My fliers

JK Rowling on The fringe benefits of failure

"Rock bottom became a solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life". This is a quote from JK Rowling in her Harvard Commencement Address, "The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination". I have never heard her speak before and her humour and frankness spoke to me. I have a feeling she was having an underdig at the Harvard guys. What do you think?

Here's the link

Albufeira

The first class train journey from Lisbon to Albufeira was very comfortable. Lots of leg room. Also, the buffet car was conveniently next to out carriage. €40.50 return. Travelling tourist class would have cost me €35, so paying the extra €5.50 was certainly worthwhile. Crossing the Tagus river on the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge was an experience. A huge suspension bridge with a spectacular view of Lisbon and also of the Cristo-Rei statue at Pragal on the left bank of the river. Unfortunately my camera was in my suitcase so I didn't want to miss the view from the train so my camera stayed where it was.
Listening to an audiobook of Paulo Coelho's The Winner Stands Alone helped pass the 3 or so hours trip to Albufeira. The temperature when I got to Albufeira was a sweltering 31º C. The taxi driver during the short trip to the Beach Club (http://www.ouraviewbeachclub.com/location.asp).
There was my mum sitting down by the pool in the shade. "Oh, he's here. He's early".

Oh NO!!!!!!!!! The Portuguese and football

I have found this really quiet terrace to go for a pre-dinner drink. So off I go.

The place is packed. There be football on a screen. The atmosphere is electric. I won't tell you who is playing.

Now thinking about where to go for dinner.

Seeing Lisbon

Rome is being described as being built on "7 hills". Lisbon on the other hand is persistantly hilly. I decided that the best way to see Lisbon was by tram. So, I embarked on a city tour with the "red car tram 7 hills tour with the "Hop on hop off" system! The car was packed as we set off from the Praca do Comercio, earphones at the ready. The interior of the tram reminded me of the interior of the Glasgow underdround carriages of the 1960s and 1970s; premodernisation days. I stayed on the whole 90 minute tour as often when we stopped for passengers to disembark there were not enough seats for the people waiting outside to get on.

Boy oh boy, how the tram got down some of the narrow streets is a marvel. This tour is really fabulous. Not because I didn't my bearings of the areas of Mouraria, Alfama, Chiado, Sao Bento, and Estrela. I could never reach or find some of the sights again. Lisbon is just too big. The trip was worth it for seeing what I saw. Reminder... keep the tram ticket as I can use it for the next 24 hours for free tram travel.

Portugal again

After breakfast that first morning I went walking and went looking for the elusive Bairro Alto. I kept walking and walking and walking. The roads and pavements got steeper and steeper and steeper.. All of a sudden a wooden trolley bus (tram) cam hurtling round the corner and zoomed clankilly down the hill. I said to myself "I like that".

My mobile phone rang and the caller was the receptionist from the hotel to tell me that my luggage had finally arrived. "Mmmm", I thought, " I have to walk back down these steep hills to get back to the hotel". My All Stars were like ankle straps as I trundled down the hills.

My reunion with my suitcase was like a reunion with my wardrobe and bathroom accessories. I was so glad to see it. Tagged onto the suitcase was a discount voucher from KLM for €25 for the inconvenience I had been caused. That paid for the t-shirt, shorts, tooth brush and toothpaste.

I had read about Tram 28 on numerous reviews as "vintage trams taking passangers from the city centre at sea level up through the narrow maze of streets towards St George Castle". So I troop off to the tourist office to find out where to catch it from in the neighbourhood. "Third street after the archway", was the response. Oh no, not again, the verbal directions. I asked for a map and was given the same identical map I received from the tourist office at the airport. X marked the spot. X was nowhere near the mark. Eventually a tram driver who had stopped at a siding pointed in the direction of the Cathedral. Up there somewhere. I did find it eventually and had fun during the trip.

Did I tell you I found Bairro Alto?

The 28 tram stopped and the driver told us all to get off as it was the end of the line. End of the line? Where in Lisbon were we?

The old broad and her toyboy

There was me, outside, and having some sherry in the warmth of the evening when someone asked me, "Can I ask you a question?". I responded, "You already have". Now, that response always results in a pattern interrupt. After a few seconds she said, "Well if you are going to be like that I won't ask you the question". I told her to go ahead and here's what she asked, "Is the person you are with your girlfriend or your mother?"