Day 1      8/8/2023

Portugal - Lisbon

Frank's Trip

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Lisbon is a long way off...

Of course, every place I go anymore seems to be quite a ways away... maybe has a little something to do with getting older. The trip was good, just long. Maybe anyone would be somewhat worn down after so many hours; I got to Gulfport airport at 10 AM Monday the 7th and to my hotel in Lisbon just after 2 PM Tuesday the 8th - actual time 22 hours. Rainstorms in Charlotte delayed my flight an hour and made me hustle at Heathrow airport in London with a short time between flights. I was very pleasantly surprised how much Heathrow has improved from the way it was before. Still way too much walking to go through security, but petty well fast and efficient - Well Done Heathrow!

Historic Lisbon is a World Heritage site.

The old portion of Lisbon is a World Heritage Site and many of the buildings through it are also World Heritage Sites. I'm looking forward to exploring many of them.

There is a constant strong breeze here in Lisbon - many people might agree with me in calling it 'wind' rather than 'breeze'. My first afternoon here was a pleasant 82 degrees with beautiful, clear skies. Similar weather is expected all the way through my trip. It's great to be away from the 100 degree days at home.

The Metro here is great!! I looked at my Google maps and my hotel wasn't terribly far away, but taxi fares were very high. So I decided to have an adventure and try the subway - it was supposed to go very close to the hotel. Most of the stairs going up / down at the subway stations have escalators - MOST, not all are working. Anyway I got to the subway platform as 1 train was leaving; about 8 minutes later, another was there. No problems getting on even with my large and medium bags. 8 Stops and about 15-20 minutes later I was at my stop and when I got to the street, was about 100 - 150 feet from the hotel door. Cost: $1.65. I should be able to do almost all my Lisbon sightseeing on the Metro :-)

Lisbon Subway

Squeaky clean stations and trains and no graffiti - even in late afternoon after a day of riders have passed through

My hotel in Lisbon and the view from the window

After I went to Sintra and returned, I was upgraded to the 17th floor. Room wasn't drasticlly different, but the view was!

Restaurante Navigadores typically offers buffet meals - breakfast, lunch, dinner

My room: Simple, modern, nice with great desk area for computer