Getting lost

Was I going to Oriente or Santa Apolónia, my cabin-mates asked me when I slithered into my bunk last night. I had no idea. I just thought I was going to Lisbon. 

What a boon mobile phones are. In the darkness I was able to download the train schedule with all its stops then check Googlemaps to see which station was closest to where we would be staying. Slightly less happily, the train itself also alerted me to all the stops, though namelessly, as we jolted and crunched our way across Spain and into Portugal. But a few times I emerged from a dream so I must have slept a bit. 

At Oriente, which I now knew was our penultimate stop, a couple of young French travellers stepped off the train to uncramp their night legs then watched aghast as we and their travelling companion drew slowly out of the station, train door still open. 

Arriving bleary at 7.30am when your room isn't available till 3pm isn't great. After a couple of sullen coffees in a bar by the station where the locals were on shots, we hauled ourselves and our bags to the Museu do Azulejo - the patterned tiles that decorate the front of many Lisbon buildings - to try to get a sense of them before we actually saw them. A fabulous museum, even through fatigue. Then we dragged ourselves to our little flat in Alfama where our host said we could dump our bags early. She was very welcoming with masses of information in impressive English. She advised us to get lost in the steep narrow streets and we had no problem following her advice. At each choice of route, we chose Up and gradually wound our way to the castle on the top of the nearest hill.  Fantastic views over tight-spaced terracotta roofs and gleaming white and pastel walls (extra), over the grand Praça do Comércio to the glistening River Tagus with its cranes and gantries and one full-masted sailing ship.

We got lost again on the way back down to our small flat in the centre of Alfama and, as the evening drew on, we discovered it was surrounded by barking dogs, late-night Fado-singers, their enthusiastic audience and street conversations getting gradually louder as midnight approached.


I've found a way to add extras, for those who want to see what else I was looking at on previous days.