1980 Lisboa/Lisbon (7/24/1980)

Thursday, 24 July 1980

In the middle of the night, there was a smell of electricity and the train came to a halt in a small station. It was stopped for 2-3 hours as rumors flew around that the "main engine" was broken down. At the same time a crew of men hammered at the wheels of the car behind us. Finally we started off as most of the passengers waiting outside made a mad dash to board the train. Slept on and off through the night; the Dutch fellow slept on the floor between the seats, and a German guy went up into the luggage area over the corridor. One of our German compartment mates was drunk, and so was not disturbed by sleeping out in the corridor. Early in the morning we took turns “window-hanging” so that the German guys could have the seats for dozing. Coming into one station, there was a burning smell and smoke/dust creeping into our compartment. Another long station layover as the crew worked on the locked brakes of our car. Finally arrived in Lisboa at 13:30, four hours later than scheduled. Lisboa time was only 12:30.

Ticket for Lisbon

Terry and Kathy went to information for a map, and then got in the line for train tickets. I joined a Spanish line at the money exchange window and finally got $50 worth of Portuguese escudos. Joined Terry and Kathy, and we finally got our tickets back to Madrid for that evening. We went to sit outside for a brunch of stale melba toast and strawberry jam, and water. Then took a hike practically straight up the hill to the old section of town where they were not having the Thieves’ Market. So we continued on to the castle of Sao Jorge. Near the entrance two fellows told us our friends from the U.S. have just arrived, and were snubbed when we ignored them. Walked around the castle for a view of the harbor and city below, and saw the open-air aviary including some white peacocks.

View from Sao Jorge (TAT)

Kathy at Sao Jorge (TAT)

Kathy using a fountain (TAT)

White peacocks

I then discovered my film hadn't been winding through the camera, so I had to start all over, and we thus missed some pictures of the J family and Madrid. Walked to a tiled arbor where a lot of "little" boys were splashing in a pool, including a couple of nudists.

Tiled arbor

Arbor view (TAT)

Walked down the hill to downtown and joined the crowds of people. Found a restaurant to try, but first continued up the main avenue a ways to see the shopping center at the mid-town train station, and to see the incline trolley. Returned to the restaurant where we ordered some "typical" dishes. Kathy had filet pork ribs with clams in an oily tomato sauce (Portuguese style). Terry had beefsteak and potatoes ala Portuguesa, and I had hake filets with boiled potatoes with mayonnaise. Everything was very salty. We had a waiter whose eye was very hard to catch, and Kathy got "a bit" upset and stormed out of the restaurant. Finally an older waiter came to give us our bill, and apparently he thought only Terry and I had eaten since Kathy had left, so even when we tried to explain, we only got charged for two dinners. The total was less than $9! Then did a little shopping for a bottle of gasossa and cookies, and water to tide us over on our trip back to Madrid. Walked towards the port where the ferries take off, and saw the "gateway" to the city.

Praça do Comércio with Arco da Rua Augusta
and statue of King José I

In the distance you could see the Christ monument. Saw lots of old trolleys and double-decker buses. Walked through the market area along the waterfront. Took the long walk back to the train station along a street obviously not used much by tourists as we got stared at by the lots of men just hanging around. Passed a series of fountains where bums were washing up.

Rossio Square with the Column of Pedro IV

Finally reached the station. Used the last of our Portuguese change on ice cream, and changed the bills back into pesetas. Had a long wait for the train which came in a couple hours late. I had to use the station restroom, and used the very last Portuguese coins (about 6 cents worth) to tip the cleaning lady. Finally after watching station crewman pile bags of mail precariously on carts which were quickly but neatly pulled through the crowds of people, we boarded the train. It left rather soon after that, and in our compartment we were joined by three Spanish-speaking fellows. It turned out they spoke English fairly well, and were from Bolivia and Chile, but they had lived in Sweden the last six years. They wanted to have a pretty heavy politico-social conversation with us, especially concerning the black situation (i.e., the Miami riots). They finished off a bottle of port (from Portugal, of course) from which they offered Terry and Kathy sips. Kathy and Terry attempted to go to the restaurant car several times, but were thwarted by customs officials. After that business was done, they found the snack bar at which they were to use up a 50-escudo bill, but only spent 30 of them on a couple bags of potato chips. The South Americans then went to the snack bar for several bottles of beer to help celebrate the 22nd birthday of Arijez. The others were Alberto and Luis (both aged 20). They had fun guessing our ages. Soon we went to sleep, and Luis climbed up into the luggage rack over the corridor. When the next set of customs officials came through, they were wondering to whom the extra passport belonged until Luis yoohooed from above!

Next: Torrejon again.