October 3, 1997
To Lisbon
The final day's ride into Lisbon was memorable above all for our difficulties trying to reach the city center. We covered most of the day's fairly quickly in spite of Rachael's gearing problem, and by about 2 were on the outskirts of the metropolis. The morning's ride was strenuous. Fortunately we did not encounter the same strong headwinds that we had the night before, but the day was another scorcher and the terrain was challenging as we steeply dropped into and climbed out of a series of valleys. Months afterwards though, the predominant memory of the day was of the intense frustration and increasing sense of desparation we felt as we tried to penetrate the ring of highways and freeways that gird the west of the city. We spent about three hours trying to cover a distance of about two miles, doubling back several times, asking for directions with little success, until we finally found relief at a police station at which someone was able to describe a route on which bicycles were legal the whole way. It was quite a memorable experience.
Lisbon is probably the least bicycle-friendly city I've seen; and in fact I recall seeing only a single other cyclist there. Many of its main streets are cobblestoned; traffic is dense and manic; navigation on its curvaceous, randomly oriented streets is very confusing; and the gradients are frequently severe. Even after we found our way into the downtown area we still endured another hour of traversing the central business district until we reached our hotel on the northeast quarter, close to the airport and our flight home.
Unfortunately, I discontinued my journal before leaving Obidos, and my memories of Lisbon itself were sketchy a month later when I picked it up again and finally got around to completing it. I remember the hotel at which we stayed especially well however - we were in a 6th or 7th floor pension, which was accessed using an exceedingly eccentric and antiquated elevator. It was a narrow, lattice-gated cage with a very tempermental set of controls. It was easy to get trapped in it by not following instructions completely. It was always with a sense of relief that we exited it at our destination. Our room was also memorable for the vantage it offered on the city - we were high enough above surrounding buildings to be able to see out to churches on neighboring hills, enjoy the rows of laundry hanging from windowsills, and look down at the doves on the rooflines beneath us.
Once out of the hotel , we wandered about quite a bit in the Alfama, a uniquely colorful and ethnically diverse neighborhood by the waterfront, climbing up and down its steep and angular streets, admiring the variety of its many open markets - in particular its seafood stalls which offered every imaginable type of fish, eel and crustacean. We also wandered around at length through various more upscale commercial areas, seeking out souveniers to take home with us, and visiting various monuments and churches.
For transportation we got around primarily by taxi and on foot. Bicycling was clearly out of the question. but the taxi experience was also hair-raising, with drivers traversing narrow, densely double-parked streets and alleys at breakneck speeds. We saw at least a couple of wrecks while in Lisbon, and the aftermath of many others; and in general felt like we had beaten the odds in getting out with our bodies intact. In spite of the risks though, we resorted to taxis several times because navigation was very difficult, and handing the controls over to a native was the one sure way of finding our goal. Roaming around on foot, we regularly discovered that we were completely lost and either well off route or facing the same church again that we had passed a half hour earlier.
Dinners in Lisbon were also memorable - in particular, window shopping for the best place to dine was intriguing. Many establishments enticed us with seafood displays - most typically consisting of piles of crabs, lobsters, crayfish, or other tempting crustacea. Our lack of adventureousness prevented us from straying far from roast chicken, salad and a bottle of vinjo verde however.
Among the many remarkable events of our trip, we arrived in Lisbon at exactly the right time to make the best of the weather. After a solid week of hot sun in Portugal, we reached the city just in time for the rains. Saturday night brought a downpour and an intense thunderstorm which rumbled throughout the night. The next morning we woke up early for the ride to the airport, and were gratified to discover we pavements but clearing skies for the short ride north. After a few miles of mostly quiet streets, we arrived at the terminal and began the process of packing for home.
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Today's ride: 47 miles (76 km)
Total: 1,393 miles (2,242 km)
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