24 hours in Lisbon, 48 hours in Madrid…
After months of planning and with the bags finally packed and the flat in boxes we left home on Tuesday morning starting our trip with an exciting ride on the Piccadilly line to Heathrow. An uneventful flight later we arrived in Lisbon and enthusiastically embarked on the task of trying to fit a whole city into just over 24 hours - we managed it and we don't think we missed anything, but there was a lot of walking involved!!
We first headed for dinner in the old district of Alfama and found a local restaurant whose waiter was very keen on telling us what we should be eating, despite our initial choices! Our 1st hostel experience passed smoothly and we followed the strict breakfast rules to the letter the following morning before heading to the station to leave our bags in the left luggage lockers. This was where we learnt our 1st travelling lesson- always test that the lockers work before putting your bags in and shutting the door. A tense 30 mins and several phone calls later from public phones (as our mobiles were locked in the unopenable locker) and the locker man came to our rescue and we were able to successfully leave the bags.
After wondering round the city we took full advantage of our day travel ticket and headed to Belem to see my (Jenny's) favourite monument, the Padrao dos Descobrimentos - the sheer scale of it is hugely impressive. Walking back along the waterside we stopped off at the Museum of Electricity (David's choice) which was in a converted power station. Later in the evening when the crowds had died down - mainly because a large cruise ship had left the dock - we headed up to the castle using the old tram for some fantastic views across the city and David's new favourite spot for a beer, the Super Bock lounge (Super Bock being the local beer). This is basically a terrace at the very top of the castle with bean bags shaped like arm chairs - a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.
Then it was back to the station with some trepidation to experience our 1st overnight train journey. The 1st slight hitch was that we had only been able to book seats rather than beds as the beds were single sex rooms. There was a fair amount of leg room though and we quickly settled down to sleep as much as possible. The 2nd hitch occurred when the people sitting behind us decided to repeatedly bash the back of David's chair throughout the night despite several harsh words which could be easily translated.
Needless to say when we finally arrived in Madrid on Thursday morning we were a little exhausted so after dumping the bags we headed straight to the Retiro (large park in central Madrid) to catch up on some sleep under the shade of some trees. We met Kirsten (Jenny's friend from school) for a bargainous 'menu del dia' and headed back to her apartment where she was very kindly letting us sleep on her sofa bed (apparently backpackers always welcome!).
Friday saw us heading out into the city to take in some of the sites at a leisurely pace with our own personal tour guide. Lunch was at the Mercado de San Miguel which has only just opened and consists of a number of food and drinks stalls where you can buy little tapas and glasses of vino and cerveza. We ate and drank our fill which included the standard backpacker fare of oysters and wine. David also had a massive nectarine which made him very happy. We then embraced the Spanish culture by having a brief siesta on the grass by the palace. Further tapas followed in the evening on a the terrace at one of the bars near to Kirsten's. All of this in very hot weather!
Next stop Bilbao!
David's abridged version:
It's hot and my bag is heavy