last to board due to the right hand not knowing what the left was doing. Our written communication from Delta differed from what both gates’ agents (Denver and JFK) told us.
- Country fucking music. Why, Delta? Why must there be boarding music? And if so, pick something gentle, not grating. This isn’t an ad spot for Southwest.
- We were seated among a bunch of rowdy Lacrosse players from Penn State. At first, they were way worse than most frat boys, but then they settled in and were fine.
- At least the announcements were all also in what must have been Portuguese…which to us sounded a lot like Italian.
- Like the Europeans do, dinner came with wine!
- We also had good In-Flight Entertainment. He watched a movie where Tommy Cruz’s character dies over and over. It might be the only way I’d watch him since he jumped into the ultra depths of crazy.
Day 01 – up all night and day
May 28
Neither of us slept hardly at all. They rushed us through a very quick and small breakfast. When we landed in Lisbon, it was a long taxi, followed by a surface/hard de-planing (meaning the big ass plane let passengers out via stairs and buses). The wheels on our bags felt neglected, I’m sure.
We did have some nice moments, too, of course—far more good ones than bad ones. Here is the gist of our Day 01.
- We got Portugal stamps in our passports
- We found a tiny breakfast place. It’s normally just coffee and maybe a pastry, but they were happy to make us simple ham & cheese sandwiches and serve us Cokes.
- Under a bridge and across the alley-ish street, we found a small market for a couple of full-size sundries.
- At our hotel, we checked in early hotel for no additional cost! We are getting good at catching that.
- Showers were amazing.
- Across from our hotel, we found lunch at a Turkish place that was quite good.
- It was hot, even for Portugal. We tried to cool off, but couldn’t.
- In order to get onto Portugal time, we tried not to sleep. We were afraid we’d fall asleep, so we went for sugar (also trying to readjust our caffeine schedule). We even sat on a bench hoping the air and people-watching would keep us awake.
- This is where we saw people eat lupins at an outdoor beer kiosk. They’d each have a beer and the table would share a small carafe of the legumes soaked in a salty brine. They would let them soak, pour off the brine, and each pour out a few lupins to eat. Yes, these are similar to the seed of a bluebonnet.
- As great as the people watching was, it was not working very well to keep us awake. Knowing it was cooler, we hoped to cool off in the hotel lobby, but we were still fighting sleep.
- The Portuguese word for exit is Saída, and you see it everywhere, of course. That reminded me of my grandfather and just gave me all the warm fuzzies.
- Finally, it was late enough to go to dinner (at the shocking hour of 7pm!) Our Indian dinner was fabulous. We even met another couple who flew in like we did and were trying to stay awake…and they are from (East by their accents) Texass. One of our servers gave the place 5*s on my phone by saying “just want to be sure it’s the right one.” It’s okay, it was cute, not obnoxious.
- We crashed pretty hard as soon as we got back.
Day 02 – Ascension Day holiday, yellow architecture, Oceanário, Museu Nacional do Azulejo, Infame
May 29
- It was very hot in our hotel overnight. Apparently, there was a building problem; it was fixed by the afternoon.
- Ascension Day is a national holiday in Portugal.
- We took a bus and short walk to a lovely brunch cafe and ended up walking past some pretty cool sightings, like a staging area for the Tour de Portugal bike race. See if you can spot the oddities in the pic of the giant bike.
- We also found a ton of yellow architecture. Yellow is one of my favorite colors, but I can’t wear it at all. This city has tons of yellow buildings and decor. I love it!
- There were tuk tuks everywhere, which we didn’t expect to see in this part of the world. We also found a single*-seater car! (*not really; turns out, there is a tiny back seat)
- Later, we took a bus to Oceanário. This lovely aquarium is one giant center tank with several smaller tanks and exhibits on each of four sides of it. They have a couple of otters (otters!) and some penguins. They are also the first “Center for Species Survival.”
- Dear all parents, either use the stroller or leave it in the car. It takes up the room of two other people and your kid is never in it.
- After seeing Oceanário, we walked to a cute Mexican place beside a sailboat marina for lunch.
- After being here a few days, I decided that the Portuguese language is like if Spanish and Italian had a baby but raised it in a French abbey. It’s a much quieter language (and culture).
- For lack of anything better to do mid-afternoon, we headed to the National Tile Museum (Museu Nacional do Azulejo). It was far more impressive than either of us expected. Outside, as we were all waiting for rides, we talked with a young couple from Florida who bought a pair of tile-themed placemats. As she and I pondered how to expand that decor for larger groups, he told them to have BYOP parties. LOL
- When we did get back, we took naps. The sweltering heat made us crave the repaired AC in our room.
- For dinner, we went to Infame Lisboa in a busy bar district. We had a fabulous server who suggested and brought three wines for me to try before picking one to go with my duck; he had a steak.
- When we got back to our hotel, we learned what the lupins were. The hotel bartender (aka front desk clerk) taught us about them.
Day 03 – Museum of Illusions, Delirium Tremens, Money Museum, nice rooftop bar
May 30
- My new morning habit had become pear nectar. We have it in the US, but it’s everywhere here. It’s very good and might just carry with me to my future. Fingers crossed it’s a European thing and not just a Portugal thing.
- We tried to go to the Museum of Illusions, but the staff gently suggested that we wait an hour until all the school kids went through. Yes, we will do that very thing.
- We headed over to the swanky af Brown’s Bistro (hotel cafe) for Second Breakfast. I had a mayo-on-the-side tuna salad (boiled egg, tuna, olives, red onions, tiny tomatoes, and lettuce) that was very good. It was very well done, and while I used some of the mayo, it was only a couple of teaspoons. I’ll be making this for myself.
- The Museum of Illusions was pretty cool. I didn’t like that we got a “guide” to explain each one. We like to go at a faster pace than most. Still it was very fun. I couldn’t walk through the vortex without fully leaning onto the railing.
- It was still so very dang hot, so we hit Delirium Tremens “taproom”/bar for a drink.
- Next up was the Money Museum and a National Monument in its basement (a king’s wall).
- Our dinner restaurant, Sabor Lisboa, is on a narrow street with super-skinny sidewalks. It is a quiet, small place in an old part of the city. I had my first green wine; they also sell a licorice wine. Our server was very kind, our food was very good, and when it was time for the bill, it came presented in a cute box.
- Try as we might, we couldn’t find Festa. womp womp.
- We headed over to the hoity-toity area (their “Rodeo Drive” shopping district). Turim Boulevard showed us a rooftop bar (and pool) with nice breezes and good views. It was a fabulous way to spend sunset.
- We ended the evening with a nightcap in our hotel bar.
Day 04 – last full day in Lisbon: Pink Street, Sailing, return to Pink Street-ish
May 31
- We slept in and then headed to lunch at Passage to India. Biryani is my usual go-to dish, and this one had tiny cashews and sweet golden raisins in it. If you had asked me ahead of time if I wanted those things, I’d have declined them. They were sooo good.
- We spent the afternoon at our hotel packing and resting. Working AC is so nice!
- For dinner, we headed to the Pink Street area. There, Rio Grande seemed to be the hopping spot. There were several big tables full for birthdays/whatever. It was also their 102nd birthday! We got to see them serve sausage flambé. Later, someone broke a glass, and the very first thing the staff asked was “Is everyone okay?” It’s so nice to be in a place where everyone cares for one another instead of in a place where people have a lawyer-first mindset.
- In all our dumbassery, we didn’t get a photo of the literal pink (painted) street. It’s a little like Bourbon or Sixth, so it would have been rough in all the ways, but dang it!
- At least we finally remembered to get a pic of the cobblestone streets. Portugal’s cobblestones are 2-3” cubes of rock and make up many of the streets, sidewalks, and paths. Walking on them takes some practice. Some are rough and you could trip. Others are worn quite smooth and are slippery, especially when the air is heavy with humidity.
- Before our big evening adventure, we stopped for a Super Bock beer at a Mr Chips—one of the outdoor beer/snacks kiosks/stands—and just enjoyed the lovely evening.
- Next up was a night sail that he found for us.
- The marina isn’t that big, but the place around it is. So, eventhough we arrived a tad early, we ended up running about two minutes late. The place is also gated for the boat owners, so when it opened, we sneaked in. We weren’t even a quarter of the way down when we got yelled at to “wait outside the gate.” Ok, but no one is up here. We watched three larger boats come in and debark. Everyone was leaving; we started getting nervous.
- Miguel from another boat took us on, and we had a lovely time. The current was stronger than the wind, so we couldn’t sail, but the main sail was up, and we did lean into a breeze or two. The weather was perfect, and our views were grand.
- Back at the marina, we had a message from the other boat owner apologizing profusely and saying he will refund our money.
- And then, a few days later, the tides turned. He sent us a text saying “Good afternoon, it was not necessary from [sic] you to open a dispute… thank you”. We just told him we didn’t open a dispute. We tried before we got his message, but it gave an error. I feel bad if the credit card company dinged him, but all of this is his fault; he needs both a better system and better customer service.
- We were still near Pink Street and wanted to see it at night, so we headed back to the area. Hangover bar is cute and has a cool vibe. Sadly, we were one of two tables and had no idea why it was so dead. 😥
- We moved on to Millennium Bar and sat outside. It was great for people watching.
- Guys here make fun of their friends. Pink Street was a good spot for a Guys Night Out. Entire groups were wearing custom Hawaiian shirts covered in pics of the one guy’s face. Another guy was sporting a two-piece cheerleader costume; his buddies were wearing a very unflattering photo of him on the back of their tshirts. Another guy was wearing a veil for what we assumed was his bachelor party.
- When we got tired, we headed back to our hotel for a nightcap there.
- The next morning, we stowed our luggage in lockers (wow! every hotel should have these!), went around the corner to a bagel shop, and hopped on a train to Sintra.
- For me, four days wasn’t enough in Lisbon.
