Without the help of a hotel, getting the bags to the ferry to Naples is most interesting. Jim, and I find the guy with the bag business hidden behind small trucks and cars with bags lying about in the open. We talk (sort of), give him our address and time and he writes it down on a scrap of paper. What, us worry? But sure enough, here they are and off they go after 5 euro a bag. We think we are set but that is not the end. Lucky we have the manager of the house to translate so we find we must meet the other folks and pay an additional 10 Euro a bag to get them to and on the boat.
It is a bit confusing but we find the folks, they have our bags and heft them on the boat with a bunch of others. Lots of talking, lots of hands waving, lots of loud talking but somehow it works and the people are honest and our bags make it without a problem. Except we find it is up to us to grab our bags before the ferry takes off again.
We hired a driver to take us to the airport with a stop to see the downtown shopping district in Naples. It is a weird thing but many people tell us it is much better and cheaper to hire a car than depend on a taxi. After our 5 mile drive from the airport in the smallest car for 40 Euro on our way to Positano we believe it! Just our luck, today is a holiday and our driver tells us people have no money this year and so they spend a holiday inside the City of Naples.
The main square and street are packed with folks - it is like New Years in Times Square crowded. The City does not appeal on this day as it's dirty, the side streets look slightly scary and it's almost impossible to find a place to sit and have coffee. We are having no fun but finally we find a small restaurant and the folks there are super nice and we order some small bits to eat and a glass of wine. Something got lost in the translation as a small bit to eat turned into a banquet! We are happy to find our driver and head for the Airport. Maybe we just hit it wrong but Naples is off the list for a return visit.
Into the air we go and Lisbon (pronounced there as Leash-boa) here we come. Our flight calls for us to make a simple plane change in Madrid. Same Iberia air line so this is no sweat. However, the time to board comes and goes and we wait and we wait.
Finally we go through and jump on a bus to be taken to the plane so we can walk up the steps. The bus is crammed full but finally we get there - or do we? We are just sitting there when all of a sudden the driver puts it in gear and off we go to a corner of the airport where he parks it and turns off the engine and without a word of explanation we sit. You get that many people in such a small space and it soon gets hot and the sweat starts to roll down some faces and windows are being opened and people start to yell at the driver in all sorts of languages. Nothing happens.
A couple of big guys who seem to be experiencing the most loss of sweat undo the lock and rip open the doors and that starts a yelling match with the driver but the outside air is might fine. The only problem now is that the door will not close but we drive off anyway and with each turn the door flops open wider and we almost lose a guy or two.
We finally board and in a short time hit the ground and head for the bag claim. Funny, the only bags coming off the belt are small and we have large. And, the belt turns off. Oh hell! We have a driver waiting but no bags. We ask any and everyone and land in the lost and found. But you cannot go in. Nope - take a number please. Paperwork finally done we hope our bags arrive at our hotel someday. We arrive very late to our hotel and it is not quite what we expected. The place is old but clean and the check in lady was nice.
Jim and Tina get a room with a musty smell and no replacement room to change so they make arrangements to move to another hotel the next day. Krim and I wind through a room, up stairs, through a small court yard with tables and up more stairs to our room. It is the old kitchen for the home of a very rich person in some years past that has been made into a hotel. The bathroom is new and nice and no smell in this room so we settle in. And out bags do arrive the next day. Note to self; pack a toothbrush in the carry on.
Jim and Tina find "Garrafeira De Santos", a wine shop the next day with the most helpful owner, Francisco Dias, and spend a lot of time with him learning about the wines and picking up some for us each day. We share the cost of the wine so our share of a bottle runs anywhere from 12 to 45 Euros and the wine is just delicious every time. The owner is a Sommelier level 3. That means there are only 200 people in the world with a higher rating. Opportunities are great with such a level of knowledge but he prefers to stay in Lisbon. A great deal of his business is setting up wine cellars for wealthy folks and shipping wine. Great guy and we meet his French wife and little girl. Not only is Francisco great at picking an interesting wine for us each day from Portugal but also helps us with dinner reservations. The first restaurant he suggests is down the street called "frade dos mares" where we were in for a treat. We each order up a meal for 2 that is cooked in a special pot that resembles a wok with a lid. Tina may include a photo. Everything is in there including Octopus, fish, peppers, potatoes, scrimp and whatever but the result is amazing. We return in a couple of nights for another round and even purchase one to try at home. Another night we are fixed up with a wonderful place called "Clubs De Jornalistas" and find the Octopus is so soft and good we return for a visit.
Luis takes us all around the City, explaining the history, the glory days and the current days as Portugal slowly recovers from the recession. The glory days were of course the 15th and 16 century when Portugal ruled the seas and the great explorer Vasco de Gama went round the horn to India and brought the riches back home. Portuguese explorers claimed what is now Brazil and many islands making the county rich in gold and silver and bringing new foods, animals and plants to Europe. Now there are nearly as many people speaking Portuguese in Rio de Janeiro as there are in all of Portugal!
The thing that seems different in Lisbon is the absence of old buildings and impressive churches seen in all the great cities of Europe. Yet Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world and the oldest in Western Europe - older than London, Paris and Rome! And like other cities in Portugal and Spain it was ruled by a series of Germanic tribes, Rome and Moors and all have left their mark on the City. But perhaps the biggest influence on Lisbon was by Mother Nature. Lisbon is Earthquake country and the biggest occurred in 1755 when the city was hit with a massive earthquake and tsunami and fire that virtually destroyed the City.
As estimated 35,000 people were killed of an estimated total population of 250,000. 85 percent of the buildings were destroyed. This event shocked all of Europe and left a scar not soon forgotten.
The shopping fever has hit and we ask Luis to find us some things to buy from Portugal. We do not want stuff we can buy anywhere, we want stuff from Portugal. Well, that request is music to Luis but he is taken back a bit because no one has ever asked for that before! Luis calls his boss and soon delivers us to a mall with a Portuguese store selling leather goods. I mean NICE leather and the moment you step into the store it smells like the good leather stuff. The excitement is building in the ladies and Jim and when I check the price on a super nice leather coat even I get a bit interested. Are you kidding me? This fantastic looking, softest leather ever fully lined fits like a glove fancy coat costs only 190 Euros? Get out! Now the fever has hit and I had to remind Krim to take a breath and calm down and focus. Oh my, did we do some damage here. Everyone walks out with lots of beautiful stuff and everyone is happy.
Our friend-driver-guide Luis spends 3 days with us taking us around Lisbon and the surrounding area and will even drive us the 3 hour trip to Porto for the next part of our Portugal adventure. Today Luis picks us up and we head toward the hills and coast.
The countryside turns to forest and it is beautiful country. The little town of Sintra sits in the hills and is one of the most picturesque places we have ever visited. The streets are of course cobblestone, narrow and steep as they pass small shops with goods made by the folks in the town. Beautiful things and the people are so sweet. Painted tile is big and so is pottery. Jim and Tina find a great looking plate and Krim finds us some excellent linen and fine cloth made right there and the price is so reasonable! The kind lady wrapped each item even though other tourists were in a hurry to purchase items. We love this little jewel of a village and wish we could spend additional time here. But, we have more to see and so off we go.
We wind around the narrow road and Luis tells us we are headed to the famous Palace and Park of Pena. UNESCO classifies the entire area of Sintra and the Palace as a World Heritage Site ever since 1995. King Ferdinand II from Portugal had the vision for the Palace and began work in 1839 to convert an old monastery and the surrounding grounds. It is called the supreme expression of Romanticism in Portugal and it is a beauty. The grounds are in the Romanic style where the grounds are turned into an idealized “Nature” with flowers everywhere, waterfalls, trees and rocks perfectly placed and to us, it works. The garden and surroundings area presents stunning views of the valley and city below. The Palace is like no other we have seen with its incorporation of different styles and colors. The main entrance is through the Alhambra Gate resembling that great walled City in Southern Spain. Other parts of the Palace have more common elements of castles and Palaces in Europe. The Palace was used for many years by kings including King Carlos so the rooms were updated with running water in the bathrooms and modern conveniences. And because the King was there, many Nobles and rich folks built their own masterpiece mansions to be near the King. What an amazing and lovely area!
Luis drives us back by way of the coastline, as he wants to show us the pretty cities and a special place. We park on a spit of land overlooking the ocean and Luis says, “This is as far West as you can go in continental Europe”. We step to the edge and look to the horizon looking for the Statue of Liberty but no matter how hard we look the Lady is just too far away. It mostly brings thoughts of those brave men that set off in their little ships in that big ocean with only the stars and Sun to guide them.
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