Lisbon

Lisbon

At nine in the morning local time we set foot in old Europe, and without wasting time we headed to the luggage storage to leave our backpacks and head off to discover Lisbon. Having taken a shuttle bus in about twenty minutes we had reached the city center and precisely Rossio. We were welcomed by an incredibly deserted city with bars and shops still closed and absolutely free of cars and people. The time at our disposal was limited since at four in the afternoon our flight would depart; we began exploring the lower city until we reached Praça do Comércio and then walked back up through the steep porphyry-tiled alleys towards the Sé Catedral and then climbed up to one of the highest points of the city: Castelo de São Jorge. From here it was possible to admire the whole lower city, a wonderful interweaving of majestic buildings all splendidly cared for.

We stayed in the castle gardens contemplating the panorama and then headed to a nearby bar and had lunch. We were dead tired since on the plane as usual we hadn't slept, also due to the "return anxiety". Nevertheless we had another goal: the Belem district where it was possible to admire the imposing tower, the Navy Museum and above all the Jeronimos Monastery with the beautiful Empire Square in front of it. The time at our disposal was truly up and so, having taken the bus back to Praça da Figueira, we got into a taxi that took us back to the airport. At four-oh-five we boarded bound for Frankfurt, a technical stop to reach Venice's Marco Polo. Late in the evening we landed in our Bel Paese still not convinced and incredulous that everything was now over: we had set off from right there exactly 367 days earlier but to us it seemed like yesterday.

Welcomed by our families in tears we retrieved our suitcases and instead of the usual hotel this time our home awaited us: SADNESS!!! x