We are off to Lisbon for the European Triathlon championships. Having booked a very civilised time to fly , we had a leisurely morning leaving home at 10 am. The worst part of the journey as always is trying to get to the other side of Oxford. I am seriously thinking of relocating to the east of Oxford. Once passed Oxford we reached our "Purple parking" site at Heathrow with ease and was efficiently transferred to the airport without any hassle. BA whisked away the bike and a somewhat noisy but bearable flight got us into Lisbon for 6.30pm. Finding our way onto the metro was fun with the bike in tow, but it was hardly like the London Underground, we actually had a carriage to ourselves.
We are staying in an area called Parque de Nacoes, (Park of the Nations) which is a very modern area which was the site of Expo 98. We had booked an apartment and had arranged to be met at the station by Phillipe . He was there and escorted us to the lovely apartment which was perfectly located right near the triathlon start with good views from the fifth floor. We were somewhat bemused because when booking the apartment we were both sure it was in a completely different location. We had tried to get closer to the triathlon site but everything was booked and now we have found ourselves nearer to the site than those staying in the team hotel.
We had a quick wander down to the sea front and the harbour where the swim takes place before exploring the shopping mall below our apartment and stocking up on the essentials .We returned to our triathlon hub to sort ourselves and Graham checked the bike was all in one piece or will be when he assembles it!