Lisbon_Albufeira

I flew in late to Lisbon on 18th April, spent a day touring Sintra and then traveled from Lisbon to Albufeira the second day.

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I like the Chalet D'Avila Guest House. The room was charming and nicely furnished. There are two clean bathrooms and a simple kitchen. This in combination with the location and price at 40EUR was unbeatable.

Jumping back in time slightly, I arrived into the Lisbon airport at 22:30 the previous day. Luggage was delivered in a reasonable time and I was soon looking for the Metro. One sign pointed in the correct direction, but then the signage trail vanished. A little stumbling about and I found the stairs down to the aeroporto Metro station. While purchasing a ticket at the electronic kiosk a man approached offering me a ticket. I asked what the catch was and he said to pay him the price in cash. I suspect this was a scam and finished purchasing with a credit card from the kiosk which was very easy. The Metro dropped me one block from the guest house. Couldn't have been easier.

Today is the Sintra tour I'd booked through Tripadvisor. I chose to walk the roughly one mile to the meeting place on Av. da Liberdade. This broad avenue was laid out to mimic the Champs-Elysees. The tall broad trees offer delightful cool shady cover and the black and white tiles are enjoyable to look at and walk upon. The street is a Los Angeles Rodeo drive with very upscale shops along the length. Seating is limited and surprisingly restaurants are few. I planned to grab a coffee on my walk and did pass several small shops. I decided to wait for a place near the pickup point for the tour. Nothing obvious was nearby, but one of the map apps indicated a coffee shop that turned out to be almost where I was standing. Barely larger than a door it might have been 20 feet deep with three gentlemen inside. The owner and a patron (probably taxi driver as there is a waiting spot for the taxis to serve the many large hotels nearby) and one other older gentleman. Funny how serendipity plays a role - coffee where I was standing and only 80cents!

My guide was Enis (part of her last name for us tourists to keep it simple). She drove an 8 passenger Opel van. This started a day that involved too much driving time for me. I selected the tour because public transport to Sintra looked to be 1-1/2 hours each way from Lisbon and I didn't want to spend that much time traveling. Little favors in life - I would not have realized that a timed ticket was required for entry to Sintra. I probably would have still very much enjoyed the 'gardens' surrounding the palace, but the tour brought me inside to see the opulence. The views from the palace are spectacular on a fortuitously sunny day. The crowds and associated queue entering and through the palace were difficult; if I'd known I likely wouldn't have come. Enis said that just ten years ago very few came. (Theone, I think you were lucky!) Enis' energy and focus on nature, discovery, and her degree in art made the tour fun. The surrounding gardens made me ache to be back in a wilderness somewhere. I would have liked to visit the Moorish castle nearby and some of the other historical sites. We did stop in the small town of Sintra with its government building and extremely charming buildings and narrow cobblestone alleys. The tour also stopped at the western extreme of the European continent and then the town of Caicais for lunch. This town of narrow streets adjacent to the sea possesses so many restaurants in such a small location it defies description. I even walked by a Michelin restaurant serving Japanese cuisine. How anyone chooses where to go boggles me; I just wandered the town taking in the sites. The place was packed with tourists; I wouldn't recommend a visit. The tour didn't end until about 18:30. The walk back to my accommodations stopping at a Continental grocery store for dinner left me tired and ready for bed.

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Ahh, a casual start for today. My only requirement to catch the train at the Oriente station for Albufeira at 10AM. Breakfast on the small veranda off the kitchen began well until I caught the table leg spilling part of the freshly made coffee. The efficiency and convenience of the Metro system meant I arrived at the train station well before departure time. I had to ask a conductor if this was the correct train when I did start to board. I never did see the carriage number until someone else pointed it out on the inside. I'd purchased my first class ticket online a month prior. The car was filled with many older Americans, some Canadians, at least two Dutch and a few locals. The train stopped in several stations as it passed through Lisbon which if I'd know might have afforded a shorter travel distance from the guest house though my route couldn't have been simpler. Once south and through the Lisbon surrounding suburbs, the train passes through miles of olive trees and limestone looking soil. The conductor looked at my ticket on the phone seemingly only interested in the carriage and seat number.

Upon arriving into the train station serving Albufeira, it was still necessary to catch a bus to the town. There were several of us tourists a maybe on local. I didn't have exact change for the bus and the driver just waved me on with having not paid the full amount. I'm still suspicious of map directions. Apple doesn't include public transportation in their route finding for Portugal. Google maps had me get off with the advice to order a 'Bolt' - not not an electric car. That is the name of an Uber like service in Portugal (and elsewhere?). I skipped the service and walked to the hotel. It was becoming a bit hot as I arrived. The clerk was a very friendly and informative woman who spoke excellent English. We conversed a bit and then I headed up to my room. No view of the ocean, but I opened the window wide to let the sea breeze cool me off. It may be a hotel room, but it is cheaper than the guest house in Lisbon and has an ensuite bathroom!

Keeping up with the electronic world consumes huge amounts of time. I worked on photos waiting for it to cool down a little. Then I walked into the town center.

Albufeira is a vacation getaway I believe mostly for Brits. There are plenty of restaurants and souvenir shops to be found. The cork purses fascinated me with their texture and smell. I sat down for a beer at a beach side place with pleasant live guitar performer. I grabbed something for dinner and breakfast at a local grocer.

I returned to the hotel to watch the sun set and get back to work trying to update the website.Write your text here...