Lisbon

I woke up early this morning to catch a train to Lisbon. I got to the train station about 30 minutes before my train was supposed to leave and lined up to buy a ticket. The line was moving really slowly and I worried that I was going to miss my train while standing in line. Finally I made it to the front of the line only to find out the train wasn’t leaving from the station I was at but another one and I wouldn’t be able to make my train and I would have to wait two and a half more hours. The other station was five minutes away by train and I had only seven minutes to make it so I quickly jumped on the next train to the other station and then ran to get on the train to Lisbon. I got on the train just as the doors were closing and took a seat. I hadn’t had time to purchase a ticket and hoped that Portugal wasn’t one of the countries where you have to prepay for a ticket.

As the train employee came around collecting tickets I became increasingly nervous that I was supposed to have a ticket because no one was buying tickets, only showing him their tickets they already had. When he got to me I smiled and pulled my wallet out and motioned like I was going to pay him for my ticket. He explained that in Portugal you MUST prepay for your ticket and that I would have to get off and buy a ticket at the next station and then wait for the next train before I could get back on. I tried my best “dumb tourist” routine and smiled a lot and he finally agreed to let me stay on the train and that he would work something out. The train employee came back and gave me an assigned seat and a receipt and I gave him the train fare, I had lucked out.

Once in Lisbon I checked into my hostel and set out to explore the city. As with Porto, Lisbon is a very hilly city. I went into a large church and explored a castle high up in a mountain overlooking the city. There was a concert going on inside of the castle, which was nice to have music as I walked around, made me feel like I was in a movie.

My hostel is very nice and for 8 Euro they will cook you dinner with three drinks included. I had soup for a starter, meat with bacon and cheese with rice as a main and rice pudding for dessert, it was very delicious. There is an area in Lisbon called Barrio Alto and it is a series of streets that are lined with small bars. The bars are so small that there isn’t enough room for everyone; so instead of being in the bars everyone stands in the streets talking and drinking together. It’s a fun and different atmosphere.


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2010_06_26 Lisbon