The last day

Above - Outside the Tile Museum.

Above - Tiles.

Above - The youth hostel from outside. It's the second floor - above the green door.

Above - Inside the youth hostel - the lounge.

Above - Inside the youth hostel - the lounge.

Saturday was my last day in Lisbon. And in Portugal for that matter. But my flight home wasn't until the evening which gave me most of the day to explore. I started off at the Museum of Fado. I then went to the tile museum - I mean, I couldn't miss it could I not after having been surrounded everywhere by tiles for the past week!

I made my way to the airport and arrived before check in had opened but already there was a queue of people and only one lady to check us all in! The next time I fly with Easyjet I will pay for priority boarding - I stood in a queue for the best part of two hours! I arrived back in the UK quite late - around 22h30, and then caught the train back to Brighton. Exhausted.

I like Portugal. I'd like to go again. I didn't have time to do everything I wanted to do. I'd also like to go to Porto in the north. Maybe I'll return when I've learnt a bit of Portuguese...

More Lisbon.

Above - The tower of Belém.

Above - The Monastery.

Above - The April 25th Bridge - the second longest in Europe at 17km long.

Above - Another bridge over the River Tejo (Tegus).

Above - The Monument of Portuguese Discoverers - my favourite monument.

On my penultimate day in Portugal I took tram 15 (from Cais de Sodre as instucted by the girl on reception at the hostel) to Belém - the west part of Lisbon. It took about 20 minutes to get there and when I arrived I headed for the monument of discoverers. I watched a 25 minute video on the history of Lisbon and then climbed to the top of the monument to see the view over Belém and the river. Afterwards I headed slightly down the river bank to the Tower of Belém. I also visited the monastery but, unfortunately my Portuguese wasn't up to realising that 'coches' meant coaches and I therefore missed out on the Musuem of Coaches, something I'd have liked to have seen as I saw a beautiful coach at the Musuem of Portuguese Decorative Art, never mind. I had to be back in the centre of Lisbon for the afternoon as I had plans. I was going to go on a river cruise of the River Tejo (Tegus).

At 15h, after lunch, I got on a boat for a two hour river cruise. I sat at the top in the sun, but there was a slight breeze that was a bit chilly. I still got sunburnt though :) We saw the whole city from the river complete with commentary and I really enjoyed it. The lady next to me didn't seem to though as she fell asleep behind her sunglasses!

After the river cruise I went to find the Museum of Fado - Portuguese music. But there wasn't time to go around, I planned to return the next morning.

Lisbon

Above - Pastel de Nata - custard tart.

Above - Praça do Comérico.

Above - Cobble mad. It appeared to be a national obsession, not one just limited to the Algarve.

Above - Whole houses tiled. One way to support the local economy I suppose...

Above - The Museum of Decorative Portuguese Art and a Lisbon tram.

Above - Me in the tourist tram.

Above - The tourist tram.

Above - The view from Castelo de Sao Jorge (St George's Castle)

Above - One of the many statues in the middle of one of the many squares.

Above - A sign in a restaurant window that made me chuckle - a meal for William perhaps?

Above - The cable car.

Above - The Cathedral.

Above - The Castle

On Thursday morning, my first in Lisbon, or Lisboa as the Portuguese call it, I left the hostel and went walking, heading for the Praça do Comércio where the tourist information centre was. I decided to purchase a Lisbon Card which allowed me to use all the public transport free of charge, have discounts on various tourist attractions and get into museums for free. I'd calculated it would save me money. As soon as I'd purchased my card I took advantage of it by going on a tram tour of Lisbon. There was just me and an Italian lady on the 10h departure. We had the tram to ourselves and our very own guide - the tram driver. The tour last about two hours and there was an English commentary to tell me what was what as we were going around. After the tram tour I felt a little better about which direction I should head in to see certain things and how far apart things were. I headed for the Cathedral and then on to the Castle where there was a view over Lisbon. I went around the Musuem of Portugeuse Decorative Art and ate lunch there - rice salad, quiche, strawberries and a glass of orange juice. I also went in the museum of Portuguese History which mentioned that the national obsession of tiles began long ago in the 15th century for asthetic purposes. Later on in the afternoon I stopped for coffee and a pastel de nata (custard tart) at a coffee shop before going on a walk around. I stumbled across the cable car which I went on (downwards rather that upwards - bad planning on my half - I'd already walked up the steep hill!!). I then carried on walking around and came across a couple of square - both with statues in the middle, before talking the metro and going back to the youth hostel.

From Faro to Lisbon - by bus.

Above - The youth hostel in Faro where the four nationality breakfast took place.

Above - The youth hostel in Faro from the outside.

Above - the caged birds in the garden next to the hostel in Faro.

I had breakfast on the Wednesday morning with a Canadian, a French person and a German - it was a four nationality breakfast! Before checking out I went into the gardens next door to the hostel for a walk around. There are caged birds in the gardens - apparently they're caged for their own protection... I checked out of the youth hostel at around 9h30 and made my way to the bus station where I bought my ticket to Lisbon. The bus wasn't until 11h so I sat by the harbour writing about what I'd seen and done so far. At 11h I got on the bus. It took us three hours to get to Lisbon and as we entered we had to cross the river Tejo (Tagus) by a 17km bridge that I later learnt is the second longest in Europe and takes 12 minutes to cross. When I arrived I got the metro to the station nearest to the hostel where I was to be staying and followed my directions to the hostel. The weather was warm and sunny but the hostel was easy to find and only about a three minute walk from the metro station. I spent the afternoon planning what I wanted to see and do in Lisbon as well as just popping out to buy some food from a nearby store. The hostel was more luxurious than the one in Faro but the people didn't seem as friendly.

Portugal - Faro

Above - The beach.

Above - Looking towards the marshlands.

Above - Faro's harbour.

Above - The bone chapel.

Above - The bone chapel.

Above - The beach.

Above - Faro's harbour.

The next morning I had breakfast with Cecilia who works for Crawly Social Services. She was really interesting to talk to. The Youth hostel breakfast was two bread rolls, two slices of cheese, jam, butter, a hot drink and fruit juice. After breakfast I walked to the bus stop near to where I had gotten off the bus the day before. I took the number 16 to the beach. I had had to ask someone who looked like he worked for the bus depot where I could get the number 16 bus from. I asked him ‘Falo Ingles?’ and he shook his head and said ‘Falo Fran…’ so I asked him in French and he told me the bus stop was just opposite. I got on the bus and went to the beach. To get to the beach we had to cross the marshland bit.

I spent the morning walking up and down the beach – just miles and miles of golden sand, yellow sunshine and enormous shells. Or at least enormous when you’ve spent your life on the beaches of North Wales… I think it was because it was out of season that there were not many people – I had the beach to myself. I ate lunch at the beach too.

In the afternoon I went to the Maritime museum and the museum of Faro. I also walked again around the old part of Faro and realised I can say ‘Town Hall’ in four language – Town Hall, Le Marie, RatHaus and Camara Municipal. I wonder what the Spanish is…? I also went to the two churches that the lady in the tourist information centre has recommended to me. At one of them there was a bone chapel and right next door a post office where I bought five stamps for my postcards. I walked around the pedestrianised shopping part and enquired about bus times to Lisbon for the next day. I then made my way back to the Youth Hostel where there were new people in the room – Holly from Lyon in France and Mika from Germany. We sat and drank tea and ate scones and a Spanish cake of some description that Holly had brought with her from her time in Spain.

Portugal - Faro, The Algarve.

Above - Tiles inside the Cathedral.

Above - Tiles inside the Cathedral.

Above - The street signs are made out of tiles.

Above - Cobbled streets.

Above - Cobbled Streets.

Above - the view over Faro and the marshland from the top of the Cathedral.

Above - Faro's Cathedral.

Above - The gateway into the old part of Faro.

Above - Cathedral Square.

Above - the tourist train.

The alarm clock sounded at 4h30. I had a flight to catch at 8h. Sometime back in January when booking my flights I opted for the earlier option because a) it was cheaper and b) it meant I’d get to spend more of the day at my destination - Faro. But at 4h30 when it’s still pitch black outside I wasn’t so sure. I left for the train station at 5h30. The streets of Brighton were deserted. I think I passed one bus. The train station wasn’t much better either. It was even too early for the rush hour of commuters to London. But when I arrived at Gatwick airport at about 6h15 it could have been midday. There were lots of people. All going on holiday. I queued in a ridiculously long queue to check in, thank goodness it went down quite quickly! We took off on time at 8h. The flight was the longest I’d ever been on at just over two and a half hours and when we landed the sky was blue and the temperature significantly warmer than it had been in England. I asked the lady at the tourist information desk in the airport where I could get the bus, I also asked her for a map of Faro and how to say thank you in Portuguese – obligada. I got the bus from Faro Airport to the town centre. I had to wait quite a while for a bus – over an hour – but it was warm and sunny in the airport carpark.

When I got off the bus in Faro I consulted my map and my directions to the youth hostel courtesy of google maps. It took me about half an hour to noisily find the hostel, noisily because the streets were cobbled and well, it’s not exactly a silent job wheeling a suitcase over cobbles… By the time I got there I was starting to feel a little overdressed for the Algarve sun – jeans, boots, jacket… The lady in the hostel told me I couldn’t check in until 17h but that I could leave my suitcase. I swapped my boots for flipflops, removed the jacket and left to discover the town. I stumbled across a tourist train which I went on to get an overview of the town. It took us through what looked like an old, walled part of the town as well as around the more modern looking bit. A commentary would have been useful but never mind – it gave me an idea of where to go to see things.

After the tourist train I went in the tourist information centre and asked the lady there what she recommended me to see and do in Faro. She told me to go around the old part of the town and climb to the top of the Cathedral. She also recommended two churches and the beach which you can reach by bus. Apparently, and I didn’t know this, there is a national park of marshland between Faro and the actual coast and beach hence the reason for needing to take a bus to the beach.

I left the tourist information centre and went to the old town and Cathedral. (Second Portuguese word learnt – Sé – Cathedra,l shortly followed by third word – Largo – Square) I climbed to the top of the Cathedral where I could see the marshland between Faro and the beach. I also got a cracking view of the town and it’s harbour. Inside the Cathedral there were lots of tiles – blue and yellow – all over the walls. I’d also noticed that the street names were tiles too… In fact, there were tiles and cobbles everywhere! After I’d walked around the old part of the town I went to the pedestrianised part and had coffee and ice cream – what a combination, a tasty one though. I then made my way back to the hostel where I saw my room. It was a six bed room and everyone in it was travelling alone. They were all really nice and we got on well –Cecilia from South Africa, Bree from Australia – both living and working in London, Dora from Canada and a girl from Japan who was studying in Newcastle.