The forecast for our last day in Lisbon was pretty dire: indeed, I’d had a flood warning message on my phone. It was dry but dreich when we started out, so we thought a mooch round the shops might be best. We went up to the Amoreiras mall, wandered around for a while and bought nothing. But we did make a trip to the 18th storey roof terrace, which must be spectacular on a fine day. Since we were on the necessary bus route, we took a ride across the bridge, then a tram down to Cacilhas and a ferry back across. At this point, the weather took a turn for the better, and later in the afternoon it was warm enough for us to sit out on the balcony for a while. Not bad for 20 December.
Lunch at the Mercado da Ribeira was interesting if expensive. You place your order, and find somewhere to sit, armed with a pager that buzzes and flashes when your order is ready. Interesting place, and very busy, I gather, in the small hours with clubbers in search of a midnight snack. That’s probably why the music is so loud.
I won’t bore you with the details, but our travels were rather expensive. I clearly haven’t grasped the details of ticket purchase hereabouts - and it didn’t help that the machine at the tram stop gave me 55c change when I bought an 85c fare with a tenner! Still, we’ve now left Euroland with a little left and enough for tips for the steward and waiters.
Two sea days now, and on the first we’ve heard the third of Matthew McCombie’s piano recitals. Excellent as always, though the piano is in grave need of tuning. We got a couple more stickers on our quiz card yesterday, thanks to an inspired guess that the original home of the Cirque du Soleil was Canada, so we ought to qualify for a key ring or something.
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