March, 2024

Our arrival in Portugal did not go exactly as planned.

We had decided to take the metro from the airport, but buying the local transit card - the Navegante - was challenging. Several attempts at purchasing it from the automated ticket machine timed out and then, when we finally figured out the correct options to select, both our Master Card and Visa were rejected without explanation. Fortunately, we managed to complete the purchase with our bank debit card.

The next challenge came when we found ourselves looking up a long, steep set of steps at the metro station where we had to change trains. The elevator at the station was broken, and it didn't look like any work had been done on it for quite some time. Many curses were uttered. A sympathetic young woman offered to carry my bag up for me, but I was determined to do it myself so I thanked her kindly and struggled up the steps.

I suppose I could have forgiven the Lisbon metro system for one broken elevator, but when we reached our final metro stop, the elevators there were also broken. A middle aged man offered to assist me, but I was still determined to be self-sufficient so I thanked him and began struggling upwards. After a few steps, a man in a suit came up beside me and smiled pleasantly. Then he gently took my suitcase from my hand and deposited it at the top of the stairs. I can't say I was sorry.

Hot, tired, and very thirsty we struggled across a square and sat at the base of a statue in the warm sunlight. As our heartbeats slowed to normal, we looked around us content for the moment to just be in a place so different than home.

We had known that the castle that overlooks the city, Castelo De São George, was close to our hotel, but it was closer than expected.

After we rested, we dragged our suitcases across the uneven tiled sidewalk to our hotel which was mercifully close. Check-in time was still hours away, but our room was ready so the clerk gave us our key. I felt a bit sad that the view from our window was of a construction site. Would we have to endure endless noise? But no work at all was done during the four days of our stay.

We rested for awhile before eating an early dinner in a cafe at the nearby train station. Back in the room, we discovered a TV channel that showed one hilariously bad science fiction show after another (with English soundtracks and Portuguese subtitles) and soon fell into a deep, contented sleep.