Portugal - Two Weeks Back in Western Civilization

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We start off our back to Western Civilisation with a really hard rant on service.  We took the six-hour redeye out of Accra, along with 250 folks from San Tome & Principe.  It was possibly the worst flight ever...TAP has new Airbus 321 that hold up to 300 passengers, crammed into 46 rows of six across,  narrow seats that barely recline.  The new Airbus seats are poorly cushioned and there is less leg-room on this plane than any of the other 43 we have flown to date of this journey.  Shame of TAP Portuguese Airlines for this really uncomfortable flight.  We got only a couple of hours of sleep if that and landed with sore backs.

Lisbon immigration was packed with several thousand arrivees...it took well over 90 minutes to get through.  Once through customs getting our rental car and into the city center was a breeze.  Our Airbnb for the next five nights was on Ave. da Liberdade, right in the heart of the old town.  We had an ungraded luxury one-bedroom in a classy shopping and housing complex.  The underground parking was convenient and perfect and we were able to walk to almost everything in a few minutes.

Our first night we enjoyed an old family recipe of beans and sausage.  We are still talking about how good it was days later.

Nursing my bum knee, we took short walks, Bobbie did daily longer jaunts, and we we took the car out for a day for a coastal drive to Cabo da Roca and Sintra.  

 This may be the smallest rental car we have had to date...and it was quite comfortable.  A Fiat 500c.

Feeling pretty spry on one morning we sought out our favorite sightseeing standby, a free walking tour.  We were the only one and enjoyed a really pleasant 2 1/2 walk through the central district with our guy, Manuel.  He was new, only four months, and he stumbled a bit here and there...but he was charming and pleasant and it was a nice walk around the city's more historic area.  Five miles later I was guaranteed the nest day would be quiet with my leg propped up on a pillow.

During the tour we crossed the famous No. 28 cable car line where all of the weed sellers hang out.  It's legal in Portugal to buy on the street, so we got a little to ease the pain. 

We booked another week in Faro, on the southern coast, in a small golf resort right on the beach.  The drive down was pleasant and we did our best to stretch the otherwise two-hour drive into five by using coastal roads.  Over the time we passed through hundreds of cork oak forests, 1000s of trees.  

We reached the coast and Faro, where we settled into a week-long rental at a golf resort and just 10 minutes from the beach.  

We took a drive to the nearby tourist beach town. Pure tourist in every respect: Shops, restaurants, hawkers, and pretty boardwalks. The city of Albufeira had an old town and a new town. The old town had quaint narrow and winding streets. The new part was modern apartment buildings with big windows and balconies facing the water from the cliffs.

We drove to Faro on another day and got out and walked around the old town within the 12th century walls.

For the balance of the week, Bobbie took some long walks and I rested up trying to get my knee back into shape.  Things are getting better...one day at a time.  Next stop - Spain.