My first cable car trip! On an Austrian-built cableway. Along a river. In Lisbon. Right. Well, they say there’s a first time for everything. That’s a first time for a whole lot of things! The Oldies got an insider tip to the effect that the Oriente train station would be well worth visiting for its spectacular modern architecture. ‘Yawn. How exciting’, I thought. The station, however, is actually stunning, with its roof of glass and steel made to look like…
Look at that view! This is a window sill I don’t object to. Apart from the Oldies snoring in the background, it can’t get much better than this. Suburbia would never have been high on my list of places to hang out in, but I can certainly live with life in suburban Lisbon. Well, it comes with beaches for a start! And staying in a seventh floor flat, sure, when I half close my eyes and squint just so, it…
-Well, hi there! Haven’t I seen you here before? There can’t be many wooden seagulls about, not even in Portugal. -Hiya. Yeah, quite possible. I was here a few months ago. You might have seen me then. Oh sorry. I’m Seamus, from Ireland. -Great to meet you, Seamus. I’m Tulio. I suppose there are plenty of turnstones like me in Ireland too. -Sure are, Tulio! -So what brought you back to Portugal, Seamus? -A couple of oldies. -What? -Sorry, my…
Carcavelos beach, Lisbon This is a lovely surprise. I am on a flying visit to Portugal with Her Ladyship. I don’t know what His Lordship is doing back in Austria. Perhaps he is still looking for the key of the garage. Who knows and who cares? The main thing is I am back on the beach! We are staying in Carcavelos, just outside Lisbon, and we have wonderful views of the ocean from our balcony. It is hard to believe…
Lisbon, the so-called ‘white city’, sure is colourful! I love the fact that it is built on hills and has plenty of Miradouros (viewing points), so I was able to get a good bird’s eye view of the city. Her Ladyship’s creaky knees were put through their paces on those steep hills. She cheated a bit at one point though when she insisted we take the Santa Justa Elevator rather than climb the hill up to the ruins of the…