# Pasteis de Nata: 4, Distance Walked: 9.1km, # Floors Climbed: 7
I had to catch an 8:45am bus from Sagres to Lisbon this morning. Breakfast didn't start (officially) until 8am but I headed down 10 minutes early, only to find others had beat me to it. I had just a light breakfast, as I wasn't getting all real exercise today, before heading to the bus stop.
I got there 20 minutes early and joined a large crowd of people. There are only 3 buses a day from Sagres to Lisbon. One leaves before dawn and the other mid-afternoon so my bus was full. The bus driver tried to get me to put my backpack in the luggage compartment underneath, along with my suitcase, but I channelled my inner Italian and flatly refused and just ignored him.
As I was waiting for the bus to leave, Florian came by and waved to me. He made lots of big gestures, not just waving. He is so sweet. Mind you, I can understand why his wife spends 6 months of the year in Portugal. Life with him would be a lot.
The bus took off and after 10 minutes we were in Vila do Bispo. I spent all day yesterday walking from there to Sagres. Very disheartening.
The bus took around 4 1/2 hours to get to Lisbon. We had two stops, Lagos and Portimão. We had a 5 minute toilet break at one and 10 minutes at the other. I didn't risk the 5 minute break but did get off the bus for the 10 minute one. It actually ended up being closer to a 20 minute break but the driver made no attempt to count heads or otherwise check all the passengers were back on board before driving off either time. I made sure I was back well within the 10 minute limit but others strolled. Nobody ran behind the bus waving frantically so it all worked out.
When I got to Lisbon I caught the metro to my hotel. Buying a ticket was fun. I only had 20E notes and the ticket was only 2.50E. The machine wouldn't give more than 10E in change so I had to use a credit card. My $4 ticket cost me a $5 foreign transaction fee. Grr.
I got to my hotel just after 2pm but my room wasn't quite ready. I was forced to wait in the lobby for 10 whole minutes. They left me 2 pastel de nata and a bottle of champagne (sparkling wine) in my room for the terrible inconvenience. I like this place (the Residence Florescente ).
In addition to the ridiculously friendly service, it is right in the middle of the theatre district. In fact, there is a theatre right next door. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants all around and it is mainly a pedestrian area.
Once I got to my room I actually unpacked. It is so nice not to have to live out of a suitcase. I get to spend 4 nights here. However, my first outing was to a local laundromat. Washing clothes in sinks only works so well.
This visit was an experience. It cost 6E to wash a load of clothes. I thought I had 6E in coin but I'd miscounted. I only had 5.90E. The machine gave me back the 90 cents but kept the rest. I tried to pay the last 1E with card but it wouldn't take any of them. I was forced to put in a 20E note. It didn't give me change. However, the payment machine kept telling me I had 20E credit so I figured I could use that to pay for drying the clothes. But by the time the wash was finished it had timed out and swallowed all my money. So one load of washing cost me 25E! Still, the clothes are clean and the spin dry cycle meant they were just damp. I took them back to my hotel room and turned the air conditioning up to lethal to dry them.
After my adventures in domesticity, I just went for an amble about to get my bearings. I came across a street performer who was charging people 10E to attempt to do a dead hang from a pullup bar for 2 minutes. If you could manage it, you won 50E. Many young men attempted it in order to impress their girlfriends. They had all underestimated how hard it actually is and how much upper body strength it requires. I was sorely tempted to have a go. There is no way I could last 2 minutes but I think I could manage 30 seconds. I would like to try. Perhaps I should give it a go when I get home, rather than humilating myself in front of a crowd - and for a fee.
After my amble I headed back to my hotel. I had thanked the receptionist for the champagne but said I didn't want it. She had told me I could take it to the bar and swap it for something else. I attempted to do just that. However, that receptionist's shift had ended and the barman's English was only good enough to handle drink orders. Much confusion occured until another receptionist decided that my unwanted champagne was worth a cocktail, so I had a margarita.
I then wandered out in search of dinner. I came across an Italian place, (Il Mulino ). It's menu was in multiple languages which was a worry. However, the waiters were talking to each other in Italian and the menu admitted they made their Spaghetti Carbonara with pancetta rather than guanciale. I took that as a sign their food would be reasonably authentic and ate there. I had the spaghetti carbonara and a salad of rocket, pear, walnuts and parmesan. It was all very Good. For dessert I had a Good tiramisu.
Along with good food the restaurant also provided entertainment. There was one pasta dish that was finished off at the table. They brought out an enormous wheel of parmesan cheese. The waiter then scraped some cheese off the surface and then hot pasta was poured onto the cheese. This was all mixed together to make a creamy sauce. The pasta was then put on a plate which had proscuitto on it.
The cheese was supposedly a parmigiana reggiano but when they wheeled it past my table I saw it was just grana padano. Still, I might have to give it a try.
On the whole, I'm liking Lisbon in spite of the thieving laundromats and the occasional whiff of inadequate drains.
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