Portugal Days Thirteen – Fifteen: All Good Things Must Come To An End (Lisbon, Canada)

After debating the pros and cons of various modes of transport, we opted to take the train from Porto to Lisbon. Everything went smoothly in terms of logistics. We travelled with Intercidades which was cheaper and only a little slower than the Alfa Pendular option we took from Lisbon to Faro…but I will admit it was a much rougher ride and there was zero air conditioning on board. John and I came away from that trip a bit queasy. From the train station we headed straight to our final lodging in Portugal – a hotel near the airport. After unpacking the necessities and watching a bit of HGTV (yet another hit for the kids and one of the few shows aired in English – always helpful), we headed back to the downtown core for some more wandering. We weren’t aiming to do anything in particular, but saw more architecture, bought our final pasteis (including an Oreo cheesecake pastel for A and one last set from Castro for the rest of us), spent half an hour searching for a public bathroom (my favourite vacation activity), and played what felt like hours of word games with the kids to keep them engaged and relatively content.

The evening ended with a long hike up to the top of the city, where we met John’s family for a farewell dinner (sushi and related culinary delights). 

DAY FOURTEEN

Our final day.

As the primary itinerary maker I was conflicted about what to do with this last day. The obvious answer would be a trip to Sintra – one of the most famous towns in Portugal and something we hadn’t fit into the first part of our visit. The problem with Sintra is the crowds. And the timed tickets for things with zero wiggle room. And the fact that it would have required us to get up early and, likely, arrive back at the hotel quite late. 

Plus, it’s always nice to leave a few things undone to serve as motivation for a return trip, right?

While it pained me a bit not to pursue a trip to Sintra, it was the right decision and to fill the gap I spontaneously booked a sailing adventure ($103 CAD total for all of us). It felt like a bit of a gamble, but the speedboat cave tour had been such a success, so I figured it was worth a try.

While the skippers weren’t overly dynamic, the ride was lovely – especially the time our family spent on the bow of the boat spotting iconic landmarks (Christo Rei! Monument of the Discoveries! Belém Tower!) from the water, instead of land. The kids really enjoyed this adventure and I heaved a big sigh of relief – my final “planned” event in Portugal went off without a hitch. No one got seasick. No one fell overboard. The weather was perfect. Check, check, check.

After the sailing adventure, we rendezvoused for the final time with John’s sister who wanted to take us to her favourite diner in Lisbon (Great American Disaster; amazing burgers). We wrapped things up by wandering the streets, buying a few final souvenirs and stopping for one last gelato. 

On a whim (mostly inspired by L who wanted one last chance to look for fish), we headed down to the waterfront, passing through the Rua Augusta Arch. Sitting against a far wall of the arch there was a woman drawing quick (2 minutes/drawing) line portraits for €1. I was mesmerized. This is NOT the sort of thing we do. Ever. I’ve never bought a caricature or any other drawing of myself or my kids, but for 1 EURO! We hopped into line. A went first, and then L. John had headed off to find a few cold drinks, and the kids encouraged me to sit down and get my portrait done. I wouldn’t call them overly accurate, but it was an incredibly fun and memorable experience. Unfortunately, when John got back and we all realized how cool it would be to have a complete set of family drawings…she told us she HAD RUN OUT OF PAPER. What are the odds? I was so bummed about not being able to complete the family drawings I came back thirty minutes later to see if by some miracle she had returned to the same spot with a fresh pad of paper. No luck. Win some, lose some.

Then it was final hugs and goodbyes before heading back to the hotel. We vegged, packed, and mid-evening Googled directions to a nearby grocery store where we pieced together a makeshift charcuterie which we ate on our hotel balcony watching the sun set, dozens of planes land, and what to L was a RIVETING game of soccer (we were on the 8th floor and our balcony looked directly over a small soccer field that was netted on all sides – including the top – so it was basically just plunked down in the middle of city streets!). Then more HGTV and one last night of sleep in Portugal.

We woke up with plenty of time to get to the airport early which seemed like an excellent choice when we saw the huge lines at passport control. Thankfully we had wiggle room, and ended up with more than enough time. Because the flight was so full (perhaps overbooked), two of our four tickets were upgraded to Premium Economy. The same thing happened on our way back from Barcelona and we let the kids enjoy the extra luxuries. This time we sent them back to Economy and enjoyed our warm washcloth and metal cutlery thank. you. very. much. The kids had a great flight, John and I had a great flight – everything went remarkably smoothly. Boring one might say, which is exactly how you want a flight to go.

And thus ended our whirlwind trip through the major sights, sounds, and flavours of Portugal. It was a wonderful trip.

Your turn. Have you ever had someone paint or draw your portrait? Have you ever been to a castle? If so, where?!