{"id":2691,"date":"2023-10-13T09:24:50","date_gmt":"2023-10-13T16:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/excellentadventure.ca\/?p=2691"},"modified":"2023-10-13T09:24:50","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T16:24:50","slug":"our-excellent-portugal-adventure-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php\/2023\/10\/13\/our-excellent-portugal-adventure-final\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Excellent Portugal Adventure – Final"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Portugal2023
Light shining through the water in a cave in Benagil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back to the Start<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, we left Lagos in the south of Portugal and prepared for the 300 Km drive back to the Lisbon airport where we dropped off our rental car. We had the car for 10 days but it was no longer needed as we will spend the remaining 4 days of our trip here in Lisbon before flying back home. We remembered that we spent our first night in a hotel here in Lisbon near the airport about 10 days ago when we first arrived and before picking up our rental car, heading to Evora. It was the right decision to stay in a hotel when we first arrived as we didn\u2019t want to arrive in Portugal after our long flights jet lagged and then jump in a rental car right away for a long drive. We did this a few years ago in Spain and it was not a good decision.<\/p>\n

\"Portugal2023
Colourful umbrellas on Rua Sao Paulo in Lisbon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As is the case in most big cities, getting to our accommodations from the airport in Lisbon took longer than expected. It was the middle of the day and we sat in the back of the taxi slowly making our way through heavy traffic getting to the apartment we had rented. It was somewhat reminiscent of the long taxi ride through heavy traffic getting to our rented apartment in Paris almost a year ago.<\/p>\n

The taxi driver could not even make it onto the small, narrow street that our apartment was on so he dropped us off at the corner and we made our way with suitcases trundling along the rough cobblestone street. The area where we are staying is mostly 100-year-old buildings so the narrow streets were definitely not designed with cars in mind.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a photo of our narrow street on my photo website.<\/p>\n

\"Portugal2023
Monument of the Discoveries in Lisbon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019re Not Staying Here, Are We?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My first impressions of the apartment we\u2019re staying at here in Lisbon were \u2026 not good. In fact, I went as far as suggesting that we should leave the apartment (which we had pre-paid) and go to a hotel. We ended up deciding to give it one night and then decide if we were going to stay in the apartment which we ended up doing. We\u2019ve now been here three nights, leaving tomorrow and while the apartment turned out to not be as horrible as I originally thought I would never stay there again.<\/p>\n

\"Portugal2023
Wavy pattern of the tiles in Rossio Square, Lisbon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The City<\/strong><\/p>\n

While I write this last section, we\u2019ll be spending our last full day in Lisbon today as we fly home tomorrow morning. Both of us have taken in a lot of impressions of our stay in Lisbon over the past few days, almost all exceedingly positive.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written this many times that I love big cities and European big cities most of all. There are many visual cues here in Lisbon that remind us of our favourite city, Paris. The many steep hills here in Lisbon are unique but the number of distinct neighbourhoods and a very much walkable city is most enjoyable. Since arriving in Portugal, we\u2019ve been walking everywhere, even when we had the rental car, putting in many kilometres a day. I\u2019m not looking forward to returning home to very much a car-oriented environment where walking is almost incidental. As I\u2019ve gotten older, I believe that the large amount of walking that we get on these types of trips is more and more important than ever to good health.<\/p>\n

\"Portugal2023
Bica Funicular in Lisbon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lisbon has an excellent subway and it can make getting around very efficient. It\u2019s very unusual for me but I didn\u2019t use the metro once in our 4 days in Lisbon, as I\u2019ve preferred to walk everywhere. Today I made it to one particular place I was looking forward to seeing. It was the yellow funicular and if you recall, the Lisbon travel poster I used in Part 1<\/a> showed the iconic yellow funicular which has been in service here in Lisbon since the late 1800\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As we often have the windows in our apartment open, we\u2019ve regularly reminded that we are not in a tourist area but in a residential area surrounded by locals. As the weather is still warm and most of our neighbours also have their windows open, it\u2019s normal to hear people talking, babies crying or dogs barking from the adjacent apartments. If we were in a hotel or even in the condo we stayed in, hearing these things would be an annoyance but here in a real neighbourhood, it just seems normal.<\/p>\n

\"Portugal2023<\/p>\n

And Finally …<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tomorrow Barb and I will be flying back home, concluding our time here in Portugal. It\u2019s always a bit sad to be leaving a place that has been so enjoyable only to return to life<\/em> again.<\/p>\n

One of the best decisions we made when planning this trip was to limit the geography and the number of places we stayed. It would have been tempting to try and see more of Portugal, especially the northern half but limiting ourselves to just the southern half reduced our travel times and we only had to travel between three locations so staying put for 4-5 days at a time made for a much more relaxing trip.<\/p>\n

Portugal now stands out for us as the least expensive place in Europe we have been to. In Evora and Lagos especially, it can be very inexpensive, compared to Vancouver, to dine out. This compounds itself as tipping is not an expectation here and back home usually adding 18-20% to the bill.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m continually surprised by how many people in Portugal are still smoking. As outdoor dining is popular as the weather is still warm, it\u2019s a certainty that a table next to you or multiple tables around you will have smokers. Given how little this is allowed in Canada, even on outdoor tables, it\u2019s a wonder how much it\u2019s tolerated here.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the language was a bit of a struggle but in the rare cases where neither of us spoke a common language just pointing at menus or using Google Translate was usually sufficient. Being able to say thank you in Portuguese (obrigado<\/em> for me, obrigada<\/em> for Barb) was often the most important word to remember.<\/p>\n

We both plan to come back again to Portugal sometime in the future, seeing the regions we didn\u2019t get to on this trip but realistically it will be many years given all the other plans we have…<\/p>\n

Irons in the Fire<\/strong><\/p>\n

While it\u2019s fairly normal for Barb and I to think about future travel destinations before returning home from an existing trip, it\u2019s unusual to have booked<\/span> future travel before even leaving home. This happens to be the case for 2024. At least 4-6 weeks ago, we booked a vacation in February and we made a partial booking for later in the year, almost a full year in advance.<\/p>\n

Is next year a special year for us? Yes, 2024 will be our 30th anniversary. My blog updates might not return again until next October<\/p>\n

By now I\u2019ve uploaded all of our photos from our Excellent Portugal Adventure to my photo website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One last thing. It\u2019s normal for Barb and I to purchase local data service for our phones. It allows us to use our maps and texting while in foreign countries and not have to worry about data roaming crates. In the old days, we used to buy SIM cards and swap them out but for the past few years, we’re now purchasing eSIMs which are infinitely easier to deal with and can be bought for any country or region in the world. If you\u2019re travelling and would find having a local cellular data plan to be of use, I have been using a website called Airalo.com<\/a> and highly recommend it. I\u2019ve used them at least 6-7 times.<\/p>\n

All the best and until next year,<\/p>\n

Baden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back to the Start On Tuesday, we left Lagos in the south of Portugal and prepared for the 300 Km drive back to the Lisbon airport where we dropped off our rental car. We had the car for 10 days but it was no longer needed as we will spend the remaining 4 days of our trip here in Lisbon before flying back home. We remembered that we spent our first night in a hotel here in Lisbon near the airport about 10 days ago when we first arrived and before picking up our rental car, heading to Evora. It was the right decision to stay in a hotel when we first arrived as we didn\u2019t want to arrive in Portugal after our long flights jet lagged and then jump in a rental car right away for a long drive. We did this a few years ago in Spain and it was not a good decision. As is the case in most big cities, getting to our accommodations from the airport in Lisbon took longer than expected. It was the middle of the day and we sat in the back of the taxi slowly making our way through heavy traffic getting to the apartment we had rented. It was somewhat reminiscent of the long taxi ride through heavy traffic getting to our rented apartment in Paris almost a year ago. The taxi driver could not even make it onto the small, narrow street that our apartment was on so he dropped us off at the corner and we made our way with suitcases trundling along the rough cobblestone street. The area where we are staying is mostly 100-year-old buildings so the narrow streets were definitely not designed with cars in mind. There\u2019s a photo of our narrow street on my photo website. We\u2019re Not Staying Here, Are We? My first impressions of the apartment we\u2019re staying at here in Lisbon were \u2026 not good. In fact, I went as far as suggesting that we should leave the apartment (which we had pre-paid) and go to a hotel. We ended up deciding to give it one night and then decide if we were going to stay in the apartment which we ended up doing. We\u2019ve now been here three nights, leaving tomorrow and while the apartment turned out to not be as horrible as I originally thought I would never stay there again. The City While I write this last section, we\u2019ll be spending our last full day in Lisbon today as we fly home tomorrow morning. Both of us have taken in a lot of impressions of our stay in Lisbon over the past few days, almost all exceedingly positive. I\u2019ve written this many times that I love big cities and European big cities most of all. There are many visual cues here in Lisbon that remind us of our favourite city, Paris. The many steep hills here in Lisbon are unique but the number of distinct neighbourhoods and a very much walkable city is most enjoyable. Since arriving in Portugal, we\u2019ve been walking everywhere, even when we had the rental car, putting in many kilometres a day. I\u2019m not looking forward to returning home to very much a car-oriented environment where walking is almost incidental. As I\u2019ve gotten older, I believe that the large amount of walking that we get on these types of trips is more and more important than ever to good health. Lisbon has an excellent subway and it can make getting around very efficient. It\u2019s very unusual for me but I didn\u2019t use the metro once in our 4 days in Lisbon, as I\u2019ve preferred to walk everywhere. Today I made it to one particular place I was looking forward to seeing. It was the yellow funicular and if you recall, the Lisbon travel poster I used in Part 1 showed the iconic yellow funicular which has been in service here in Lisbon since the late 1800\u2019s. As we often have the windows in our apartment open, we\u2019ve regularly reminded that we are not in a tourist area but in a residential area surrounded by locals. As the weather is still warm and most of our neighbours also have their windows open, it\u2019s normal to hear people talking, babies crying or dogs barking from the adjacent apartments. If we were in a hotel or even in the condo we stayed in, hearing these things would be an annoyance but here in a real neighbourhood, it just seems normal. And Finally … Tomorrow Barb and I will be flying back home, concluding our time here in Portugal. It\u2019s always a bit sad to be leaving a place that has been so enjoyable only to return to life again. One of the best decisions we made when planning this trip was to limit the geography and the number of places we stayed. It would have been tempting to try and see more of Portugal, especially the northern half but limiting ourselves to just the southern half reduced our travel times and we only had to travel between three locations so staying put for 4-5 days at a time made for a much more relaxing trip. Portugal now stands out for us as the least expensive place in Europe we have been to. In Evora and Lagos especially, it can be very inexpensive, compared to Vancouver, to dine out. This compounds itself as tipping is not an expectation here and back home usually adding 18-20% to the bill. I\u2019m continually surprised by how many people in Portugal are still smoking. As outdoor dining is popular as the weather is still warm, it\u2019s a certainty that a table next to you or multiple tables around you will have smokers. Given how little this is allowed in Canada, even on outdoor tables, it\u2019s a wonder how much it\u2019s tolerated here. Not surprisingly, the language was a bit of a struggle but in the rare cases where neither of us spoke a common language just pointing at menus or using Google Translate was usually sufficient. Being able to say thank you in Portuguese (obrigado for me, obrigada for Barb) was often the most important word to remember. We both plan to come back again to Portugal sometime in the future, seeing the regions we didn\u2019t get to on this trip but realistically it will be many years given all the other plans we have… Irons in the Fire While it\u2019s fairly normal for Barb and I to think about future travel destinations before returning home from an existing trip, it\u2019s unusual to have booked future travel before even leaving home. This happens to be the case for 2024. At least 4-6 weeks ago, we booked a vacation in February and we made a partial booking for later in the year, almost a full year in advance. Is next year a special year for us? Yes, 2024 will be our 30th anniversary. My blog updates might not return again until next October By now I\u2019ve uploaded all of our photos from our Excellent Portugal Adventure to my photo website here. One last thing. It\u2019s normal for Barb and I to purchase local data service for our phones. It allows us to use our maps and texting while in foreign countries and not have to worry about data roaming crates. In the old days, we used to buy SIM cards and swap them out but for the past few years, we’re now purchasing eSIMs which are infinitely easier to deal with and can be bought for any country or region in the world. If you\u2019re travelling and would find having a local cellular data plan to be of use, I have been using a website called Airalo.com and highly recommend it. I\u2019ve used them at least 6-7 times. All the best and until next year, Baden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-portugal"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2691\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.excellentadventure.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}