Postcard from Lisbon

Hello from Portugal. This will be a short post, my friends. We’ve spent a lot of time walking hills in the heat in the last two days, and we are bushed.

Our long delay in Toronto threw a bit of a monkey wrench into our plans. Our planned recovery day was spent in transit, followed by two rather frantic days of trying to catch up, to do what we wanted to do, and see what we wanted to see. What the heck happened to the resolve we made following our Italy trip to slow and saunter? Ha. We forgot all about it in our excitement to be on the road again.

Last night I felt distinctly under the weather. So we cancelled our plans for today, cooked our own supper in our apartment, and had an early night and a late morning. That’ s just what I needed. Like Hubby says, we need to find our travel rhythm. Find a pace that works for both of us.

We managed to do that very well when we were in Croatia in 2019. But it’s been a while since we’ve been on an extended trip, and Hubby’s and my natural biorhythms are different. As I’ve said many times, he’s a get up at the crack of dawn and get fifteen things done before breakfast kind of guy. And I’m more of a three cups of tea in the morning before I can even think straight kind of girl. Travelling together takes compromise. Like marriage. Ha.

Here are a few shots of our time in Lisbon.

Wandering down to the Rio Tejo on our first day. The hard part was going back up. Ah, now I know why they call our neighbourhood the Bairro Alto.

We walked and walked, ate lunch, napped, and walked some more. By evening we were well ready for a relaxing drink on the rooftop terrace of our building.

Yesterday we went to Sintra on the train. We missed the train we wanted due to a faulty card- reader, and had to wait another hour. But we fell into conversation with a lovely couple from Argentina. They were pleased to meet people who had visited their country. And we were pleased to meet people from a country we loved so much. So the hour passed happily.

Selfie while Hubby unpacks the picnic lunch we brought with us. We were happy to find a lonely bench away from the crowds. I was fussing this morning before we left. What the heck to wear? Hubby replied, take a day off from style Suz, dress ugly. So I did. But that hat, my friends, is the limit. It’s my canoeing hat, bought many years ago in northern Australia out of desperation. I sent this picture to my sister, and she replied, “Are you doing a bit of gardening, Dorena?” Hubby and I had a good chuckle over that. Mum’s gardening hats were the worst. Ha.

Streets in our neighbourhood. Above and below.

And finally, during our brief walk this morning, below. Can you see the bags under my eyes? We strolled for an hour and then we headed back to our apartment to relax and prepare to leave tomorrow morning. We pick up our car and head north. I suppose it’s too much to hope that the temperatures will cool. And that maybe I’ll be able to wear more of what I packed. Sigh. Mustn’t grumble. We’re here. And that feels a little like a dream, I must say.

So that’s all from me today, my friends. A very brief post with not a lot of information. More extended discussion will have to wait until we get home. This is just to give you a taste of our trip. I’m boiling water for tea as I write this and my book is calling me. I hope the settings and spacing are not too wonky in this post. Typing on my iPad mini is not like composing on my desk top. So I hope it’s readable.

Talk to you soon… hopefully. I’m posting much more frequently on Instagram, now that I have something interesting to post. So you might want to follow me over there. IG is for photos. Blogging is for chatting with friends, I always think.

P.S. Hubby is growing weary of all my “plane to Lisbon” quotes from Casablanca. But seriously, when am I ever going to be able to use them again?