January 2018: Lisbon and beyond
Good day, forum users)
So it took me to distant Portugal for the winter holidays. I took tickets at a discount back in September: to Moscow S7, to Lisboa - the Portuguese company TAP (back also). Transfer - around 2 hours. I was assured that the luggage is checked in to the destination.
1. Arrived calmly. The Portuguese carried cutlery and wine.
2. Upon arrival, I immediately went to look for a metro station for a trip to the hotel. The signs are there and easy to find. Two options - terminals for buying a card and a cash desk window. I didn’t see the cash desk right away, I didn’t figure it out in the terminal, I asked for a standing local friend. He helped with pleasure and chose me not a Zapping card (you can throw money), but a regular fare (I used it that day). They clarified it again and he chose the option I needed (I put 5 euros and 0.5 for the card itself). It is necessary to validate at the entrance and exit to the metro (they said that there were many controllers - not a single one was met for the entire period)). You can get to the place and sort out 4 metro lines, you can also look for an elevator if the suitcase is heavy) Airport station is the final one on the red line. I needed to make a transfer to the stop. Pombal Square. Metro stations are curious, not pretentious, there are a lot of pictures and photos on the internet, I didn’t take pictures.
3. The hotel was not immediately found - a small sign. Villa Nova Guesthouse. There is a separate review about the hotel here. On the day of arrival it was raining endlessly, so I had to buy an umbrella.
4. In the morning I took a ticket for the 2-story tourist bus Hop on - Hoff on. It turns out that there are two red bus companies - Sigtseeing and GrayLine, and there are also yellow buses. There is a lot of information about them on the Internet, everyone chooses for himself. My choice is the 2 longest lines of GrayLine sightseeing routes - red (Belem) and blue (Oriente) for two days + river walk (all - 32 euros). Somehow it so happened that I went not for two days, but for three. The routes are long, the Russian guide in headphones spoke (not as informative as in other cities), there were fado songs. For three days I rode well - the option is known to many - you go out, go somewhere, then again you go on the bus of this route. At a couple of points there were intersections of two routes. In general, I like these options for red buses. The only thing I didn't like was the river ride. Didn't live up to expectations. And I wanted to do not like everyone else - to get on a boat not at tourist endpoints, but at the city pier. I reached it on foot, looked for the right gate. But a specialist from the company comes a couple of minutes before boarding, if you don’t know this, you run around the river station like....(someone). And they gave me the wrong departure time. In general, I didn’t want to take this trip right away, I had to listen to my intuition.
5. But along the bus routes there was:
*in the Oriente area - a cable car (from 11.00 to 18.00 in winter) to the tower of Vasco da Gama (as the locals say "hissingly"), the Oceanarium (the largest in Europe - in all 4 oceans), a botanical garden, water gardens, the largest shopping center of Vasco de Gama, a curious promenade, houses of unusual construction (including the Oriente railway station itself), etc. Oriente: train station and bus station, Vasco da Gama shopping center, Park Nations and Oceanarium. Nearby is the Vasco da Gama Bridge, the longest in Europe (17 km).
*in the malls of the center: Colombo and Amoreiras, El Corte Inglé s
*in the Belem area: April 25 Bridge, Belem Tower, Monument to the Discoverers, Jeronimos Monastery of Hieromonimos, etc. Beautiful. You can register, but it's better to see for yourself))
In the city center, I tried to walk more on foot from Pombal Square - either towards the Eduardo Park (where a panoramic point opens), then along Liberdade Avenue down - through the Restorers' Square, Rossio, to the Commerce Square and the Arc de Triomphe. I walked along the central streets, along and across. Curious buildings, friendly people, delicious coffee (from 50 cents) and pastelaria. Good)
6. I went on my own to Sintra and to Cape Roca. To the railway / station on the square. Rossio arrived on foot in the morning. I bought a "Train & bus" ticket 16 euros + 0.5 - for the card (payment for trains and all buses in Sintra and Cape Rocca). I got there by train for 40 minutes. There I immediately took bus 434 to the Pena Palace, there I bought tickets for the lift bus to the palace itself (3 euros), to the Pena Palace, Montserrat Palace, Moor Castle. I really wanted to go to Kintu, but there were no tickets at the general box office. After inspecting Pena, walk to the castle of the Moors (it started to rain, so it was not very comfortable to walk along the rocky narrow paths of the castle (ruins). I took bus 435 to Montserrat Palace - it’s beautiful, of course, but only 1 floor is in operation. The park there is awesome. From the Palace by bus to the center of Sintra and change on 403 to Cape Roca. There the breeze blew quite strongly, the Atlantic was stormy. I could not resist and bought a Certificate of the place of residence of my modest person at the westernmost point of Eurasia (for 11 euros). By bus 403 to the railway station and by train "home" (to Lisbon)). Tired (the pedometer showed 13 km), but happy.
OK, you can talk for a long time. But we know that the best views are those that we ourselves have seen))
At the end of the trip:
The luggage room of the hotel helped out - a late departure. I registered on the site, but they gave out a free seat only in the last row. horror... I arrived at the Airport as at the beginning of the story (in reverse order). The hotel offered a transfer for 16 euros. At the airport, I weighed my suitcase on racks of self-there-something (for 1 euro), since the TAP delivered 23 kg. Wrapped a suitcase (alas, the castle did not smile) for 14 euros. When checking in luggage, it turned out that I would have to receive it in Moscow, there was no longer an option as upon arrival, alas. As I was told, it was our side that set such conditions. They flew for a long time and hung out. Night flight, but also fed + wine. Upon arrival, I was nervous - until I got off the full plane, while I received my luggage and ran to send it....Several calories received during the period of eating pasties in Lisbon, it took concretely. Bottom line - I did it. Was at home in the morning. Good.
You can’t write everything in the story, I’ll definitely think tomorrow that I should have said this and that.
So.
*I went in one person. Can. Not always comfortable, but better than nothing))
*. Tickets purchased in advance do not always provide the choice of the desired seat (alas).
* I liked the city (and the country as a whole). Cute (in a good way). I want to come back here again.
And I wish you a pleasant journey))
