Ten days of gifts – number 9
Compact is the word…
Back in the day, I used to sell the Primus Field Cup Set. It’s a compact eating kit for when you’re on the hill or wandering around town and have the munchies.
There’s two cups, a lid and mini knife, fork and spoon. The cups have respective capacities of 400 ml and 200 ml, the whole package weighs in at 156g and there’s a good choice of colours available too (providing of course that the shop has ordered in more than one or two different colours in the – my former employers did central buying, so we got what we were given such i.e. orange). Everything packs into the largest cup which can then be slipped into a pack or day bag once you’ve wiped or washed away any food residue. The price? £10…
http://www.primus.eu/field-cup-set-green or a host of outdoor shops around the UK and beyond.
Ten days of gifts – in at number 10…
Need some protection? Try Aquapac’s Small Stormproof Pouch…
We’ve not had any snow yet, but we have had some heavy rain around Wisepacking Towers over the last week or so, so much so that there’s been a couple of occasions when Caroline’s come in from either a leisure ride or her commute and she’s done a very good impression of a drowned rat called Nigel…
Sometimes you know that there’s going to be bad weather and sometimes you don’t.
It’s a by-product of living in the UK I suppose, but when you get soaked on a visit to The Algarve and the temperatures have been in the mid-thirties C, then you can get caught out somewhat. There are also times when the rain in Spain doesn’t stay on the plain!
Help is at hand though and it’s the first of wisepacking’s suggestions of useful items that you can give as gifts over the festive period or if someone’s an awkward sod who has a birthday on the 3rd of January (like me!).
Aquapac’s Small Stormproof Pouch (£15) is one for the traveller that might get caught out in a rain shower or who gets soaked on a stormy Monday. It can hold pocket items like digital compact cameras, phones, cash and cards when out on a trail or on a fishing trip and it’s 100% waterproof too.
It’s just part of Aquapac’s range, a collection that is always getting added to as they conjure up new products to cover potential eventualities when you’re out and about. The sharp eyed amongst you may have seen one of their radio pouches being used by James May last night as he made his way from Ilfracombe to Lundy Island by boat in pursuit of a toy glider – the whole programme is probably on BBC’s iPlayer if you want to see more.
But I digress. Aquapac’s stuff is good, it works and items such as the Small Stormproof Pouch are pretty light too – 17g for the pouch and 5g for the lanyard.
More details and buying opportunities on http://store.aquapac.net – this also has full details of the whole Aquapac range.
Portugal packing…
Although we had the option to take hold luggage along with us to Portugal as we’d booked our flights with TAP Portugal rather than a low cost airline, we opted to travel hand luggage only.
Yes, we got a look of surprise from the lady behind the desk at Manchester Airport when we checked in, but it didn’t take long to realise that we’d made the right decision, especially when we got to Lisbon.
All we did was get the bags out of the locker, shoulder them once out of the plane and then hit the way through Passport Control and Customs. Once through, we found the nearest ATM to get cash before getting the only taxi used on our trip. Now the taxi driver wasn’t too happy about us not putting bags in the boot, but we were happy that we weren’t paying additional charges for putting the bags in the boot.
One thing we did notice – we had the smallest bags of anyone in the queue on the taxi rank – one couple had hand luggage each, hold luggage each and a bag of golf clubs each (and were holding the queue up as the bloke wasn’t doing a very good job of steering the fully laden trolley in the general direction of the line of taxis!).
Caroline and I both use Osprey Farpoint 40 packs. These take what we want to take, have a full rucksack harness under a zipped back panel and a couple of grab handles that allow for picking the bag up quickly in order to run for a bus, Metro or train. Caroline’s also has the provision to use a clip-on carrying strap, mine doesn’t – the joys of buying our bags separately from two different suppliers (mine’s the slightly older version!).
There’s also a decent size pocket at the top of the bag which is great for stashing away the obligatory clear plastic toiletries bag and my prescription meds.
Why was I packing toiletries? Because of the guide book comments regarding shops closing at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon – it was only when we got to Lisbon that we found out they didn’t! The toiletries bag also contained a full bottle of Lifeventure Fabric Wash for wash & wear use.
So what was in the main bag? A plastic file containing the paperwork, my Kindle in a Rohan neoprene pouch, a set of Rohan packing cubes containing clothing and travel towels plus a pair of Crocs, the charger for my compact camera, a small LED torch, a Moleskine notebook and a comb.
Rohan Core Silver t-shirt
Inside the packing cubes were three Rohan t-shirts (one white and one blue Element shirts and one red Core Silver shirt), a couple of Rohan dress shirts (one Envoy, one Worldview) as we were spending some time in a Pousada, one pair of Rohan Grand Tour Chinos, and three pairs each of Rohan Core Silver trunks and Rohan Hot and Temperate socks.
Yes, those last couple of paragraphs sound like an advert for Rohan, but they’re not – Rohan just happened to have the clothing that I wanted to take along with me. None of it was new and a fair amount had been bought in a couple of sales the company had been running in the year or so before we flew off to Portugal. Years as a retailer, instructor and gear tester have taught me to go for the best I can afford at the time and make it last rather than buy cheaper stuff and replace it more often.
The clothing choices matched the climate and had the necessary wash and wear qualities to enable using hand luggage. Another consideration was the ability to mix and match the items, the ability to layer if the weather changed and accommodation dress codes.
Rohan Trailblazer trousers (top) and Rohan Grand Tour Chinos (bottom)
Which is why I was wearing more Rohan in the shape of another Core Silver shirt, a pair of Trailblazer trousers and a Stronghold shirt on the flight out. The pocketing arrangements on the last two were useful means of carrying my wallet, passport, camera, UK change for the cafe, pens and keys plus mints and a small packet of Wet Wipes.
Everything was easily accessible, especially when it came to placing stuff in the tray at the security check station and putting it back into the clothing once it had all been scanned or inspected. The Trailblazers also have a plastic belt buckle, which meant that there was no need to remove it at airport security on the way out…
My shoes? A pair of now discontinued Rohan by brasher approach shoes with a silver lining – non-waterproof given the temperatures that were likely to be encountered.
Caroline was also using a fair selection of wash and wear travel clothing with Rohan jeans being worn alongside Travel Linen trousers and an oldish pair of capri pants. Tops were a mix of Rohan Essence vest tops and a couple of Royal Robbins sleeved and sleeveless tops that she’s had for a few years now. Footwear? A pair of Merrell sandals and some Ecco Blom Lite Mary Jane shoes.
My wash kit was minimalist – toothbrush, toothpaste/mouthwash combination, mini shower gel and a part-used roll-on antiperspirant. Larger bottles of toiletries were bought when the little ones ran out – Caroline and I share shower gel and sun creams, so it’s a bottle of each to save money.
Travel towels worked a treat for drying ourselves in hostels and on the beach and to roll washed clothing in before drying. A small first aid kit was packed alongside my post-stroke meds, the all-important copies of my prescriptions and hospital discharge papers that explain everything.
When everything was packed, our bags were around the 7kg mark for me and 6kg for Caroline for the two week trip. We could easily have done it by packing less clothing and doing more washing and wearing, but this was a treat trip after a rough year and we’d added the nights in the Pousada at Sagres as a bit of luxury halfway through. We’d also packed a full guide book – it will be a cannibalised version next time!
This could be the start of a beautiful friendship III
After a couple of nights in Tavira, our moving on day arrived and after a short wait in the railway station, we headed off to Lagos in search of a bus to Sagres as we travelled from one side of The Algarve to the other. This was down to be the treat of the trip as we were booking into a hotel that was several stars above what we’re used to – the Pousada do Infante, part of a sixty strong group of Portuguese hotels that include buildings old and new.
Pousada do Infante, Sagres
Pousada do Infante dates back to the 1960s, but it is one of the more modern buildings. It’s the only hotel we’ve ever stayed in with its own helipad and it’s the only one either of have stayed in because we were entitled to a discount on the room rate for being over 55!
The reception staff were great, but a bit bemused by our relative lack of luggage and the fact that we didn’t have a car. They were also bemused when we were both soaked through when we asked for our room key the following day. ‘It’s okay’ said Caroline ‘We’re English, we’re used to a bit of rain now and again…’.
Sagres provided the most peaceful part of the two weeks in Portugal. The hotel was quiet, as were the local bars, restaurants and the local attractions. A morning walk to Henry The Navigator’s Fotrazela and onward to the lighthouse at Ponta de Sagres was followed by lunch at beach bar Raposo and that sudden rainstorm.
We’d also made a wonderful faux pas. Our intention had been to head to Cabo de Soa Vincente, but we didn’t make it as we’d mistakenly taken the road down to Fortazela instead. Cabo de Soa Vincente is what was initially thought to be the edge of the known world, but we didn’t make it – our mistake however does give us one very, very good reason to revisit Sagres on one of our next trips to Portugal…
Our first evening meal had been an outdoor one at an Italian restaurant, but as we were staying in a Pousada, we ate in on the second night. The meal, wine and coffee went down well and it was a cut above our usual night out at home – as was the bill.
Given that we didn’t have to check out until lunchtime, we headed down to Porto de Balleeira harbour the following morning before picking up our bags, hitting an internet cafe for orange juice, mango juice, espressos and a bit of mail checking before getting the bus to Lagos.
Lagos Youth Hostel
After two nights in a Pousada, a night in Lagos Youth Hostel was always going to be a bit of a culture shock, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Caroline and I are both old school hostellers – I was on Border and Dales Regional Council in the 1980’s and did some of YHA magazine’s gear reviews in the 1990’s whilst Caroline was an assistant warden at Malham Hostel back in the day.
Yes, the room was basic, but it was better than one or two hotels we’ve been in here in the UK and a darn sight cheaper too. Breakfast portions were on the small side, but as we didn’t have to check out for a while, there was time to get a second breakfast at a cafe down the road. Coffee and a pastry filled the gap that was still there after the first breakfast, but they were also tastier than the evening meal we’d had on the night of our arrival in Lagos.
That early morning in Lagos was pretty quiet. The centre had been teeming with people before we checked into the hostel the previous night. The route to the hostel from the bus station had taken us straight down the main tourist strip and boy, it was busy. We did have a short wander around after our second breakfast to see what we’d missed, but as the visitor numbers increased, it was time to get our bags and get the train back to Lisbon.
We were pleased that we’d booked our tickets in advance at Tavira as Lagos station was busy and only one of the ticket windows was open for business. There was an hour or so to kill before our train and it was interesting to see the size of bags that people were toting around with them.
The younger crowd had the biggest bags on their backs, the thirty-somethings had wheelie bags and the over 50s were those with the smallest bags. The wisdom of the age? You might think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment!
Whilst the train from Lagos to Tunes was a local one, the narrow price gap between first and second class meant that an upgrade to first class for the section between Tunes and Lisbon was a no-brainer. This train did however terminate at a station we weren’t familiar with, so we got the Metro back into the city centre and made sure our Lisbon Viva Viagem travel cards were charged up with enough credit for the Metro ride to Lisbon Airport later on.
As it was late afternoon and it was Friday, we stashed our bags in the left luggage lockers in Rossio station (one locker for two bags – another joy of travelling light…) and headed for coffee, a stroll and then made a final decision about sleeping at the airport in readiness for a 5am check-in time.
I’d done it at Manchester and Leeds/Bradford before and Caroline had also spent at least one night sleeping on the floor of a terminal building so the plan was hatched – forget about getting a room and just go for a good blow-out meal, get the bags and head off to the airport.
So that’s what we did. No fuss, no messing and we just got on with it. Da Vinci near Rossio station was busy, but they just kept on bringing more food, tables and chairs out as almost everyone was wanting to eat outside as it was such a warm night.
The Metro to the airport was quiet, but the terminal was quite busy and it became obvious that we weren’t going to be the only ones looking for benches or comfy chairs for the night. So it was a case of Sleepless in Lisbon as the night wore on until the check in opened around 5am and we could head through to the food court in the departure area.
And yes, that was closed. We did get a couple of coffees from the Harrods coffee shop and then wandered through to the main shopping mall for Caroline to buy a bottle of ginjinha and for me to buy a bottle of Tawny Port.
Our trip was almost over, but the return visit was already being planned. It’s another fortnight with one week in Lisbon to see the parts we didn’t get to on this trip and to make side trips to Cascais and Estoril from Lisbon. After that, the plan is to visit Coimbra for a night or two and then head up to Porto to explore the city and the Douro valley – and do a couple of visits to port wine lodges to find out the story of port and to partake in a glass or two in the interests of our own research into port wine.
Travel wise, it will be local trains to Cascais and Estoril and either train or bus from Lisbon to Coimbra and then onwards to Porto before heading back to Lisbon for the plane home – unless we can fly into Lisbon and out of Porto from the north of England. Time and airline schedules will tell and no, we don’t intend to spend another night in Lisbon airport – once is enough!
Did we enjoy our trip to Portugal? Oh yes! There were places we loved, there were places we didn’t, but there were always places that we found that were stunning, relaxing and interesting. We missed out Belem and a good walk around the Alafama in Lisbon, but we did find some good eating places around the city centre.
We didn’t go for the local seafood specialities as neither of us are into seafood, but we did eat well as even the busiest cafes or food stalls offered good food and drink. And that’s why we’re going back… for more ginjinha and to try the pasteis de nata from the bakery in Belem… We did try other variations on this custard tart theme in Lisbon and elsewhere, but the ones in Belem are highly rated.
As I said earlier – this could be the start of a beautiful friendship…
This could be the start of a beautiful friendship II…
Templo Romano (Temple of Diana) in Evora
And so to Sintra. We’d heard good things about Sintra, an apparently mystical town that’s surrounded by palaces which has attracted many (including Lord Byron) over the years. The attractions are spread out over a wide area in and around the older quarter. As we were staying at Piela‘s in the more modern part near the railway and bus stations, the palaces and other attractions were a good walk or bus ride away.
There is however a circular bus route from the centre that offers a day ticket which allows you to travel between the main palace attractions. With Caroline doing the visiting and me doing some reading, it made sense to get a ticket each, so whilst she was exploring, I was reading and having an espresso nearby and we could talk and eat afterwards rather than meeting up at a specific time or place. In case you hadn’t guessed it, Caroline’s the one for history, older buildings and historical culture whilst I’m more for Horrible Histories, more recent events and museums relating to aircraft, cars, exploration and the like.
As one might expect from a destination that’s a World Heritage Site and Sintra being high on the destinations list of many tourists, the likes of Palaciao Nacional de Sintra, Castelo dos Mouros, Parque da Pena and Palacio Nacional da Pena were very, very busy.
Heading around the sights didn’t take us as long as we thought though and it was agreed that if we paid another visit to Sintra, it would be as a side trip from a longer stay in Lisbon rather than a separate destination for two nights. That’s also been the opinion of others who have joined in on discussions about Sintra on Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Forum over the couple of days before this was posted.
One thing we did learn though is there’s a very good treat available for the princely sum of one euro in Sintra and a few other places besides. It’s a cherry liqueur called ginjinha that can be served in glasses with cherries, in glasses without cherries or without cherries in small chocolate cups. Which version did we go for? That last one on the list of course!
As meals weren’t part of the deal at Piela’s in Sintra, eating out was done at a mix of cafes, former bakeries or tourist restaurants around town. Place of choice for breakfast? Casa da Piriquita – good coffee, good cakes and pastries and a popular venue with both tourists and locals too.
We also discovered a useful treat at the local mini-market – servings of red wine in the kind of cartons you’d normally associate with child size doses of orange or apple juice. No need for a bottle opener – just tear off the corner of the carton and pour… A good move? Oh yes, especially as we’d had a few goes trying to open a bottle of wine the night before using a specially bought cork remover that wasn’t playing ball.
After exhausting Sintra and having a late afternoon train booked for Evora, it was back to Lisbon for a bit of shopping and some lunch.
The shopping was supposed to be for nibbles and drinks for the train, but a camera shop was spotted, a trial run undertaken and a purchase made. A Nikon Coolpix 3100 with case, 4GB memory card plus a charger that would work with a shaver adaptor at home and all for the around £65. One bargain and I was a happy photographic bunny again.
As the train to Evora was from a station that was out of the city centre, the bus ride to it gave us an idea of what suburban Lisbon was like. A bit like parts of Sunderland in fact – I’d lived in that city whilst doing my degree back in the mid-1990’s and some of the flat complexes we passed in the bus were very reminiscent of those back on Wearside.
The snooze on the train was a good idea, as were the snacks as it looked like it was going to be a late evening meal. With Evora being a walled town, the rail and bus stations are away from the centre, so we were glad that we could just shoulder our packs and walk, rather than taking a taxi to our hotel. Taxi or drinks? Drinks or taxi? Easy decision!
Residencial Riviera was just off the main square in Evora and we’d booked our stay just as the prices went down after the main holiday season. The first night was quiet, but as Friday nights are Friday nights, a couple of rowdies came back to their room at about 2am. Revenge was a dish best served cold… or was that loud because for some reason, I really, really had to slam our room door shut twice before breakfast on Saturday morning!
But I digress. Evora is a magical place and one we’d go back to tomorrow. It’s relaxed, it’s friendly and it’s compact. All of the attractions are in easy walking distance of each other and there’s a good mix of bars, cafes and ice cream shops for those times when you just have to sit down, relax and unwind that little bit more. Resting place of choice? Cafe Arcada on the main square, a venue that was popular with both locals and tourists alike.
There’s museums or the remains of a Roman temple (see the lead photo…) to visit and walls to climb or walk around. The main square may be peaceful now, but it has historical associations with the execution of at least one duke and the Inquisition-led public burnings of several unfortunate souls. Which is the last thing we were thinking about whilst having coffee on the square on Friday night or when talking to Brits on a coach tour on a Saturday morning.
If it’s Friday, it must be Evora…
Caroline also visited Ingreja de Sao Francisco, a church adjacent to the Mercado Municipal (the local market hall). Ingreja de Sao Francisco has a side chapel in Cappella des Ossos (the Chapel of the Bones) which comprises the skulls and bones of around five thousand former monks. Apparently it’s not uncommon to hear the song ‘Dem Bones, Dem Bones’ being sung as people wander around the chapel according to one guide book we read!
Yes, I’d given it a miss in favour of another Kindle session, but I did find a bar that served a nice cold Radler low alcohol beer to sup in the sun which also sold cider, a type of refreshment that Caroline’s quite fond of. The cider wasn’t by Aspall’s or Weston, but it went down well once Caroline exited the Chapel and found me relaxing.
The relaxation of Evora carried on as we had a five hour bus ride to Tavira on that Saturday. The coach wasn’t even half full, so there was plenty of room to spread out and read or snooze.
Legs were stretched and comfort stops made at the bus change-over point in Faro and when we got to Tavira, we were glad of our small bags, unlike a Hawaiian lady we’d met on the bus who was trundling a very large wheelie bag around plus her matching hand luggage too. Over kerbs, pavements and then cobbles when the pavements were taken up by various outdoor dining areas outside restaurants. She’d been on the road for three months and for some reason, she was wishing she’d packed less stuff…
Like Evora, Tavira was a place to savour. Yes, it was a busy Saturday night down by Residencial Mares, but it was also the last night of a local youth festival. With live music. As we didn’t get to Tavira and book into our hotel until late, that evening’s meal venue was rather close to said hotel.
Now Caroline and I do like our curries, but the ones we had that night were supposed to be of medium heat – hey, we usually eat curries in or around the Bradford area!). These ones however, were not Bradford curries, We’ve eaten curries in the home counties here in the UK that were more potent than the Tavira curries we tried – they were more mild than medium!
Sunday was given over to strolling around the town, looking at the tiled buildings across the river, finding a very good (and well recommended) place to eat called Bica for lunch plus a couple of other meals later during our stay and finding an English newspaper to read over coffees and servings of cake or ice cream. Just another relaxing day in paradise? Oh yes…
Tavira, The Algarve
A good place to relax and unwind over food, wine or coffee..
Sunday night wasn’t as noisy as Saturday had been, but our plans for an early night were interrupted by a local troubadour that we’d seen and unfortunately heard near another bar earlier on. The temptation was for the two of us to do ‘Doo whops’ from our balcony or to do impressions of baying hounds as he sang/murdered a few classics. But we didn’t…
Monday was train and room booking time. We were moving on on Tuesday and we needed tickets to get to Lagos and then tickets for a train on Friday to get us from Lagos back to Lisbon in readiness for our flight home on Saturday morning.
We also booked a night at Lagos Youth Hostel for Thursday night by going into the Tavira Youth Hostel and doing the deed. There was however one problem remaining – we’d drawn a blank on finding somewhere to stay on Friday night in Lisbon so it looked like there was only one option left open to us – sleeping in the airport.
Monday was also the day to take a boat trip to the much-vaunted Ilha de Tavira. We didn’t have that far to go for the boat as the landing was just across the road from our hotel.
That boatload soon dispersed when we got onto Ilha de Tavira. Some headed to restaurants, some headed for the campsite whilst others turned right onto the nearest beach and others (including us) headed for the main beach. Which was red flagged…
So a bit of photography was called for on my part and Caroline headed along the beach on foot before finding me again (I have mobility problems on soft sand or snow thanks to that stroke ten years ago) and the two of us headed back to the beach near the boat landing. As there were no restrictions on swimming here, Caroline took the plunge for a while as I tried to make some plans for the potential of Friday night in Lisbon airport.
With Bica providing the last of our meals in Tavira and some fine wine too, a late night stroll was called for before we headed back to the hotel and partly packed our bags in readiness for the next stage of the trip – and a couple of nights in a very posh hotel in Sagres….
To be continued…
Ten years after…
There’s a good reason why I’ve been trawling the memory banks recently.
Today is the tenth anniversary of stroke survival.
Mine was caused by atrial fibrillation and it came without any warning signs.
I’d had a fair amount of treatment for a leg injury caused by a bacterial infection over three months in 2004, my partner Caroline is a nurse and I’d just had a medical three days beforehand when I registered with a GP after moving to Yorkshire. Nothing came up to suggest any atrial fibrillation problems.
The outer damage healed (I hit a wall and then the pavement with my face as I collapsed) and whilst there’s some effects still ten years after, I consider myself to be very lucky considering the percentages related to stroke survival
My thanks go to the ambulance crew, the team at the A&E department and the stroke unit at Airedale Hospital who spotted what had happened and also to the driver of the Polish registered car who stopped to see what had happened when four UK registered cars has driven past me as I was lying on the pavement near my flat.
A special mention goes to the makers of The West Wing too – I’ve watched the whole thing every year apart from this one as a means of testing my memory out by remembering story lines, lines of dialogue and that I really should miss one episode of the last series in future!
And also to Caroline for everything before and since!
This could be the start of a beautiful friendship…
Just another Friday afternoon in Lisbon – fortunately it was at the end of our trip and pretty good humoured!
Caroline and I were half way through our Portuguese road trip when we got talking to a group of Brits sitting on the table next to us outside Cafe Arcada in Evora. They were on a coach trip looking at cultural sights in Portugal and Spain and the look on their collective faces was a picture when we told them what we were up to…
Two weeks in Portugal with hand luggage only and most, but not all of our accommodation booked. We were travelling on buses and trains that hadn’t been booked back home in Blighty. We were eating at local cafes or getting evening meal fodder from the local mini-market. Oh, and we were wandering around strange cities, towns and villages after dark.
I also mentioned that I’d just fired my employer and had worked my last shift for the company the day before our TAP Portugal flight into Lisbon. Were they gobsmacked? Oh yes!
Rewind a week and we’d had an early start to Manchester Airport for that TAP flight. Leaving the car at a car park near the terminal was a doddle, as was check-in once the clerk realised that we had hand luggage only and nothing for the hold. We’d also booked Fast-Track for the security checking procedures and whilst we passed with flying colours, things came slightly unstuck as there was a log-jam on the baggage scanner, so we took about the usual time to get through security and then headed off in search of coffee and a late breakfast.
After a good flight into Lisbon and a brisk stroll through the terminal and passport checks, it was time to get some euros from the cash points and a cab to our first hotel, Pensao Londres in the Baixa area of Lisbon city centre.
It didn’t take long to check in, switch on the air-con, freshen up and change before heading off for the first steps around the city. We knew we were in for a lot of walking on this trip, especially as Lisbon‘s built on or around seven hills. We expected the centre to be quiet as the guide books had suggested that shops closed around 1pm on a Saturday afternoon.
Oh no they didn’t, as we found out when we reached Rossio Square to find it heaving with tourists, locals and politicos either taking photos, having conversations or pontificating in a language we couldn’t understand. Although we had a phrase book, it wasn’t needed as everyone we encountered spoke a fair amount of English.
Things were a little quieter as we approached the banks of Rio Tejo where the first of many cold drinks and ice creams were consumed. We’d had a good summer, but the temperatures in Lisbon were higher so we were pleased that we’d packed clothes with good sun protection and a new bottle of Factor 30 in our wandering around bags.
As this was just a good excuse to get accustomed to the temperatures, the lie of the land and a good leg stretch after the flight, we gradually orientated ourselves and found that wandering around the city centre was quite easy and that we didn’t have to keep looking at the map.
So much so it was if we’d been using a homing beacon to get us back to the area where our hotel was. A short walk around Baixa and several perusals of menu boards later, we ended up at Lost In… a bar/restaurant opposite Pensao Londres. Given the outside temperatures, it seemed only natural to take our meal, wine, dessert and coffee on Lost In’s terrace to take in the views over Lisbon as sunset approached rather than sitting inside, a good move – until we stood up.
Yes, the wine was stronger than we thought and we’d polished it off in one sitting rather than taking two nights as we do at home. The double espressos hadn’t kicked in, so it was a good job that we only had to cross one road and ascend a couple of staircases to our room rather than staggering a kilometre or more back to our digs.
As it was Saturday in one of Lisbon’s popular nightlife areas, sleep was a rarely found commodity that night. We were still up early though for showers and breakfast before a day of gentle wandering around was declared.
Although it was still before 9am, we even managed to beat the first tour bus to the nearby park – Sao Paulo de Alcantara Miradouro. We’d rested there before heading back to our hotel the previous night, but it was quieter now despite the contents of the tour bus so we were able to look, see and get our bearings as to where we’d been on Saturday and where we’d like to go to during this day and the next.
Some brave souls had got up even earlier as we found when we headed into the centre – a mass cycle ride to Sintra was about to start. As the riders started, one was unceremoniously stopped in his tracks by an organiser. His crime? No helmet! Once the riders were on their way, more wandering and then more caffeine was called for.
Now we’d said that we were wherever possible going to avoid global companies on this trip, but as Caroline was looking for an Americano rather than a double espresso, it was time to hit Star****s. Yes, we’d commented among ourselves when an American couple were drinking out of takeaway cups whilst waiting to go up Elevador de Santa Justa, but the lure proved to be too great. Caroline got her Americano, I plumped for an Iced Mocha and our ‘go local‘ stance had gone out of the window for the rest of the holiday, especially when money off the next visit vouchers were handed over with the change.
As Sunday morning and afternoon meanderings go, the one in central Lisbon was rather good. Although I’m averse to most museums, the Museum of Design and Fashion an interesting experience – and not just because it was a free attraction! An old bank has been turned into a gallery with furniture, design icons and items from Givenchy and Dior.
We’d wandered back down to Praca do Comercio by the Rio Tejo, discovered ginjinha and explored the back streets of Baixa – and all before lunch too! A couple of stalls on a craft market near Praca do Comercio had extracted some euros from our wallets, but the feeling at the time was how relaxed and laid back central Lisbon was. And why hadn’t we discovered it years ago?
Lunch was equally relaxed with salmon and cream cheese wraps washed down with fresh mango or orange juice and more coffee. Eating out and outside was going to be a feature of this holiday as that night’s evening meal was also eaten outside in the garden of Terra, a vegetarian restaurant that’s famed for its buffets and surroundings.
With curried dishes included in the choices, these were a cut above those offered in another town later in the week. As our local curry houses are all in Bradford, Terra’s dishes were more akin to what we’re used to at home whereas the other establishment’s offerings were more a case of ‘take a walk on the mild side…’.
We felt that we’d earned it though – we’d been walking for hours and had found our way around quite well without resorting to getting a map out to find out where we were. Only one barrier had got in our way whilst wandering around – a charge to walk through the Botanical Gardens.
If it’s Monday, then it’s just another day in Lisbon. We’d abandoned plans to take a journey on Tram 28 the day before thanks to a scrum worthy of Odsal Stadium (home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team).
So we had another early start and caught Tram 28 at 9am. It’s on most traveller’s ‘to do’ lists in Lisbon as it wends its way around the streets on the forty-odd minute journey between Martin Moniz and Campo Ourique. The route is almost Lisbon in a nutshell as it takes in Alfama and sights such as the Se along the way.
The walk back into the centre after the ride on Tram 28 was the result of an unexpected need to go shopping. My camera had packed up even though it was fully charged and been tried with a new memory card. Not an ideal thing to happen on the third day of a trip, but the search for a new one proved fruitless and was abandoned.
Caroline’s Pentax was in full working order and we could share the camera to take whatever shots we wanted as we wandered around. We also had some train travel to book.
The next day’s journey to Sintra was easy as we just had to buy singles at Rossio Station for the short hop to our destination. The journey to book was the one from Lisbon to Evora on the day we left Sintra. With the advance ticket office being just a few feet away from a U.S. based coffee shop, you can guess where the next destination was!
With Terra closed on a Monday, a new place to eat was sought out. Esplanada is on the edge of a park in Principe Real and it’s another indoor/outdoor eating place. As we’d gone to town on Saturday and Sunday night’s meals, we kept the bill down by ordering a couple of specials with beer for me, fruit juice for Caroline and a couple of coffees.
And then? An early night, early breakfast, a quick packing of the bags and a walk down to Rossio Station for the next part of the trip… To be continued!
Prompted by… The Guardian
Yes, it’s one of those weeks this week. Too many memories, which is probably just as well given the anniversary that looms at the weekend – and it’s not a wedding anniversary!!!
What it is will be revealed later in the week, but there was a brief mention of it on the comments section after a piece The Guardian ran on their website at the weekend.
This one though was prompted by another piece on the same website that I commented on – that Newcastle was voted Best City here in the UK by readers of The Guardian.
One of my day jobs was working in a couple of branches of a clothes store/tailors in Newcastle for most, but not all of the 1980’s. When a store closed and I started work as an outdoor instructor and writer, I still spent a lot of time in the city as I was reviewing bands, seeing press shows of films and having nights out up there, even in the days when I was at University and living in (dare I say it!), Sunderland.
Newcastle has a lot going for it. It’s a party city, it’s a shoppers paradise, it’s a cultural centre and it’s a place you can just wander around and chill out in. No need for cabs, buses or the Metro if you’re staying in the city centre, but the good mix of public transport ensures that you can get out and explore the locality without any difficulties.
Now I’m not a party animal, so I tended to stay away from The Bigg Market and the Quayside on most nights of the week (ever seen beer glasses flying from one side of a market to another on a Friday night? That was twenty years ago though.) and I’m not overly fond of football, so what is it about Newcastle?
Shoppers can hit Northumberland Street, Eldon Square and Eldon Gardens or High Bridge. There’s a host of stylish bars and eateries either in the city centre or around Jesmond, Gosforth and over the water in Gateshead and there’s traditional drinking dens too.
There’s galleries, museums, and parks. There’s the great views of all the bridges from the Quayside and there’s The Baltic and The Sage just across the Tyne. There’s some fine hotels, there’s backpacker hostels too and then there’s the cultural stuff that doesn’t include the consumption of beer, lager or alcopops.
The Tyneside Cinema used to be a regular haunt, as did The Tyne Theatre, Newcastle Playhouse and The Live Theatre. One memorable place has come and gone though.
The Mayfair Ballroom had a reputation amongst local gig attenders and bands alike – Lemmy from Motorhead allegedly dedicated the song ‘No Class’ to that venue when playing City Hall on the No Sleep ‘Till Hammersmith tour. Finest shows seen there? Nirvana, The Cure, Roger Taylor from Queen and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin…
Newcastle City Hall is still around and was always one of the finest hall venues in the UK. I was lucky to get tickets for Sting and Dire Straits playing home town gigs, plus tickets for Madness, OMD, Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, The Mission, Thunder, Thin Lizzy, Steeleye Span and the original Lindisfarne Christmas shows.
The musical connections at the time also involved managing a trio of bands based in the North East and subsequent roles as one of the live music reviewers on The Northern Echo newspaper and music/film editor of Street Magazine. 160 + bands per year? No problemo!
The mix of music reviewed covered the Harambe Africa Festival, Jason Donovan, Chesney Hawkes, Alice Cooper, Marc Almond, The Rolling Stones, The Chieftains, Manic Street Preachers and others at the main venues in the city, but there was one hotbed of live music that made it’s mark on the local music scene in the 1980’s and early 1990’s.
The original Riverside Club had a 400 capacity, perfect for up and coming bands or those who wanted a relatively low-key place to play as a tour warm-up. Local bands were given the chance to do support slots and the mix on offer every month was an eclectic one.
Comedy shows included The Joan Collins Fan Club (a.k.a. Julian Clary and Fanny The Wonder Dog) whilst music over the years came from The Housemartins, Ian Gillan, Smashing Pumpkins, The Pixies, The Damned, Billy Bragg, Thunder, Fish, Youssou N’Dour, Desmond Dekker, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Bhundu Boys, Julian Cope, Buzzocks and many, many more.
Such nights out were balanced by walks around Leazes Park, early morning or lunchtime runs down and over The High Level Bridge before making a left turn and running back over The Tyne Bridge or seeing in the New Year with a firework display before heading home in driving snow.
Or watching gritty fodder onscreen. Michael Caine in Get Carter set the cinematic tone and it’s closely followed by Stormy Monday. I never really got into The Likely Lads/Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, When The Boat Comes In or Our Friends In The North.
I did go to see The Lindisfarne Gospels, exchange a bit of banter with Nick Hornby at a screening of High Fidelity and have a night out at a Genesis new album playback party in a posh bar on the Quayside (music, fodder and drinks only – the band were on tape and nowhere near Newcastle!).
It’s a while since I’ve been back – too long in fact. Old haunts such as The Mayfair, Riverside, The Broken Doll and others are long gone. There’s still friends up there, so I guess that a visit in the Spring could be the way of heading back up there to see whether the city had changed much and whether my memory has been playing tricks with me.
Or not as the case may be…
D’oh!
After posting Kindle surprise on Wednesday, it had to happen!
Trust me to make a comment about how often I was reading or watching DVDs instead of tuning into television…
And then remembering almost at the last minute about a programme I wanted to see – Great Continental Railway Journeys with Michael Portillo.
Yes, he’s a former Conservative minister, but I don’t hold that against him as he played an important part in saving The Settle-Carlise Railway Line. He’s also carved out a good name for himself as the presenter of several series of programmes dedicated to travelling by train.
The reason I didn’t want to miss Wednesday’s programme is because journey’s end was in a city I want to go back to – Krakow.
My last visit was in June 2000 as a guest of Helly Hansen to do some exploring of Krakow, head down a river in punts and then do some walking in the Zakopane area before returning to Krakow for a memorable night out. The hospitality, food and drink was excellent, the company convivial (a good mix of journalists, Helly Hansen management and staff plus Jane & Fiona, Helly‘s PR crew. Oh, and the kit worked well – the Helly clothing and the Scarpa boots that everyone had been kitted out with for the trip…
Our return to Krakow though came with a surprising last night. After checking into the hotel, I went on a mission to get some cigarettes and a bottle of Zubrovka bison grass vodka for one of my friends from Uni. Then it was off to a restaurant in the Jewish quarter for a good meal, good craic and some fine music too.
Next up though was an after dark guided walk around the Jewish quarter. Words flowed from our guide as to past events and the reasons why buildings hadn’t been kept in order, restored or modernised. As such matters weren’t on the history syllabus when I was at school, most of what I was hearing was new to me, and I suspect to a few others in our party too.
When we got back to the main square and found a bar that we could sit outside whilst having a beer or two, the party was unusually quiet. There were a few party animals among our number, but even they were relatively quiet on this particular night.
Now that may have been down to the previous night on the town in Zakopane (beer the equivalent of around 60p a glass if memory serves me right, the discovery of a jazz club and the return of some wayward souls at 6am…), but no, it was down to history lesson on the walk we’d just been on.
And yet I still want to go back to Krakow to spend some more time there and explore a bit more of the city itself. I can’t see me hiring a guide with a Trabant as Michael Portillo did, but I would like to get the walking shoes on again to explore the city on foot in the same manner that Caroline and I explored Prague a few years ago.
Or even the final destination of Michael Portillo’s next Great Continental Railway Journey – Lisbon. Caroline and I really enjoyed our visit there in 2013, so the plan is to pay a return visit and spend a little bit longer there. One of Portillo’s other stops on his programme is coincidentally one of our other planned destinations on our next trip – Porto.
And guess how we’re planning on travelling around Portugal on our next visit – by train of course!
Kindle surprise…
I’ve gone on about my Kindle before, but as I’ve been working from home for a few weeks, there’s a few books that I’ve read over that time which have been a break from the norm in terms of what my normal reading matter is.
Book of the Year so far is still My Autobiography by motor cycle road racer/television presenter Guy Martin, It’s sheer coincidence that the latest series of Speed with Guy Martin finished at the weekend, but as I’ve taken a good look at what’s on television for the next week and found the selection of programmes to be even worse than what’s been aired over the last three weeks, then it’s probably a good job that the Kindle has been loaded with a few books that I haven’t got around to reading yet!
So, the TV has been switched off several times over the last few weeks. There have been two or three nights when I’ve fed the DVD player with Terminator, Terminator 2, Total Recall, Young Montalbano or Julien Temple’s London The Modern Babylon, but for the most part, the Kindle has come into play big time.
I may have taken (and failed!) an A-Level in English Literature, but I’m not an avid fan of fiction, yet Starter For Ten by David Nicholls and The Montalbano Mysteries by Andrea Camilleri have whiled away a few hours. The former was made into an enjoyable film with some fine talent in early roles by producer Tom Hanks a few years ago and the Inspector Montalbano television films have been one of BBC 4‘s success stories in recent years.
The book versions of Starter For Ten and the three Montalbano Mysteries definitely differ from their screen counterparts. Some deride screen versions of books, but I’ve found that out of all of the books I’ve read after seeing the film or television version first, only one has disappointed – Bridget Jones’s Diary!
Caroline is a fan of both the book and the film version of Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons, whilst those who have known me for a few years know that I have a certain affinity with both the book and screen versions of High Fidelity by Nick Hornby.
So much so in fact that it’s probably the film that I’ve seen on the big screen most times – in either the UK or in Norway. (The last time I saw it in the UK was as part of a Q & A night with Nick Hornby in Newcastle upon Tyne when I made him smile by telling him that Climber magazine had just made it their movie buy of the month rather than Vertical Limit!).
What’s next on the agenda given the state of play on TV? The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stephenson, A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan and The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.
The first is the most recent, but it is a known quantity thanks to the recent Helen Mirren film of the same name. The others are all classics of course. I switched off the modern film adaptation of The Three Musketeers on Film 4 recently, but the others have been read (and seen before in the case of the Robert Donat version of The Thirty Nine Steps and the Robert Newton take on Treasure Island) and they all are long overdue for another reading.
Will it be at home or elsewhere? Who knows, because there’s a week’s break in the diary for next week, but no plans have been made – yet! One thing is for certain – some of these books didn’t cost me anything to download onto the Kindle!
Freebies, don’t you just love them!
wisepacking 
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