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I left from LAX Thursday, the 22nd, for my flight to Lisbon, Portugal, with a stop and transfer in Paris, France. I flew on Delta Airlines, and funny thing is that Delta’s color is purple, and I felt that the flight attendants were all wearing purple clothes in support of the purple I was wearing for my trek for the Alzheimer’s Association.

With a two hour layover in Paris I finally got to Lisbon after fifteen and a half hours of travel. I took a city bus the five miles to the city center near my hostel. From there I walked the three blocks up a very steep street to my hostel, and by the time I got there I was drenched in sweat because the temperate was in the nineties. It is a sign of what I can expect as far as weather, but I will hope for cooler weather.

I had fortunately booked a place to stay at the last minute. Because I booked it at the last minute I actually got the apartment, or flat, for less than the standard hostel rooms. The apartment is only one of three in the hostel where all other occupancy are basically standard hostel rooms. Not really knowing where to stay, I also ended up within two blocks of the Lisbon Cathedral, and two blocks of the Church of Santiago, the official starting place of the Camino Portugués. The cathedral is a secondary starting place. So far it seems my higher power and karma is guiding me.

I tend to say this on many of my treks, but Lisbon is definitely a beautiful place where I could spend a lot more time. It is obviously a beautiful old city with so much history. As I have mentioned before on other treks, if I stopped to smell the roses in all the fabulous places I have walked, I’d never make it anywhere because there is just too much to experience and see!

Lisbon is on the coast, inside a beautiful bay, with the city spreading up into the surrounding hills with views throughout the city. Unfortunately for me it has a warm climate even though it is on the coast.

I was surprised by the crowds as there are hundreds, if not thousands, of tourists walking the narrow cobblestone sidewalks. It is peak season here and you can hear languages from all over the world, and the clerk at the hostel mentioned many this time of year are from Italy. The great neighborhood where I am staying is one of the most popular spots of the city and therefore the crowded streets. I have three balconies in my flat and enjoyed watching the crowds on the streets, yet I am looking forward to hopefully finding some solitude on the Camino.

The sidewalks are very nice looking, but the small tile or stones inlaid into the cement aren’t conducive with my hiking boots for some reason as they feel very slippery with the my Vibram soles of my hiking boots.

With less than three hours of sleep, I still went out Friday night walking the busy streets sightseeing and people watching. I had to flip a coin to decide at what multitude of restaurants to eat my first meal here. I ordered a scallop and mushroom dinner as what I figured would be my big splurge dinner for the Camino trek. Sorry, no scallops, but we have some shrimp from Mozambique, a former Portugués colony. Sure, a few shrimp sound good, but a tiger shrimp the size of a lobster was a surprise.

Today, Saturday, I slept until after 9:00 am, and still suffering from an eight hour jet lag, and my body and mind didn’t know what to do. I went downstairs and had the breakfast that came with the flat and then went out into the street with the hordes of people walking up to the view points and the Lisbon Cathedral. Other than the tourists walking the streets, there were hundreds of little scooters of varying sizes, from golf carts to large four to six passenger scooters buzzing up and down the streets. The city also has electric trolly cars that also looked to be packed to their fullest.

After finding the Lisbon Cathedral and the Church of Santiago, I also found the first traditional yellow arrows at both pointing the way to Santiago, Spain. The Church is closed and not used very often. The Cathedral is mainly open as a museum and only has services once or so a week. Since both are within a block of each other, I decided to start my Camino tomorrow morning from the Cathedral.

After my short and wonderful walk around Lisbon I went back to my flat to assemble the Wheelie and pack in preparation for my first day on the Camino Portugues. I had considered taking the train or bus to an alternate starting point about 9 miles (15 kms) from here, which eliminates having to walk through some of the busy and industrial areas of the city. For me walking through good and bad areas has always been part of the experience of a trek.

Dinner was at a nice little restaurant a few blocks away across from a park with good and inexpensive menu, and a good place to sit outside and people watch. Sitting outside near a plaza I one of the things I love about Europe. Thankfully Portugal is not like Spain where places don’t open or serve dinner until after 9:00 pm.

It’s fairly early to bed tonight and hope my time clock will let me get a good night’s sleep for tomorrow’s first day on the Camino.

Best wishes to all,

Ted

My corner flat at the Hostel 4U in Lisbon, with two balconies to the right and one around the corner to the left.

 

My balcony view

 

One of the ways lined with a multitude of wonderful restaurants

 

When I said I’d have the shrimp, I thought they’d be the usual tiny ones. This was a tiger shrimp

 

Lisbon Cathedral with all the tourist traffic

 

Note all the tourist scooters

 

Inside the Cathedral, where I got my Camino passport that I am holding

 

Lisbon from one of the view points between the Cathedral and Church of Santiago

 

The Church of Santiago, the official starting point of the Camino Portugués

 

Sign indicating the start of the Camino Portugues, 610 km (379 miles)

 

Note the first traditional yellow arrow pointing the way to Santiago

 

The city electric trolly car

 

The tourist mode of travel

 

Walking back uphill to my flat