Foreword: I am currently sitting on our first bus transfer of the trip. Yes, the driver is a mad man, hell bent on choosing his own speed limits and overtaking any inferior driver he encounters. How each victim was given a license to drive, with each impatient hand wave he does not know or understand; at least its just a minibus. We are sadly leaving our incredible first base in Ipanema, Rio, to reach our first stop on the Costa Verde, Paraty. We’d have preferred to visit Ilha Grande en route; however, with storms forecasted there is little point. If the weather improves we shall back track. Keeping a blog is new to me, and I will approach it in different ways and see what fits. Feel free to leave feedback; I know a lot of you will be looking to ridicule in the comments! The next post will most likely cover Rio. I will eventually cover my hand luggage tactics to silence the sceptics. Ciao.

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A typical spring afternoon greeted L and I at a London Overground station. On our backs, our sole possessions for an indefinite period of travel; on our feet, walking shoes to take us through the trails, desserts and mountains of South America.

The train arrived, and off we set. Travel is never complete without sudden complications, and a car’s unfortunate demise, due to an inability to avoid a bridge owned by the National Rail, did not keep us from reaching Gatwick in time.

Our flights were facilitated by TAP Air, who are supposedly notorious for causing trouble for hand luggage travellers, such as I. Luckily, they made minor fuss, allowing me to classify my laptop and Kindle as an additional personal item, bringing me under the weight limit. My victory did not mean much, however. L preferred to check-in luggage, so that she may enjoy my despair whilst watching the baggage conveyor belts after each flight…

The first leg of our journey brought us to Lisbon. TAP Air offer a significantly reduced fare if you agree to stopover, effectively giving you a free night elsewhere. This also made the flight times rather amiable. Reaching Lisbon required a short afternoon flight, with the second leg to Rio at 2300 the next day saving the need for a night’s accommodation and giving us enough time to enjoy the Portuguese metropolis (and practice the language, which frustratingly meddles with my attempts to learn Spanish, in an easier setting than Brazil).

The conveyor belts moved swiftly and bus 873, whose driver suffered my first stab at Portuguese, dropped us at Marquês de Pombal. Ambling on, still shackled to our new homes, we reached the Chez Nous Guest House, a converted family manor within reasonable walking distance to everything in Lisbon. The guesthouse was extremely clean, filled with large high-walled rooms, with hosts as good as you’ll get. If you fancy a stay in Lisbon, you’ll find it hard to find better value.

Skipping forward somewhat, our short-lived stay was thoroughly enjoyed. Do not fear, as below you’ll find out how we faired trying to take in as much of the city as possible in twenty four hours. Returning to Lisbon’s airport was simple enough, where we had the fortune to experience what must be the best Burger King on Earth, graced with minimal diners and equipped with the Largest Television on Earth, showing the Champions League in all it’s glory. After navigating a false hand luggage re-check announcement at the gate and finding the wrong seat allocations on the plane, which were kindly understood by a gentle Brazilian man, we were strapped in to our Rio-reaching aircraft.

Following an uncomfortable ten hours, we arrived to watch more conveyer belts, smugly race off in an unscrupulous Uber, whose driver’s beaming face appeared to indicate that he was unaware we could refund our extended tour of Rio’s outskirts as soon as we got out (if you didn’t know about this wonderful Uber feature, now you do!), wait in a café until we could check-in to our superb second guesthouse (welcome to Brazilian time), smash a much-needed shower and enjoy Ipanema’s beach and a Misto Quente!

¡Hasta luego!

24 Hours in Lisbon

First on the agenda when you arrive anywhere in the early evening, or perhaps any time, is to decide where to eat. One of my favourite quotes from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy sits with me well on this one:

“The History of every major Galactic Civilisation tends to pass through three distinct and recognisable phases, those of Survival, Inquiry and Sophistication, otherwise known as the How, Why, and Where phases. For instance, the first phase is characterised by the question ‘How can we eat?’ the second by the question ‘Why do we eat?’ and the third by the question ‘Where shall we have lunch?’”

A short conversation with our host directed us to Rodas, a local’s spot where you can “…dine like a king for nothing and enjoy good service.” Amazingly, she wasn’t particularly wrong. L and I enjoyed large potions of typical Portuguese grub, peeled and halved potatoes and vegetables accompanying pork chops and half a grilled salmon. We partnered this with a reasonable house white wine, at a total cost of £10 a head. Ridiculous, really. They even had a small television in the corner, allowing me to keep half an eye on Real Madrid’s bullshit penalty driven victory over Juventus.

We walked off our fine meal amongst the evening liveliness of Bairro Alto. A homely night in the quaint old manor left us feeling as if this entire travelling malarkey was rather easy…

A day in Lisbon can only start with a coffee and pastry in one of its many cosy cafes. It’s easy to do your research here. Lisbon, in general, is very safe; it’s people are friendly and the city is easy to navigate on foot. It is very hilly though.

Le Petite Prince’s solo employee was so impressed at my attempt to order two coffees and two croissants in Portuguese, that when asking whether they accept card, he gave me incomprehensible directions to the nearest cash machine, which I was surprisingly unable to find. Thankfully a shop assistant understood my Spanglish.

L and I love to walk, so on we sauntered to the sea front, passing the Garden of São Pedro de Alcantara, offering excellent views of the central valley and eastern hillside, old tram lines, the Timeout food court and a Lisboa sign made from recycled plastic.

If you follow the sea front towards the centre of the city, you reach the Praça do Comércio, the principal public plaza lined with attractive arches and cafés.

From the plaza, you can head north-east to visit the Lisbon Cathedral and the Castelo de São Jorge. The winding and charming route up the hillside is worth it to reach the castle.

The fortified citadel dominates the high ground, overlooking the historic centre of Lisbon, and further cathedrals to the east. There is a large square, numerous gardens and plenty of castle walls to scale and explore. It’s half price for students, so it was worth it…

We lunched at a local spot en route to the historic centre, which is easily explorable on foot. We rewarded the day’s 20km walk with a Pastel de Nata and an espresso at Manteigaria.

More meandering towards the guesthouse consumed the rest of our time, leaving us to return to the airport in torrential rain; we still weren’t far enough away to escape the British weather.