Lisboa

Lisbon (Lisboa) is a great place to visit.  Considering we only had 2 nights and 1.5 days, we managed to see a great deal of the city.  As mentioned in our last post, as soon as we arrived at the hotel it was shower, change clothes, lunch, and then off for a walking tour led by Sam and inspired by Rick Steeves.  The tour took us through many side streets leading us to great view points and small squares filled with tourists and locals alike enjoying the sunshine, refreshments and listening to local musicians.

These Two Joined Us For Our Walk

Lisbon, like many cities; is comprised of many neighbourhoods, with the oldest nearest the sea. The oldest neighbourhood is the Alfama.  This area survived the damage caused by a great earthquake years ago.  The Avenida Da Liberdade is the grand, tree-lined main avenue that runs through the city to the sea and is the main artery connecting all the parts.  Our hotel was just off the Avenida and only a few steps to the Metro.

The Alfama District 

Getting around is easy using public transport.  A Lisboa travel card can be purchased for 6eu and is good for all public transit for a 24-hour period.  It is good for the buses and the trolley streetcars.  The trolley cars were a highlight for us.  The system dates back to 1885 and I think much of the equipment is original.  There are lots of them and wait times are short.  There are also two steep-incline Funicular cars to carry folks up the steepest streets to access the fabulous views. 

Our stay involved lots of walking, watching street performers, enjoying Portuguese cuisine, drinking great coffee and quenching our thirsts with Super Bock beers.  Our only other visit to Lisbon was in November 2008 to watch our son play an international rugby game.  I must say that while this visit had many more tourists, the city itself was much more enjoyable with all the things that were going on.  I’ll let the pictures tell the story:

Oldest Continuous Beer Bar in Lisbon - 170 Yrs.

Daily Gelatos

The Pilgrims

I am writing this while riding the train to Porto. We are prepositioning for the start of the Camino bright and early Tuesday morning.

Lisbon to Porto - 3.5 Hours by Train.

Arrived in Lisbon

After a trip lasting over forty hours, we finally arrived safe and sound in Lisbon.  If every great adventure requires a little adversity, we have already met our quota. 

Everyone Started Out With a Smile!

Our journey from Vancouver to Lisbon started well.  Everyone met at the airport and other than losing Sam for a few minutes when a new Tilley distracted him; we enjoyed preflight coffees and a bite to eat before boarding our Air Canada plane to Toronto at 2pm, (45 minutes behind schedule.)  The flight went smoothly and a few hours later we landed at Toronto’s Pearson International.  The only concern we had upon landing was the fact we only had 35 minutes to quickly transit to our Lisbon flight.

Our worries proved unnecessary; Air Canada agents met us at the gate and informed us that our plane was not flying to Lisbon after all due to mechanical problems.  We were stuck in Toronto for over 24 hours.  “Pissed” is not a strong enough word to describe our reaction to the bad news.  Not only were we stuck in Toronto for the first day of our holiday, we were missing our day in Lisbon and due to time constraints, the day cannot be recaptured.  In addition, the cost of our hotel in Lisbon (expensive in August) was lost.

Our pleas to Air Canada to be put on other flights to get us there sooner, fell on deaf ears.  They did provide us with a night at the Travelodge, a breakfast, lunch and dinner vouchers.  After our stay, the group consensus was that it had to be one of the poorest hotels any of us had ever experienced.   The best compliment I can give was the bar’s serving of Barking Squirrel beer, definitely a “two thumbs up” beer.

Barking Squirrel - A New Fan Favourite!

Eventually we ended up back at the airport the following afternoon drinking, reading and playing cards in a bar.  At that point the news became grimmer.  Our rescheduled flight was further delayed an additional three hours.   Air Canada’s excuse … couldn’t negotiate any landing rights at the correct time.  Another dinner voucher was provided but luckily this time we found a restaurant that would allow us to voucher the cost of wine and beer.  This made the time slip by a little more quickly but alas, when we went to the gate … wait for it, we were further delayed for another 30 minutes to allow the cabin to be cleaned.  

We boarded 30 minutes from our rescheduled time, three hours after our initial rescheduled time and over 25 hours after our originally scheduled time. 

Once we were all on board the First Officer came on to apologize that we would be delayed a further 10 minutes to replace a part but an additional 10 minutes to get the part delivered from the warehouse, and oh my, another 10 minutes to install and test.

We finally pulled away from the gate a little after 10 pm for our final seven-hour leg to Lisbon.

The ride itself wasn’t that bad but we had been put on an Air Rouge flight and the seats don’t recline like a regular overseas airline.  It proved impossible to sleep sitting up straight.

In comparison to trying to leave Canada, our arrival in Portugal was ultra smooth.  Customs and Immigration did not ask us any questions, in fact no words were spoken.  They simply stamped our passports and waved us through.

A Beautiful City To Explore!

After a one-hour turn around in the hotel for a shower and change of cloths, we were off on an afternoon walking tour of the city.  There is no moss growing on these folks.

More about the city to follow.

Getting Ready For A Walk-About in Portugal and Spain.

The summer season is coming to an end and for many of us it is time to embark on new adventures.  Deborah and I are joining eight friends to walk the Camino Portuguese.  Our walk will follow 241 kilometres of the ancient Pilgrims’ Trail from Porto, Portugal to Santiago, Spain.  We won't be "roughing it".  B&B's and hotels will make our end of day stays quite relaxing.  I sense "big beers" occurring on a daily basis.

Packs Are Packed - Training Walks Complete!

Fellow Pilgrims - Linda, Cheryl, Glen, Nola, Deborah, me, and Phil.
Sam Took the Picture and Warren & Diane were M.I.A.

The pilgrims’ ways to Santiago have their roots in the history of Saint James.  The Bible tells us that after Christ was crucified 2000 years ago, the disciples dispersed to different parts of the world to spread the Christian gospel.  James went to Spain and spent years travelling and evangelising.  We are also told that when he returned to Jerusalem a few years later, King Herod had him beheaded.  Finally, the story tells us that Saint James’ body was returned to Spain by ship and given a martyrs burial in a tomb on a hillside that is now modern day Santiago, Spain.

About 700 years later Christians began making pilgrimages from all over Europe to worship at the remains of Saint James.  The different “ways” to Santiago are still well travelled and are very much evident today.

While this is not a Christian pilgrimage for us, the literature asks us to “keep an open mind to the sometimes mystical happenings” that have been experienced by many past pilgrims during the days of walking while meeting new faces and cultures along the way.  Our purpose is to see Portugal and Spain from a walking pace and to remain open to any new experiences that may occur.

We will keep our Camino passports with us and get them stamped in the village way points to prove our progress.  We will be entitled to receive a “Certificate of Completion” from the Cathedral in Santiago and meet with a representative of the Church to talk about our reasons for completing the pilgrimage.  I have already given this some thought and I think I will state that the pilgrimage satisfied a bucket list desire to complete a long walk.  (I am not sure my feet have the same item on their list).  Deborah’s answer will be short and sweet, “peer pressure!”

Passports Will Get Stamped in Villages Along the Way.

The Comino Portuguese is only one of the many “ways” to Santiago but it is second in popularity only to the Camino Frances made famous by the movie “The Way” starring Martin Sheen.  Our trip will be “short” in comparison to many others.  The Camino Frances is over 1000 km from Paris and many more from places in Switzerland and Italy are of even greater length.

Our path is a predominantly coastal route and we plan to walk for ten days to cover the 241 km.  We have planned one day of rest on the journey and daily distance counts will range from a warm up 16 km on the first day followed by two 30+ days followed by a rest day.  The Rest day will be followed with seven consecutive days of between 18 and 31 km days.  Some of the distances will be on roads and most will be on paved pathways interspersed with walks on the sandy beaches of the Atlantic.

Our journey will follow the footsteps of the ancient Celtic, Roman, Islamic, and Christian wayfarers.  It will cross bridges and roads built 2000 years ago when Portugal was part of the Roman Empire.

Our training has involved many long walks, followed by tailgate or house get-togethers for drinks and dinner.  Conversations have focused on the weight of our prospective packs and usually comes down to how many t-shirts and underwear does one really need for a month in Portugal and Spain.  I have decided on two of most things; underwear, socks, shorts, T-shirts, golf shirts and footwear.  I plan to carry about 8 kilos in my pack and Deborah plans around 5 kilos.

Nola, Deborah, Cheryl and the Rest in Training.

Cross Train Bike Ride to Ft. Langley

We fly from Vancouver to Toronto and direct to Lisbon.  We plan a few acclimatizing days in Lisbon and then a train trip to Porto to begin the pilgrimage.

We don’t know about Internet connections but plan to fill in the blog when we can.

Stay tuned.