A trip to Lisbon, Portugal

A short introduction to our trip to Lisbon, Portugal.  A trip that was given to us by our family, for our 50th Wedding Anniversary.  We have never travelled to Portugal, so this was a real treat, which we appreciated very much.

Since we arrived we have absorbed an enormous amount of information and I need to sift through it all, in order to make some sense of it, before I even try to write more blogs.

However, first impressions are personal and so I do not need many facts.  

All went according to plan, very smooth, until we passed through security at Gatwick.  We left home at 5.45 am, the motorway was slow at times but no hold ups, we handed the car to the long stay storage people, got the bus to the airport, and as we had paid for the lounge booking we were eligible for a quick pass through security.  

And it was in security that we encountered a problem.   No queues for us.  It was too fast.  No time to think.  So we had to have our bags checked by a staff member, due to not emptying them properly.  Consequently, Walter left his tablet behind as he did not hear the security person telling him the tablet would have to go through the xray machine again.  Of course he did not realise this until he was on the plane.  Too late. We hope it was sent to Lost Property, who can only be contacted by email.  No telephone numbers. 

A delicious breakfast in the lounge, and then a comfortable plane journey, in blue skies.  And the view of Lisbon, as we landed, was pretty spectacular.  

Now the airport arrangements in Lisbon are very peculiar.  All the  budget airlines land in front of the new terminal, Terminal 2, where passengers are unloaded onto buses, and driven to Terminal 1, very quickly.  One had to hang onto the rails tightly as the driver zig zagged around until we were deposited at the correct door.  

The reason for this strange arrangement was due to Terminal 1 handling all immigration and baggage.  Terminal 2 only handle departures for budget airlines, which was why our plane parked outside this terminal.  And to get to Terminal 2, in order to fly out, one must catch a bus outside Terminal 1.  This includes people transferring from one plane to another plane.  

And then I had one of those 'deja vu' moments.   After going through immigration I found myself back in the international airport at Paya Lebar, Singapore, in 1972. I think both buildings were built in the 1960s.  But Lisbon still has their building, with vast expanses of bare tiled floors and concrete walls.  And I could smell the women's toilets in the baggage area before I even entered them.   

Outside for coffee, so badly needed by this time, in a rowdy arrivals area. And then out to the taxi rank, where the heady smell of exhaust fumes, plus taxis and garden landscaping took me back again to 1972 Singapore.

I know we have been married for 50 years but travelling somewhere new and recapturing the past was not part of the plan!  Yet we drove on a road into the city centre which was lined with buildings built during the early 1900s.  The old colonial style buildings in Singapore and the buildings in Malacca, Malaysia.  I even started to look for our army married quarter.  

But there was a connection with building styles, so it was not me having a mental aberration.  The Portuguese invaded Malacca, in 1511, and stayed there until 1641, so for a time it was a mini Portugal.  One does wonder about the connection with Singapore though, as the colonial style buildings were definitely built by the British.    I am rambling.  

We are in a lovely small hotel, just outside the main city and tourist area.   It has been recently renovated and spotlessly clean inside and out.   Our room is the middle one on the very top floor.

We have a fantastic view of the buildings opposite, and down to the street below.

There is also a very good distant view as well.  Just look at the bright blue sky.

The bedroom is very large, plus there is a grand bathroom.  Absolutely perfect.

Walter looking very happy.

It is an electronically difficult holiday though.   Walter does not have his tablet, so has to read everything on his telephone, and the battery in my telephone has died which means that it has to be hooked up to a charging unit all the time.  I have to take photographs with a charger hanging from the telephone which definitely requires quite a bit of dexterity.

But we are enthralled with Lisbon.  And I am definitely here now, in 2017, and my thoughts no longer stray back to 1972.  Thank goodness. I was getting a little worried for a while.