Lisboa 2010

   There is something surreal about being in a big interesting city, with lots of things to see, be it historic or recreational, where the people are very helpful and attentive to your needs, the sun shining, the heat pleasant.....and yet you don't want to be there!.  It becomes more surreal again when you discover that you cannot even get out of that city. Not by air, not by sea, not by rail nor by road and the source of your captivity is invisible to your eye. In fact it exists on the air stream tens of thousands  of feet in the sky.  And so it was as we scampered around Lisbon this April, attempting to uncover an exit route which would bring us even as far as Portsmouth in England.  All the time we discovered that thousands of equally active minds had beaten us to the ports, stations or terminals...... what a time to discover you're not the only genius in Europe. Big is how I would describe Lisbon....sprawling would be an even more accurate summing up. Nearly every day we found new unexplored streets which had something intersting to attract ones attention. Fashion for Ber, Food for Bren. Well one has ones priorities!.
  We spent 7 days in the Zenit Lisboa Hotel which was very comfortable and the food ( priorities! priorities! ) was beautiful.  We were in walking distance to a couple of Metros, for super convenience, but we often chose to walk into the city centre which was about 2 miles away. Towards the end of the fourth day we wandered around the immediate vacinity only to discover a number of Large shopping centres....and a wide selection of eateries..... ah Bliss!  I of course enjoyed the local favourite sweet, which is more or less a mini custard pie which was delicious  (Droooooool). This is why we did so much walking, Ber to keep her sugar levels down, Bren to keep his weight down.