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Home at Last

Yesterday was a long day--up at 6:30 in Lisbon for final packing, a final European-style breakfast, a crowded metro ride to the airport, and going through at least four security checkpoints before boarding our 12:15 flight to Philadelphia.  Our flight in Philly arrived on time, but there must have been 500 people in line at TSA checkpoint and again at the passport check.  We scored a TSA Precheck pass at the former, so we went through the short line and abbreviated inspection/x-ray procedure there.  But there is a new, double-layered procedure at the customs and immigration point that must have been designed by the geniuses at the US Postal Service--it took over an hour to snake through the maze of queue ropes to get to an automated robot that took our picture and asked a few questions, then stood in another line to have our passports stamped by a real live person.

Our flight to Denver was scheduled to leave at 6:05, but was delayed nearly an hour by a tardy cleaning crew and then by a 20-minute wait in the long line on the taxiway before we took off.  We finally touched down in Denver right at 9:00 pm.  Fortunately, we had no checked luggage, so we went right to the new airport transit center and caught the A-Line train to Union Station, then Ubered home from there.  We arrived at our front door at 11:00pm, beating the pumpkin deadline by a full hour. It was our first experience with both the airport train and with Uber, and both went smoothly.  The Uber app on my phone made arranging that ride a snap.

Looking back, Jeanette's foot problem turned out to be a blessing in the end, and in spite of my grumbles about the long train rides that ensued, it gave us a few more days in Spain and in Portugal to unwind and enjoy Madrid and Lisbon in a much more leisurely manner.  We especially enjoyed Lisbon, which is much more laid back than the hustle and bustle of Madrid--and at least 15 or 20 degrees (F) cooler.

I apologize for all my spelling and other blunders on my previous blog posts--it was the first time I'd tried to do something like that on the tiny keyboard of my i-phone, and it was definitely more of a challenge than I expected.  Of course writing that late at night as the last thing before lights-out may have contributed to both my fumbling fingers and my sometimes grumpy attitude.  But it did keep me from getting too wordy, which I have a tendency to do. 

I also want to thank those of you that took the time to post comments.  Getting feedback and encouragement from you was always a special gift.  I've heard by e-mail and text from a few others who have said they had tried to post comments but were unable to do so; again I apologize for not reminding everyone that that they have to "follow" the blog by pushing the "Follow" button up on the upper right portion of the page.  Of course when you do that you also have to tell Google some of your deep, dark personal secrets, which some folks are reluctant to do.  Not to worry, I understand.  I just figure they already know more about me than I know about myself anyway. 

Since this is probably the last post in this chapter of our travel blog, I just want to say thanks to those who tagged along with us.  Until the next adventure, adios and vaya con Dios.

Sintra and Farewell to Lisbon

This was the last day of our month-long odyssey in Portugal and Spain, and we spent it well by devoting most of the day in Sintra, a well-known resort town in the foothills 45 minutes from Lisbon by commuter train. Sintra has been a royal retreat for Portugues kings and their courts since this region was recaptured from the Moors in the 1400s, and for the rest of us since the middle of the 19th century. There is archeological evidence of bronze-age settlements in the area dating back to at least 3000 BC.

We left the train station a little after 9:00am and arrived in modern Sintra some 45 minutes later. It's a pretty good walk up to the historic town center, and a major climb up the mountain to the major historic sites, so we bought a bus tour and tickets to three of the famous castles and palaces--one in the historic town center, and the other two high on the mountain overlooking the entire region. I won't go into the details other than to say it was a day well spent and one that will remain in the ol' memory bank for a long time.

 
Pena Palace panorama.

We took the return train back to Lisbon in time for a shower and short rest before going out for our final dinner at one of the many sidewalk cafes in this delightful city. After dinner, we enjoyed one last stroll down to the riverfront before coming back to our hotel to pack for the long flight home tomorrow.


A selection of whimsical pastries in a sidewalk window.

Lisbon - Monday and Tuesday

We're loving Lisbon. After two days in the excessive high-90s to 100 degree heat in Madrid and a long overnight train ride that felt like a trans-continental fight through continuous turbulence in an old prop-driven DC-6 with at least one stop in every state along the way, the cooler weather and laid-back atmosphere of Lisbon feels like a slice of heaven. What a wonderful city!

We arrived Sunday morning -- too early to check into our hotel, but they let us store our backpacks while we went out to do an initial exploration of the nearby neighborhood. We're staying in a studio apartment/hostel in the Baixa (pronounced "Bye-sha") area of Lisbon, a great location within easy walking distance of many of the popular attractions.

We spent Monday on a tram tour so Jeanette was able to limit walking. After a complete circuit on the hop-on/hop-off trolley, our first stop was at the Porto del Sol, a plaza on the back side of one of the city's major hills which overlooks the Rio Teja. After lunch at the plaza, it was a short walk down through the narrow streets to the Cathedral. The first yellow arrow for those starting the Camino Portugues from Lisbon is painted on the corner of this ancient and historic church.


View from the Puerto do Sol.

We then hopped back on the tram for a quick ride back across town to the Igreja de Estella, another historic church atop one of the many hills of Lisbon. We climbed 112 steps up a winding spiral stair to the roof of the church for a spectacular view of the city stretching in all directions below.

Leaving the church, we crossed the street and strolled through a beautiful park that felt almost like a botanical garden. Afterward, a short tram ride bought us back to the Baixa neighborhood, where we stopped for gelato before returning to our apartment for a shower and nap before dinner.


City view from roof of Igreja de Estrella.

This morning we were up early and made our way up to the castle of St George, an imposing medieval stone fortress that overlooks the city from the steep eastern hill. To reach the castle, we wandered through the narrow streets and a couple of public elevators. After a couple of hours of exploring the castle ramparts and photographing the cityscape in the morning light, we made our way down to the dock on the Rio Teja for a river tour that took us down the river to the Belem district, where we spent the better part of the afternoon wandering around the Monesterio Sao Jeronimo. All that made for a long and tiring day, so we decided to pick up a pizza and dine in tonight.


Castle of St George.

Tomorrow is our last day in Portugal, and we'll spend it in the nearby town of Sintra, a "must see" on everyone's list of things to do while here.

Madrid to Lisbon

We slept amazingly well, given the loud street noise all night--but then we were really tired. Nature called about 3:00am and the party was still going strong in the street below. (Note to self: never get a room facing the street on a weekend night in Spain.)

The high point of our last day in Madrid was a visit to the Prado Museum, a world-class art museum that ranks right up there with the Louvre and the Guegenheim. At first we (at least I) hesitated, given the length of the line, but Jeanette convinced me, and the line went amazingly fast. The museum's permanent collection is mainly old masters, with an emphasis on Spanish masters like Goya and El Greco--not my favorite art genre, but nevertheless well worth the visit.

Later, it was time to head to the train station to catch the so-called night train to Lisbon. You'd think the once-daily train between two major European capitols would at least be one of those modern, 200-mph rockets, but no, this was the 1940's milk run, with no less than 14 interim stops along the way. But we made it. And for the next four nights we're staying in a cool little studio apartment in the heart of the Baixo district in the old town area of Lisbon. It's a mix of neo-60's modern/hipster and Andy Warhol meets Ikea design-wise. We're looking forward to these few days of R&R before flying home on Thursday.

A protest march in the street outside the Prado.

Overview of Lisbon from an observation tower.

Catching Up - Moritinos > Sahagun > Madrid

I mentioned in my previous post that James was driving us into the railroad station at Sahagun, which he did. We arrived about 9:15 and bought tickets on the afternoon train to Madrid, which included a transfer in Palencia from the local slow train to the fast express into Madrid. We spent the rest of the day bumming around Sahagun, a town that's listed as having a population of 70,000, but I'd be surprised if it's half that. [Edit: My population figure came from a well-known Camino guidebook. I knew it was way off, but after checking the internet when I got home, I discovered it was waaaay off--Wikipedia lists the 2009 population as 2837.]

The train arrived late, which left us sweating the connection in Palencia. However, the fast train was having mechanical problems, so we ended up waiting for over an hour before we got underway to Madrid. So by the time we finally got to bed it was after 11:00pm.

We stayed at a hostel near the airport, thinking we'd be able to get a cheap airlines flight to Lisbon, but cheap flights on the same day are a myth, so we ended up heading back into the train station in Madrid and bought tickets for the once-a-day train to Lisbon. Today's train was sold out, so we'll leave here tomorrow. It's an overnight train, which means we'll arrive in Lisbon on Sunday morning.
We're staying tonight in a basic hostel-type small hotel just off the Plaza del Sol in the heart of old Madrid. As I write this from our mini-balcony at 10:15pm, the street below is teeming with people...I hope we'll be able to sleep tonight with all the noise.


The meseta near Ledigos.


The Roman bridge in Sahagun.


Ruins of an ancient church in Sahagun.


The street at 10:00pm beneath our balcony.

Meseta Days 2 & 3 - Calzadilla > Moratinos > Sahagun

Day 2 (8 miles) was another glorious, cloud-free day of brilliant blue skies. It started off cool in the morning as we left Calzadillo de la Cueda, but unlike the day before, there was no breeze and by 10:00am it was getting really warm. The eight miles into Moratinos would normally have taken about 2-1/2 hours, but with the slower pace we have been walking due to Jeanette's tendonitis, it took us almost four hours.
When we reached the oasis known as the Peaceable Kingdom, Rebekah and Paddy were off on errand to Palencia, the regional capitol, but we were greeted by James, friend who was staying with them. The three of us sat in the shaded patio and enjoyed a light lunch of bread, cheese, sliced tomatoes, and a cold cerveza. Then it was time for a shower and nap.
Rebekah and Paddy arrived just as we were waking from our nap, and we spent the rest of the afternoon getting acquainted with them. Rebekah then prepared a delicious dinner consisting of a Lebanese brown rice and lentil concoction accompanied by Spanish sausage and vino tinto.
In the morning (this morning), we decided to pull the plug on this portion of our journey. Not only does Jeanette need to get off her foot, I've realized that my "need" to complete every kilometer of the Camino Frances is not as strong as I thought. We've now seen the best of the meseta, from Burgos to Sahagun, and rest of the 50 km or so into Leon is just more of same. So after breakfast, James drove us the short six miles into Sahagun where we bought tickets on the afternoon train to Madrid. Tomorrow we'll fly to Lisbon, and if we can change our flight, we'll come home a few days early. Otherwise, we'll hang around Lisbon and return on the 1st as originally scheduled.