I didn't even bother to write up my Sicily trip, and here I am, a week at home inbetween two visits to Portugal. The first and subject of this trip report, was a long-planned girl's trip to celebrate being able to travel again/a 40th birthday/hanging out with a bunch of women who have never traveled without kids before (and the last time we all got together sans kids was just for one night at a friend's wedding 4 years prior...before that, 7 years ago, at another wedding. You get the idea.)
We had rented a villa in the surf town of Ericeria for 3 nights, but since the flight was cheaper departing Thursday by almost $100, I decided to go solo that day and meet up with my friends in Lisbon the next afternoon. Aside from one night in Paris after friends left, I've never actually traveled solo and was nervous, not about navigating on my own or safety, but simply of being bored or lonely. Couldn't have been further from the truth! I enjoyed these 24 hours or so on my own so much that I think I might have to try this out again for longer!
I flew the very early 7:00 am flight on Eurowings from Stuttgart to Lisbon. I checked in online and had my boarding pass in the app on my phone, where I'd checked a box to confirm I met the Covid-19 rules for entry. That was it. My (German) vaccination pass was not checked once the entire trip and no test was needed (I did research all this extensively to make sure before I left). Despite this, the queue at the new T1 security area in Stuttgart was surprisingly long at 6:00 a.m., over 25 minutes. I tried my usual gambit of using two bags for toiletries to get with my two carry-on bags per EW's new horrible pricing structure, but the security guards didn't agree with my logic, but let me take my items anyway. Everyone on the flight was masked per the current rules, but it was about 50/50 in the airports themselves.
Upon arrival in Lisbon, I knew a bus supposedly took me closer to my hotel but when faced with the choice, I decided to take the metro instead, bought my card loaded with a 24 hour day ticket from the machine and was quickly whisked into Lisbon, where I caught a bus easily, "zapping" the card as I entered the bus. I found the public transit really easy and efficient, but I had researched in advance and used Google maps to navigate transit which worked great.
I stayed at the Ritz & Freud B&B just down (then up again) from the Parliament building in the Misericordia district, which I really liked, even though I nearly got clipped by the 28 tram as soon as I got there. It was a nice mix of a historic neighborhood that old timers clearly still lived in (from the laundry to the old men drinking wine with friends just out their front door somehow not getting clipped by the tram) and some trendy cafes, hipster restaurants, and artisanal boutiques.*
*on a side note, I guess I've lived in Europe too long, because I did not realize what a trendy place Lisbon and Portugal has become for Americans and for Californians in general to relocate to, but I was shocked at the number of young North American hipsters, some of whom definitely seemed more like expats than tourists. There were also tons of young Germans and Brits. I don't know if I've ever been somewhere where the average non-native seemed more likely to be under 30 than over.
The B&B let me drop off my luggage at 11:00 (no regular front desk hours) and gave me my key so I could explore while my room was made ready. I was already enchanted with Lisbon but was also starving so I headed to the highly-rated Seventh Brunch Coffee nearby (up a hill...everything is up a hill) to have a fabulous Eggs Benedict and mimosa with incredibly friendly service. Great food and friendly people became a theme of the whole trip!
Continued in the next post..