Always pay attention …
Today we flew to Lisbon, Portugal, for a few days away, hoping for a little October sun, and European culture, and looking forward to leaving behind an increasingly cold, grey and damp UK. We flew out at the sensible time of 1.40pm, so Bristol airport was less busy, and I was less tired!
We boarded the jet and awaited our departure. Ever the rule taker, I listened to all the pre-flight announcements and heard the chief steward ask if any EasyJet plus members could make themselves known, so I did, by pressing and pinging the overhead attention button. I’m glad I did – we were “upgraded” to the empty front row, enjoying extra leg room and a spare seat.
The comfort and space gave me an opportunity to try and cram some Portuguese – I think I managed 3 weeks in our two hour flight, rather than the necessary three months the book required, but it did give me a couple of words to use on our trip.
On landing, we were a little worried about the potential for delay – Lisbon airport has a bit of a reputation for queues, but being at the front of the jet meant we were first off the plane, and no waiting at passport control – within 20 minutes of the wheels greasing the tarmac we were heading for the Metro for a 30 min tube ride to our home for the next few days.
The metro was clean, functional, cheap (circa £1.65 for a tap on tap off fare) with one change to make.
Emerging at the cruise ship port, we then had a 10-15 minute walk to our apartment – it was hot and humid and we were humping our bags up and down cobbled streets, but we soon found our flat and flopped in. After a shower and change of clothing, we headed out into the gathering dusk, to begin to explore.
We soon saw our first tram – icon symbols of Lisbon, and then spotted our first Bodello 2 piece of street art,
and many, many tiled houses:
before heading home (having eaten) through the quaint cobbled streets of Lisboa.