Toilets, wet socks, and basements....oh Lisbon!

Well, to say my last few days have been an adventure is an understatement. It has been a whirl wind of meeting up with new friends, cramming cities into 2 days, and bus trips. Last night I missed my bus, which ended up being great because I had less time to wait in Saville for my midnight bus. When we finally did arrive inSaville we realized that we were actually at the wrong station...could have been bad but all I had to do was get on the city bus until it got to the Estacion de Autobuses. It took about 30 minutes but I needed to waste time anyways. I arrived at Plaza de Armas at around 10 pm. So I had a couple of hours but I could sit and read. My tummy had been upset on the bus so I hadn't eaten the salad I bought for dinner. But since I was on steady ground I was able to have my yummy Caesar salad and some carrot I had for snacks. I watched the computer screen for my departure gate but after about an hour I realized it wasn't being updated. It took me another hour to realize it had stopped showing times past 10:50, so apparently the folks on late buses are really good at guessing! I went down to the bus area which is outside but covered around 15 minutes before my bus was going to arrive and managed to find someone to ask about my bus gate. I found out and thought I should use the bathroom before having to resort to the bus toilet which is never a fun experience. I walked in and it was like music from a horror movie was playing and the camera was moving for a close up of my disgusted face. To start with the door to the outside doesn't even close, secondly the one stall was covered in I don't even want to know, the garbage was all over the floor, the toilet was full of paper and there was NO toilet seat! OMG! I figured maybe the toilet in the bus wouldn't be so bad after all and went to wait for the bus. The first thing I noticed when I got on the bus was how squishy everything was. The seat in front of mine was already reclined leaving me about a foot of space to fit in. My knees rested on the back of the chair and I felt a little panicky as I took in the close quarters around me. I reclined my seat and took a deep breath hoping for a great sleep (I roll my eyes here). I took another look around and noticed that there was suspiciously not a lot of room behind the last seat before the rear door. I got up to investigate and sure enough, NO TOILET! This was a 7 hour journey through the night and I don't understand the thinking that no toilet would be OK! I got up to ask the drivers, who didn't speak English about bathroom breaks (I'm notorious for needing a lot through the night and get panicky if I don't have access to a bathroom). The driver kept pointing to the gross bathroom in the station and gesturing for me to hurry. Figuring it's better to be safe than sorry I ran over and did my first "Christine" squat and balance with the door handle, since it didn't lock! Did I mentiin there was no toilet paper? India will be a cinch! I ran back and prepared to sleep. Wouldn't you know that a mere 30 minutes later we had our first bathroom break....and then we had 2 more! The last time we stopped was about 2 and a half hours before arrival, so about 3:30am. I didn't feel like going so I sat and waited for the drivers. As I waited I started to panick. What if I really had to go in an hour? And the more I thought about it the more I felt like I already did. But I couldn't leave, the drivers would be back any moment. Figuring it was worth the risk I jumped up and ran to the restroom. After finding the first stall without TP, the seoncd stall without TP or a seat, I finally was able to use the third. By this time I was starting to worry so I rushed out and ran out of the bathroom only to see both drivers in the cafe chatting away enjoying coffees! Sigh, of course! We arrived in Lisbon half an hour early, at the wonderful hour if 5:30! I trudged towards the metro stairs and walked down. The first thing I noticed in the wide hallway area was bodies and blankets huddled on the benches. I hesitated and thought about going down or waiting in the rain. I looked down both ends of the hallway and on one end could see Christmas lights glittering. Figuring those were close to where people would be I too a deep breath and walked with my eyes straight ahead. Most of them were still sleeping but I didn't want to cause any problems by being there. Turns out it was fine and sure enough at the Christmas lights were some people waiting for the metro to open. It didn't actually open until 6:30 so we all stood around for close to an hour waiting. As I headed over to the ticket machines to buy tickets I met a Japanese man who was having trouble. I helped him buy the ticket and we rode the metro together for part of the way. He has been travelling for a year and a half already and has another 2 years, he figures, before the money runs out! Wowzas! He lives in different places for 3 months trying to learn the local language by living with locals and going to language school. I had to ask about his saving techniques but as it turns out he's a real estate agent and he has some investment properties....

I found my hostel easy enough after climbing an extremely steep hill beside the tram tracks. My hostel is in an old mansion which has been restored to its original colour, bubble gum pink! It's also apparently a heritage building. I reached the front door only to realize there was a steep staircase still to climb, boy my legs were getting a workout. I arrived to a lovely quiet waiting area and pulled out my tablet to play around. They offered me breakfast and brought me tea. It was a really nice first impression. I asked about the walking tour as well as a million other questions and the receptionist was awesome. In the pouring rain I left to meet my walking tour. To be honest I can't remember much of what he said. It was a lot of information and I was really tired. He gave us a lot of good tips for places to go and things to eat so I wound my way down the hills towards the river and followed that back towards the centre. Did I mention that Lisbon is known as the city of 7 hills? Though my guide claims its many more than 7, and I agree! I found some lovely things as I searched for somewhere to have lunch. I finally found a place. It looked like a bakery, the original reason I stopped (:p), but actually had the exact dish I was hoping to find. It's called Bacalhau Braza and it's cod fish, shredded potatoes, olives, egg and some other stuff. It was delicious. My meal included dessert, the traditional Portugese dessert of Pastel de Nata. Those of you who know me well know that I do NOT eat custard, yuk! This dessert was a tart with egg cream (my tour guide called it) and it was so good! Not like custard at all though it looked like it. It was a fabulous meal and the portugese man that served me at the counter was so sweet.

So imagine, I've slept about 4 hours total,  my feet are soaking wet, and I head back to the hostel to check in to find that my room is out the front door, down the watery stairs and through a patio door on the street...awesome! Not! Every time I want to use the kitchen, the common room, the wifi I have to go outside. Not to mention my key barely works so it takes me forever to get in to the room. The inside is really neat I will admit. It looks like an old cellar. In the shower is an exposed brick arch over the window and there's a loft with one bed. There are a few stairs to that go around a corner to get into the bathroom where the sink is built under the mantel or an old fireplace. The walkway between the 2 sections of rooms is a thick arched mini hallway like a cellar would have. I sat upstairs with my wet shoes for a little while before heading out to get some dinner. I walked to the grocery store and bought some veggies and pasta to make a salad. For €3.77 I have enough food for 3 meals! Awesome! When I left the store the rain was coming down like dumped buckets....and when I got to the steep hill, the water was rushing down like a waterfall. If I had been dry before, I sure wasn't now.

So here I am in my basement room writing my blog. So far I find Lisbon an old town with character. Tomorrow I am heading to see a small town to the south called Sintra. I have so little time here so despite the fact that it's raining buckets, I will be out; wet shoes or dry!