Month: May 2010

May3rd Monday.
Not the best nights sleep. There is a main road 200m away from our pitch on this otherwise exellent campsite.
We catch the bus into the centre (excellent value bus passes $3.5 per day) and get our pilgrim passports at Igreja dos Martires (office half way down on lefthand side).
We managed a ride in the street elevator on the way also on the transport passes.
It then seems apropriate to drag Jane through the back streets of Lisbon for 8km to the parc dos nacoes as a starter. This is the expo 98 site now a shopping and tourist center. The walk through the suburbs of the city produced a few excellent photo ops as well as lunch for less than coffee croissant and OJ in the main square.
A ride back on Lisbons metro on our passes returned us to the campsite in time for a picnic dinner. It’s still cool and windy at present and ideal for walking. Photo a ladies loo.

Link to where we are on Google Maps

May 2. Sunday.
We surface around 6 to go to Bristol Airport for the Easyjet flight at 10.30 to
Lisbon. A place none of the four of us have visited. Jane (Tony’s wife) is coming with us for 3 days in Lisbon before flying home. It is raining here in Somerset although forecasts are good for Portugal.
Yesterday was spent checking kit and trying to persuade Betsy to carry less, she has the largest rucksack of the three of us and we worry what the portugese firemen will make of this apparent beast of burden.
Arrived on time in Lisbon had lunch at the airport cos the post office was closed. You may ask why? Because the PO sells the transport cards to go on the buses. So we got 4 of those for 4 days and then had to get a taxi. The local buses don’t allow luggage from the airport and the airport bus went in the wrong direction. Still we found the camp site which is very quiet at the moment.
Now sitting in a quiet square in central Lisbon having a beer at an Indian/Italian restaurant. It is cool and pleasant.
It appears so far that french and english are more useful than portugese. The taxi dtiver spoke french and the indian restaurant english. But the PO spoke portuguese, result Betsy.

Link to where we are on Google Maps