It was moving day. That meant leaving our lovely apartment and
getting a train to Lisbon. I had worked
out the logistics and had us there in plenty of time much to Bev’s relief as
she does not do last minute rushes like I do.
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| Alveiro Station - love the tiles |
The train we were taking is called the Alfa
Pendular and is a tilting fast train like the TGV in France. We were in tourist
class which was quite a contrast to the similar seating in a plane. We almost had business class leg room. The journey took us south on a coastal plain,
calling in at several towns on the way.
All in all it took around 3 hours which was a bit longer than the
published time, but because it was comfortable it did not matter too much and we were not in a hurry.
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| Our welcome goodies |
We had to call on Mr Google to guide us to
our AirBnB apartment. It is very close to the station, however to get there
meant dragging our bags up a dauntingly steep cobbled street while competing with
cars for space. Both of us were puffing when we
got to the top of that street. It was
much easier from that point - only a hundred metres or so up a gentle cobbled
slope and we were there. Graça, our
host, popped her head out the window and waved to us to let us know we had
found the right place. The next challenge was taking our heavy bags up some
very narrow stairs (3 bottles of wine do not make for a light bag). Fortunately
it was only one flight.
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| No 28 tram |
Graca gave us a warm welcome, providing
wine, fruit and snacks to settle in with. Our apartment is “new” in that it contrasts
with being in one of the very old buildings from several centuries ago. The Alfama area in which we are staying is
one of the old areas of the city and has very narrow cobbled streets on which
to drive and walk. It is very cute. Around us are lots of restaurants and also
Fado bars. We will go one night and
experience Fado singing as it has been recommended.
After unpacking we went for a wander around
the area, coming across the ancient trams that go up and down the hills around
here. They were packed with tourists, we
think, as there were many wandering around when we went for our early evening walk. Maybe the locals use them as well.
Today will be an exploration day. Rain is predicted so that may curtail some
activities. Nonetheless it will be fun
to explore a new city.
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| This piece street art is opposite us |
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| The Castle |
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| All in English |
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| Looking down one of the steep streets to the river |
Those are seriously steep streets, even for a Wellingtonian!
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