Last Day in Lisbon

We decided that after a couple of days  of sightseeing, we would just take it easy today and walk around Lisbon’s Old Town and do some people watching.  We spent the morning wandering, stopping at a couple of parks along the way, and found a nice view of Lisboa at the top of the hill.  We also managed to find the way to get to the top of the elevator to Old Town by walking instead of paying for a ride up; a handy tip the guys at the hostel told us about!

In the early afternoon we wandered back to the hostel and started to pack our bags.  Both of us were sore and tired from two days of a what seemed like non-stop walking (especially the uphill trek in Sintra) so I decided to run down and try to get some takeout while Paul started working.  There is a tiny little cafe at the bottom of the hostel and I tried to order some coffee, but when I tried to order it to go, the guy said they don’t have takeout cups for coffee! I tried to explain to him that I was just staying at the hostel upstairs so I could bring him his glasses back right away, but he didn’t seem to understand me and kept shaking his head.  Thankfully the guy next to me spoke English and some Portuguese and stepped in to help me.  In the end, we ended up getting take-out coffee in the little plastic cups they use to serve beer and I raced it back upstairs hoping the cup wouldn’t melt.  I think I should have just tried to find a Starbucks!

Lisbon has been quite pretty and the weather here is awesome, but a part of me can’t wait to get back to where people speak English!  Whoever said you can get by with just English anywhere in Europe lied!  As we move forward I am hoping for better bathrooms, no weird families, and an easier time communicating.  Oh, and some better food please!