Saturday (26.11.) we woke up in Lisbon. A welcome change in tapestry. After a quick stop at the supermarket to fill up our food stock and get some breakfast we took the metro to the city as we had a lot to see. We were pleasantly surprised by the cleaness and absent piss smell that is so present in other cities like Paris and Berlin.
Our first stop was a game store as we wanted to get Ideas former roommate Magic™ cards in portuguese. But as it turns out, there are none in Portugal as they are written in brasilean portuguese and so players here prefer to play in English. And so we walked a bit further crossing the "Parque Eduardo VII and so up a hill, where we assumed that the riddle of a friend had given us a month prior should lead us. And indeed we found their note and sadly for Ida, no chocolate.
Now our eyes where all set for Belém and so we completed our 10km walk by visiting the Planetario da Marinha. And even though the security person/ticket seller didn't speak English and told us that there was no one there today, we asked to go upstairs in the hope it wasn't him pushing the button to start the show. And to our luck, he didn't and we caught someone whom we could talk to. But as the show was starting, we should come back one hour later.
So we took our time to visit the Torre de Belém with the other hundreds of tourists.
Back in the Planetarium, we talked to the showmaster, a soldier at the navy who was happy for the regular hours and the not being on the boat part.
To finalize the day we took the tram to the Praça do Comercio and walked around the city looking for a place to eat, being offered hashish just once. After a nice Korean dinner we went back home and quickly felt asleep.
Sunday (27.11.) we started the day as we always do. Testing a new bike! Our host Nuno gave us a chance to ride his bike and we couldn't say no.
With that out of the way we returned the keys and took the metro to the city center where we wanted to explore the botanical garden and the planetarium in the Museo Historia Nacional Ciencia. And because we were luck on Sundays between 10 and 13 o'clock entry is free! Sadly, the planetarium and it's ZKP2 were no longer operational but we still enjoyed the expositions, ranging from hands-on physics to marine bird conservation, with a big taxidermy collection.
And while the botanical garden was kind of a disappointment (as Ida and the photo count can attest) there was one situation, that gave me a high for the rest of the day. While Ida was dealing with her stomach ache and we were sitting on the stairs, I took a look at our tickets and was able to produce new valid ones. I tried reporting it to the front desk but they told me to send a mail, and I haven't heard from them since. But it was my first tiny exploit!
But now it was time for the goodbye dinner so we took the train to Sintra and then the bus to Praia das Marças. That night, we had a big goodbye dinner with the whole Santiago-Flat plus our new found friends!
Monday (28.11) morning arrived and the time of the final farewell. Over breakfast we gave Domenico a tiny gift: his new guestbook with entries of his first few guests. And then we all hold back the tears as we rode west and Daniel and Andre south, leaving Domenico alone and longing for adventure.
The first few kilometers we already knew and were thus kinda boring and with a bit of hard climbing, more so knowing that it would be hard.
Else the landscape was not really interesting as we passed much of the northern suburbs of Lisboa with sometimes more and sometimes fewer cars. But then we finally reached the Rio Tejo, and enjoyed a few kilometers of perfect bike lane.
While pausing and before we took the bridge and completed our goal for the day, a very kind roller skater offered us the garage of his appartment for a night of rest. But our determination was stronger and he continued into dawn (which in Portugal is currently around 17:45) riding out the 10km straight strech comfortably on the side lane.
After asking around a bit if we could crash their garden, someone told us to ask at the firefighter station. As it was a bit out of our way on a busier road we almost decided against it … and thankfully we didn't. While a bit unsure (and maybe confused) at the beginning, their captain quickly decided that we weren't sleeping outside and sent everybody to clean up the fitness room so we could sleep in there.
After talking a bit and watching Portugal against Uruguay with the on duty firefighters we got offered a tour around the station! And so we learned not only everything about the equipment they have (like automatic CPR machines!) but also about their life and scheduling! Their responsabilities include not only urban and forestal firefighting but also driving the ambulance and transporting immobile patients to their appointments. And so they have to know everything from cutting open cars to putting a bone back together!
And after a quick shower we went to the gym, and fell asleep.
Tuesday (29.11.) we left a little note at the reception of the firebrigade before turning to the last supermarket before Evora.
Sadly it only opened at 8:30 and so we waited and wrote parts of this blog entry. And then we were suprised when an firefighter we had met yesterday greeted us. He was off-duty and just wanted to fill up the gas of his car when he saw us and decided to pass by to greet.
After a quick chat and doing the groceries, we quickly left the city and went on our way. It was a beautiful day crossing the montados: vast mixed agricultural lands, with the area producing 50% of the cork worldwide!
We enjoyed being far from cars, just us, our three wheels and the silence!
And as dawn came, we found a tiny little spot behind big sand mountains, probably destined to construction and put up our tiny tent, because even in Portugal when the sun is gone it starts being cold!
Wednesday (30.11) was not only the last November day, but also the last day we toured this year. With only 30km to go till Evora, we dismounted our tent and started cycling. And as we were about to enter the city, the unthinkable happend: our frame broke!
While we were discussing how to proceed and realizing this probably ment the end of the tour as we had planned it, it also started to rain. We all know the only thing worse than being stranded is being both stranded and wet, so I asked someone we saw from the road if we could just stand under their roof while we waited to be picked up again and they kindly agreed. Loubu is from the Ukraine and welcomed us under the roof, asked us to come inside and offered us tea, coffee and a piece of cake! Even in the worst moments you meet the most beautiful people!
When the tow car arrived, we said goodbye to Loubu and rode a few hundred meter to the next mechanic, who confirmed what we had suspected: unweldable.
And so we franatically started making calls, trying to organize someone and a car to pick us up, looking for flights to Germany and after a few hours looking for a place to stay the night.
December will start with us being picked up, driving back to Praia das Maçãs, probably flying home and finding a way to keep touring next year. In the meanwhile we'll do a small recap of the trip in the form of an advent calendar!