Life's a Stitch

The trekking party is over for now. It was an exhausting day although no walking was involved. It was time to return to Lisbon to return the car and spend a night prior to boarding the ship. The drive was nerve wracking on Portugal’s version of the autobahn. Our brains having been used to travelling at the speed of snails on the trail were assaulted with cars in the fast lane some passing at 145+kph. We passed an unfortunate accident in the opposite direction involving a bus and a rolled over car, no doubt travelling at high speed.

The landscape didn’t change much over the course of the trip, fields and hills dotted with groves of low trees,  but we passed an area of stork nests on power poles. It looked like a stork condo – each of those dark spots being a nest.

I, as navigator, was frustrated when we got to the city and exit names/numbers did not match what the gps was telling us. We made it back to our cheap and cheerful Ibis Hotel after many twists and turns in hilly Lisbon. 

E and I indulged in lunch with white wine while the guys re-entered the fray to return the car. We relaxed by booking a daylong tour to Sines for our unexpected extra day in Lisbon, but at dinner we learned that it too, was cancelled due to issues around the port strike.

We walked to a nearby take away chiaroscuro for dinner. While it cooked we had drinks and appies at a restaurant down the block while watching junior football on the ever present sports TV that accompanies dining in Portugal. The owner/chef recommended fresh goat cheese (mild as boccancini) with pumpkin jam and bread to go with our olives, that in Portugal are served in sufficient quantities to count as a serving of veggies. We were burned again by ordering a bottle of the house wine, forgetting that it doesn’t mean the least expensive.

Our main course was half a chicken, a rack of ribs (called a piano of meat) and two large sausages to share. Sold by weight it came to e15.50, a delicious bargain.

We were all ready for bed at an early hour, with visions of the Ibis’s breakfast hot pastel nata towers dancing in our heads. Stay tuned for our impromptu adventure in Lisbon.