Travel & Arrival in Lisbon

 Unfortunately this will be mostly about 24 hours of travel and no cycling. 

Perhaps 5-10% of travelers wear masks, my unscientific estimate. I masked in the airports, unless sitting in an isolated location, and when onboarding and off-boarding. Given the high efficiency air filters on planes, I mostly unmask once the cabin door closes and the air has circulated for 15 minutes. Hope that works.

John and I have been updating each other as we progress through each airport. I also get notifications from Delta when my bags are loaded/unloaded. Two checked; hope they get there. (They did.)


Dog of the Day, Boston Logan Airport

Pet Relief Area. I'm not sure what that means, but a better allocation of Boston Logan Airport facilities than smoking lounges. Perhaps counselors are available.

John welcomed me in the baggage area, about a 1.5 hour wait. Perhaps due to my relatively long times between flights, my bike and bag were first-on, last-off. 

We caught a taxi in a long but rapidly-moving taxi line for the 15 minute ride to the hotel. While it looked nearby, I'm glad we did not ride our bikes or negotiate the metro through the warren of streets in the Alfama District. Most streets in this district, including those with trolly tracks, are narrow, steep, and cobblestone. The hotel attendants agreed to let us assemble our bikes in the -1-level breakfast area while our room were readied for 2 pm check-in. By the time we finished, our room was available and the hotel graciously agreed to let us store the empty cases in a basement closet.

Recommended. While our twin room is small, the entire hotel is spotless, well-staffed, and everything works. Cannot say the same for most of our prior European and USA hotels.

Have Dog Will Travel. Seems that nearly everyone in this group in the Lisbon airport baggage area had brought their dog.

Like my "T-shirt"?


Lisbon neighborhood dog park with portraits and agility gear.

Men Only. Hard to ignore the bollard.

Grafitti 

 No Fuss Signage

A major Lisbon attraction is Castelo de Sao Jorge (St. George's Castle), a short walk up a very steep cobblestone road from our Alfama District hotel. Extensive restorations and renovations continue.



View southwest from the ramparts, Lisbon and the Rio Tinto River.








Peacocks strolled throughout the grounds.

Ancient Olive tree.

Fish-Handle Cannon Detail

Excellent dinners. Mine: Seafood pasta in a lightly spiced creamy tomato sauce; John's: Cod in white fish sauce with crunchy shoestring potatoes (not pasta).



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Porto to Agueda (58 miles; 435 total)

Image
 After a rest day, we both had life in our legs. The exit from Porto was about 85% downhill, rough street surfaces, and lots of traffic. Once we cleared Porto's suburbs, we enjoyed a light tail wind, bike lanes on the many roads, or separated bike lanes. That didn't mean smooth surfaces, and there were lots of patches, cracks, and bulges in the surface from tree roots. Overall very pleasant riding, mostly south down the Atlantic coast, then southeast to Agueda.  Hotels in large European cities are often not obvious. Reception is via the red door and all rooms are access by the door to the right, leading to the elevator with rooms on multiple floors. Serene Departure. Porto, looking northwest from the upper level of the pedestrian/cyclist/metro rail bridge. Team memorial to a former athlete. Many miles of separate bike paths along the Portuguese Coast. Miles of board walks over the beach sand and among tall reeds. Dog of the Day #1. Sitting outside the Lidl Store, the dog ...
Read more

Coimbra to Averio (40 miles; 327 total)

Image
 Our route today was northwest to Averio, on the Atlantic coast south of Porto, tomorrow's destination. The initial route out of Coimbra was on a bike path, then small roads. The river bottom fields of corn and bamboo transitioned to eucalyptus forest. Many more small villages today and the grape harvest is in full swing. Perhaps because it was Saturday, many of the harvesting crews seemed to comprise family and friends helping each other on their day off from work. Maria, Our Olive Street Guest House Host, Coimbra.   Coimbra cycling group encountered as we left town. One rider fixing a flat, 2 offering advice, 1 stand-off observing, and 4 uninterested. Typical. Everyone seems to have a plot of this type of kale going. They remove the older lower leaves, leaving tall, slender stalks with fresh stalks on top. A universal dish found in many restaurants comprises cooked kale leaves, black-eyed peas, and toasted break chunks cooked in olive oil or some other fat. Mixed harvest of...
Read more

Figuera da Foz to Marinha Grande (42 miles; 525 total)

Image
Today was a pleasant day of riding south on Portugal's Atlantic Coast, often following Euro Velo Route 1 (EV1), mostly a separated, roadside bike path. Rain was forecast but the probabilities kept dropping as morning approached. We stopped to chat with 4 members of a bike touring group, all from Belgium on e-bikes. We encountered a larger group the prior day, all on high-end Trek bikes, but they did not show any interest is talking to us. We encountered some mist but never rain. The prevailing 8-15 mph tail wind out to the northwest continued. The land was generally open, a mix of pine and eucalyptus forest, low shrubs, and large sand dunes along the coast. Figuera da Foz Beach on an overcast morning. Figuera da Foz is a busy container port. Our route south was over this long bridge, fortunately, with a separate pedestrian/bike way. The approach on the road was via a narrow shoulder, which ended. I stopped, unhooked my panniers, lifted the bike and panniers over the guard rail, and...
Read more