Tariffa to Seville to Barcelona to Lisbon. Today was a travel day. Andy drove us from Tarifa to the Seville airport where we dropped off the car. The Seville airport was huge and empty. We had a cafeteria meal at the airport. When we eat like this, we call it being hungry for 'tengo hambre' (I'm hungry). We shared some chicken mostly to not be hungry.
Our flight was late as the plane didn't even land by the time we were supposed to board, but luckily we are traveling all legs of the journey with Vueling. Our flight was great once we were on our way. The plane was a huge Airbus with sets of three seats on either side of an aisle. The stewardesses were friendly and helped everyone get their luggage stowed. We asked one of them about the flight from Barcelona to Lisbon and he assured us that it would leave from the same terminal that we would disembark from.
When we arrived in Barcelona, our flight wasn't due to post on the board for 50 minutes. So, we got some much needed cash at an ATM and enjoyed a Pans & Company dinner of a jamon and queso sandwich with fries and a Coke (with ice!!!). It was so good and refreshing.
We finished and arrived at the information board in time to find our gate. The gate was posted just five minutes before we were supposed to board the plane, so we were very lucky. We made it to Lisbon in about an hour and fifteen minutes. We learned that Portugal is an hour behind Spain, so it was only 10:30 PM local time when we arrived. We grabbed our bags and headed to the taxi stand.
The taxi drivers have a reputation for being dishonest. I had done some reading about this before we left. But, our driver was excellent. He helped us load our bags, spoke English, and talked to us about life in Portugal. He said that a lot of people are living on 500 EUR per month and that things are really bad for them. He expressed displeasure about the nation of Portugal being dependent on the will of Angela Merkel. He said that they bow to her when she speaks. He was disappointed about Portugal's loss to Spain in the Eurocup last night, but was happy that Italy beat Germany. He said that the Portuguese would cheer for Italy now that Portugal was out.
When we arrived at our hotel, he explained that we are in a pedestrian area. I noticed that he charged us the Tariff 1 rate, which is the cheapest taxi rate. I think we paid only about 12 EUR, which is cheaper than the per person train fare to go from the airport in Rome, Italy into town. Usually the taxi from the airport is a set rate that is much higher than regular fare. This conversation and experience gave me my first clue of the great tragedy that is the Portuguese economy.
Our hotel was just a few steps away from where the taxi dropped us off. Our hotelier warned us about the problem they have with pickpockets. He told us not to keep hotel information anywhere on us in case the robber should get it and then come to the hotel.
Our room is one of the best that we've had on our trip in terms of comfort and cleanliness. We are in a central location in Lisbon on the seventh floor of our hotel. Our main window looks out over the town. We can see the St. George Castle from our window.
Tomorrow we will enjoy some sightseeing in Lisbon.
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