What a day:)
Fascinating train-run-bus-train-train-train-walk from one train station to another-oops, I was at the right bus station the first time, and more. Then one last long train ride. It's been a blast!!
My favorite though, at one train transfer, they had everyone heading to Porto, get off to transfer...as planned. Probably ninety percent of the people (including me) got off, walked down a ways, crossed the tracks, and got on the train that was waiting there. We're about all loaded up, when a railroad employee anxiously told everyone we were on the wrong train. Another train was just pulling up on a third track.
Almost everyone thought it was really funny, but there were a few who were real jerks. The jerks were so outnumbered, they soon became quiet:)
I'm in Lisbon, Portugal. I was in Porto about two hours. I loved it, but, decided to make this totally a travel day. Then, I will spend two full days being a tourist in Lisbon.
In case you care, sometimes people give advice when they don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. Therefore, sometimes, a person can get a lot of extra, unneeded exercise as a result. I learned that, again, from experience today.
Hotel rooms here are a pain in the butt. If not for a tenacious taxi driver, I’d be sleeping on the street tonight. He communicates entirely with Google Translate…it’s pretty cool. I stayed in a dive hotel for the night. Dinner at the dive spot around the corner, the Fat Chicken in English, was an experience. I don’t understand Portuguese, but I understand six grown old men teasing each other. The place I’m staying is obviously a poorer, working class neighborhood.
Tonight, will be better, I have a reservation in what appears to be a little better area. Thursday night I'm staying in a classy Holiday Inn Express near the airport preparing for my early Friday departure. For the most part I didn’t do reservations on this trip. Experiencing the challenges getting a room in Lisbon made me change my thought process. I was lucky to get anything, almost everything is/was sold out.
Lisbon seems to be a safe place. I still don’t really like big cities.
Mostly, I'm just getting anxious to be home.
