As mentioned in last week's post, the last night of our holiday in Portugal was spent in the capital Lisbon. We were due to fly home from there on Monday evening, so spent Sunday night here.
After packing, tidying and leaving the villa, we stopped off at a lake en route to Lisbon. It was a scorching hot day, so we just sat under a tree and watched people happily engaging in water sports. OH took a swim, but LB and I didn't. We then stopped off to see a dam on the lake before driving to Lisbon and finding our apartment, which was situated in the Barrio Alto part of the city centre. This made exploring the city really easy, as it was so central and the street itself was lined with interesting little independent shops and cafes.
We didn't have a whole lot of time to explore, but we went out walking and exploring in the evening, had cocktails in a nearby rooftop bar and supper in a restaurant. It is a lovely vibrant city, full of young people enjoying themselves and it felt very safe, although there were warnings to beware of pickpockets on crowded trams.
The city's ancient tram system ran past our apartment. It looked such fun, but we didn't actually ride on it. We did ride on an old funicular down the street, which took us down some steep streets to the waterfront area, where we caught a modern electric tram to Belem to take a look at MAAT, which is the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology. The building is beautiful with facades decorated with white ceramic tiles and it is situated on the river front with beautiful views of the Ponte de 25 Abril bridge which spans the River Tagus and takes you to the eastern side of the city.
We didn't have time to look around the museum, unfortunately, as we had to get back to the apartment and check out, but later we drove over the bridge to see the Christo Rei, which is a huge statue of Jesus Christ. It was well worth a visit and you can climb the monument to get great views, but the queues were long and we needed to get to the airport to fly home, so we didn't really have time. It is situated on the opposite side of the river, and you get an amazing view of the statue and the city of Lisbon across the river.
It is a lovely spot set in beautifully landscaped gardens. From here we had to take the car back and catch a shuttle bus to the airport. There were some ongoing disputes with baggage handling staff at the airport, so some flights had been cancelled. Ours was a little late setting off, but we got home safe and well eventually, late on Monday evening.
We had a fantastic holiday, the Portuguese people are very hospitable and kind, but we were happy to get home and get back to normal life. I ate way too much amazing food and pastries and gained a few pounds during our stay, but I'm sure it will come off again pretty quickly. I would definitely go back, as there is much more to see and do that we didn't have time for in our short visit.
Waking up in our own home on Tuesday morning was lovely. I decided to skip the gym and just have a leisurely day unpacking, doing laundry and food shopping and just generally enjoying being home. The weather was significantly cooler, but we were glad of that, as temperatures in Portugal were in the mid to high 30's centigrade for most of our stay.
On Wednesday, I had promised LB a trip out to our nearest IKEA, as she wanted to buy a shelving unit as part of her bedroom makeover. I went to the gym early which felt good after a week without exercising, and then came back and showered and got ready to go out. We had lunch at IKEA and all the meals were half price with the Family card, so we had a cheap meal out for £6.60.
Once we'd had lunch we completed our shopping there and then stopped of at Home Bargains and did a few other bits of shopping on the way home. It was a busy day, but LB was very happy to be able to get everything she needed to complete her bedroom makeover.
Thursday, I was due back at work at 2pm. I had a quite leisurely morning, having a lie in, then showered and got ready for work before having lunch. Work started off steady, but soon got very busy, as it was pay day for many people, it being the last day of the month. There were a lot of final reductions, so I did do a bit of shopping in my break to take advantage of good prices. Some items were gifts that I put away for Xmas or my birthday and I bought a dress and a pair of jeans to wear for work, as some of my work pants are feeling a bit snug lately.
On Friday, I got up and ready to go to the gym again. I had a good workout and then came home for lunch. After lunch it was time to get ready for work at 3pm. Work was super busy, due to it being pay day weekend, so I was kept very busy all evening.
Saturday, I got up and had a leisurely morning. There was no free gym class, as it had finished for the summer. I was due at work for 3pm again and it was another super busy day/evening, with queues of people wanting to buy stuff. As a consequence, the shop was a mess at the end of the day and we were late finishing. It was nearly 11pm by the time I got home. Another two people left tonight, one of them a manager that I new was leaving, the other a staff member that I didn't know was leaving.
I was late to bed tonight, as it took a while to wind down from the day. I crawled into bed eventually at the end of what turned out to be a busy week.
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