Every morning we've seen the Indian group outside the hotel waiting for their coach and having their photographs taken. Their outfits have been stunning and I dread to think how much the whole event has cost! We never saw them in the hotel and they seemed to be gone all day.
We saw the German family at the exact same time as we emerged from our room again, but this time we let them take the lift down to breakfast with another couple. I didn't want any more awkward silences! The breakfast room was busy this morning, probably because it was Saturday, and we had to dodge the other diners to get our choices from the buffet.
After eating, we went back to the room, finished packing and checked out. We were charged for two coffees and a tiny carton of milk, which I wasn't pleased about. Why not offer free coffee? It was my only gripe with the hotel, which otherwise was excellent with lovely staff, a good restaurant and bar, and high standards of cleanliness.
We were able to leave our suitcase and Sophie's rucksack and decided to take the Metro to the area we'd passed through yesterday. We wanted to take the Elevator de Santa Justa and gaze out over the views of Lisbon. Today, the weather was much better with blue skies and sunshine, thank goodness!
We took the Metro from Parque and bought day tickets again. The tickets could be used in the lift so they really were good value for money. We didn't have long to wait for the train, but Sophie had spotted a dodgy man standing in the carriage. He was behind a young woman who looked unhappy that he was so close. We took a seat and Sophie constantly watched him. At the next station, the train stopped for longer than normal, and I began to feel uneasy too. The dodgy man was jiggling about and kept closing his eyes. Before we got to the next station, Avenida, the young woman stood up to go and we followed her, deciding to get the next train.
However, here the train also stopped again and just as we sat down to wait, Mr Dodgy got off, leaving us almost alone on the platform with him as all the other passengers had made their way out. We decided to leave and sped up the stairs to the fresh air and sunshine!
Sophie was angry that we had felt unable to carry on with the Metro so we debated what was best to do. We had alighted on a busy street thronged with designer shops and hotels and there was a market taking place. Sophie called up an Uber and he arrived quickly, dropping us off around the corner from the lift.
A queue snaked its way up some steps but we didn't have to wait for long. While we waited we watched the comings and goings of this busy tourist area.
Our tickets covered the ride and we were soon whisked up to the viewing platform. The upper section was closed but the views were still fantastic and the city was spread out below us.
We meandered around the platform, mingling with tourists taking selfies, and soaked up the lovely sunshine. Opposite, was a bar serving beers and cod croquettes and specialising in sheep's cheese, so we made for a free table and sat down to relax for a little while.
We ordered two beers and enjoyed the wonderful atmosphere!
After relaxing and enjoying our drinks, we reluctantly left and decided to take the steps down to an area that was teeming with people. The archaeological museum was here, located in the ruins of the Carmo convent. Leading on from this was a tree-lined square where people were eating and drinking and milling about. There are lots of "Quiosques" dotted about the city serving drinks and snacks, and people were making full use of the one in this square.
Creamy delights!
Sophie needed a loo visit but we didn't like the look of the underground one, plus there was an all-pervading aroma of urine here, so we popped into an ultra-clean and fresh Haagen Dazs outlet for an ice cream. We each chose two scoops of ice cream, in a cone for me and in a tub for Sophie, and sat in the café to enjoy them. Luckily, there was a lovely, clean loo!
This was another similarity with San Francisco and reminded me of the vintage shops on Haight-Ashbury. There were loads of clothes for sale, ranging from casual tee shirts to leather jackets and old Levi's jeans. Sophie picked out a lovely tee shirt and was extremely happy with her choice and the price!
Further down the hill we descended some stone steps and found a tiny hole-in-the-wall bar serving shots of Ginginha. We couldn't refuse, so we went in and ordered two tiny glasses. It was lovely to stand outside and enjoy them.
At the end of the street was an expansive square with a large monument. The square was lined with shops and restaurants and was very busy. Sophie was a little worried about getting to the airport (we'd heard tales of people missing flights because of long queues at security) so we changed our plans and decided to head back to the hotel, relax for a while and then get an Uber.
Homeward bound
We were reluctant to take the Metro so we ordered an Uber that whisked us back to the hotel where we sat and relaxed in the courtyard for an hour. The German family appeared while we were sitting in the courtyard and they had their luggage with them, so they were leaving as well. Would we see them at the airport? If we did, would they acknowledge us?
We ordered an Uber to take us to Lisbon airport and we were there within fifteen minutes. The airport was busy but BA weren't checking bags in yet, which was a blow. We sat and waited in a café and people-watched, which is always an enjoyable experience! We kept an eye out for our German friends but realised they could have been Swiss or Austrian!
To cut a long and tedious story short, although the monitors informed us that our desk was open to check in bags, we had to wait until about 4.30pm to drop off our suitcase, and there was a long queue of people all looking as fed up as we felt. Our flight was delayed by about half an hour, but after finally checking in the suitcase, we had hardly any time in departures.
Security wasn't bad, but we had no time to visit the Duty-Free shops, and had barely twenty minutes to gobble down a MacDonald's burger! I was just glad we hadn't decided to book an airport lounge!
We walked to our gate, sat for about half an hour and then boarded our Finnish Air flight. BA had let us know our return flight was with Finnish Air, but this was a bonus as the seats seemed bigger with more legroom! I even had the middle seat next to me empty. Perfect!
The flight home was fine and our pilot must have put his foot down as we landed shortly after our scheduled time of arrival. We made it through passport control with incredible speed and waited a short while to pick up our suitcase before taking the shuttle bus back to the car park.
The journey home was fine and we arrived back just before midnight. Keith had waited up for us, and we relaxed for a short time before heading, gratefully, to our beds!
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