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Sunday, December 27, 1998
The first problem one encounters with a fast-paced, last-minute, multi-time zone, mad-dash trip such as mine to Lisbon, Portugal is: will one ever wake up from jet lag long enough to see stuff? In my case, as one already accused of being half-asleep most of the time, the answer is: probably not. But I did have a very enjoyable and interesting trip even if I was half asleep some of the time.
I was faced in mid-December with an anywhere
in the world, free British Airways ticket from my Uncle's
extra air miles. But it had to be used by the end of the year. The
British agent and I decided Lisbon might be fun given the very short
window. But just getting started on the Lisbon trip was problematic. The trip followed directly our family’s return from Duluth, Minnesota where we had stayed a week over the Christmas holidays. In Duluth it seemed everyone had a cold and most of mine caught one within days of arriving in Duluth. It’s no wonder as it is really COLD in Duluth and everyone spends most of their time indoors.
After a nights sleep in my own bed, I packed a very light bag the next day, including America’s strongest cold medicine should I catch the dreaded cold. I finally shoved off to Denver around 3 PM Colorado Time on Sunday.
Check-in
Check-in is uneventful and I even manage to switch seats to a bulkhead seat - much more comfortable on those long flights as you can put your legs up on the wall. Takeoff is delayed due to a huge tailwind that will cut the flying time to under 8 hours. We didn’t want to arrive early in London as all the incoming landing slots were taken prior to our designated arrival time.
The plane was a 777 model, newly equipped with TV´s on a pole that flipped up for each passenger. There were 12 movie channels from which to choose. All comfort functions, including the overhead light, were controlled with a combination phone/remote control stashed in the arm rest. This is not good when you sit in the bulkhead row, as you can’t access the control once your food tray is placed on your lap - you have to wait until you can get back down to the control once your food tray has finally been removed by the steward or stewardess.
I didn’t watch a movie, preferring instead to pore over all the material I´d assembled on Portugal from the web and from some slightly dated travel books Rachel picked up at a used bookstore. After dinner I managed to sleep and almost missed out on breakfast when it came around not that many hours after dinner.
Arriving in London
Once in London I realize how sleepy I am. It’s around 4:00 AM Colorado time. It’s also Sunday, so the usual London businesses won’t be open. I decide to forget trying to go into London as I originally planned because I would be in a fog. Also, it is raining outside and quite chilly. I hadn’t packed an umbrella.
Unfortunately I am faced with long layover of some 8 hours. If I’d been thinking, which I wasn’t perhaps owing to the early hour, I´d go to the check-in desk and attempt to arrange an earlier flight to Lisbon. I found out later that there were at least 4 or 5 flights to Lisbon each day and I probably could have gotten on an earlier one. Just because the travel agent books you on a certain sequence of flights doesn’t mean you should take that at face value - especially if you have a long layover. You should always try to get the next flight out to your destination assuming you don’t want a long layover.
Exchanging Money
I exchanged $100 US dollars for Portuguese escudos. I´d tried to do that job in Denver, but they were out of escudos. In London, they first convert dollars to pounds, then to escudos so you kind of get a raw exchange deal. Around 168 escudos equals 1 U.S. dollar. I also exchange $20 into English pounds. I use the pounds to buy a huge English breakfast (my second today) - I´d probably eaten enough food to sustain me the entire trip!
The escudo will fade away because of the new Euro currency that is now in effect (as of January 1, 1999). So I guess I was making history being one of the last tourists to have to do business in the regional currency. Physical Euro currency won’t actually be distributed for 2 more years - countries will continue to use their local currency. But all Euro countries will mark items for sale in both local and Euro amounts. Any credit card purchase will register in Euros. The exchange rate of Euros to dollars is fairly close to 1-to-1 so it should make it easier for us tourists to quickly figure out what something is worth. Each countries rate of exchange against the Euro was locked in for all time on January 1, 1999.
Waiting
After breakfast I went back to the waiting area and realize how good I am at doing nothing for long periods of time. This must be a skill I picked up during my deep sea diving days where we sat around in the saturation chambers for days at a time in between bad weather. I catnap on and off and simply enjoy listening to the cultures around me - Indian, Russian, Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Arabic - these I recognize easily, there many more being spoken around me no doubt. I finally get on my flight to Lisbon around 7:00 PM London time, lunchtime in Colorado.
Arriving in Lisbon
They serve a nice dinner on the final leg to Lisbon - the Europeans eat rather late, which is my preference too. This time I remember to ask for wine when the beverage cart comes around. British Airways is very organized on the airplane. First comes the beverage cart and that is when you snag your dinner drinks, otherwise, you’re out of luck till they come around with the coffee and tea.
On the airplane, I read an interesting article in an English newspaper, the Independent News. The article is talking about fighting crickets in China. There are four national cricket competitions. The cricket culture dates back 1000 years to the Tang dynasty. More than 40 types or crickets are found in China. People keep crickets as pets in the house as the chirping reminds them of spring. The best crickets sell for over $125 each. Good fighters finishes off an opponent with one bite (takes the others head off). In nature, crickets born in August die in October. In captivity, they can live for 6 to 7 months. There you have your cricket information.
 As we begin the decent into Lisbon I realize I’ve been traveling almost exactly 24 hours since leaving home. Luckily, I´d called ahead to the hotels when I was in London as my first choice was full. My second choice was not - the Hotel Fenix. I’ve decided to stay at a 4 star hotel (they go from 1 to 5). If I was staying longer perhaps I´d look for something less expensive. Still, $80 - $85 bucks a night isn’t too bad (winter rates) considering the room comes with full breakfast and is located right at the top of the main city street where it´s easy to get to the action. I can be downtown in 5 minutes by Metro subway.
Once in Lisbon I quickly clear customs, they agent merely glanced at my passport before stamping it. Outside, there is a taxi line. In 10 minutes I reach the head of the line. My driver speaks a little English. After a very high speed 15 minutes we reached the Fenix. The taxi cost 2100 escudos, about $12 dollars including the tip I gave the driver. (As a note, my return taxi trip cost about half that...hmm). But the taxi´s are metered so it´s a pretty straightforward deal. If you´re lucky, your seatbelt works.
The room I ended up with was very clean though smallish by U.S. standards. The kids would have had fun figuring out the bidet! The 24 hour trip fatigue caused me to sleep well though I couldn´t quite get my new alarm clock set right as it woke me up - much to my annoyance - about 1 hour after I´d fallen fast asleep.
Coming next, day 2, a walk into Lisbon... Click Here. |
