Portugal, Sicily, Greece and the Balkans

[Flyfrequently]

Thanks @Cruise Luxury. Sintra is on our list.

And we had a lovely day at Cascais @Scash , the train gets  very busy when the weather is good.


We took a train at 8.00 am, busy with daily workers commuting, but when we returned the queues at Cais do Sodra were incredibly long!

 

[Flyfrequently]

And Uber is very cheap in Lisbon

Agree, and thanks to my shabby foot Uber became our best friend @VPS !

 

[Scash]

The Trip Begins…

We were originally on EK431 in J departing BNE at 01:55 on Tuesday the 6th May, however availability in First came up so we swapped to EK435 departing 21:00 on the 5th, which is not a bad way to start the trip!

The trip actually begins with a lift to Nambour train station thanks to our friends, and then a 1 1/2 hour train trip to Brisbane (thank you 0.50c public transport fares). We will catch up with our other son and daughter in law for an early dinner and then head to BNE International for some lounge time and a few glasses of champagne.

We haven't been to the BNE EK lounge before so quite looking forward to it. We have been to the EK lounges in DXB and SIN and in my opinion the F&B offerings in the EK lounges are far superior to what we have experienced at the QF International lounge at BNE. Also excited about being able to board direct from the lounge.

 

[Scash]

Currently in the BNE EK lounge waiting to board in about an hour’s time. A glass or two of the obligatory champagne plus a few snacks to tide us over till we board for the main event!

 

[Scash]

Well we finally arrived at our hotel in Lisbon at about 10:00 pm local time Tuesday, taking around 40 hours from when we left home on Monday. It was a long and arduous trip but somehow we managed to cope . Think I drank my body weight in Dom!

 

[Scash]

We arrived in Dubai a bit early at around 5:00am and then had a 9 hour wait for our flight to Lisbon. This Lisbon leg was in J and despite having lounge access I was a bit over it after a few hours. We boarded pretty much on time only then to be delayed due to a late incoming connecting flight. We were given a glass of champagne upon boarding but no further drinks were offered while we were waiting.

We landed in Lisbon about an hour late but for some reason we didn’t have a gate and we parked at a remote stand. There were then issues with the stairs and so there were further delays. Finally got to the hotel about 10:00 pm Tuesday local time.

A quick bite to eat and then bed . Went to the closest open restaurant but disappointed. We both tried local dishes me the suckling pig and Mrs Scash the octopus but both ordinary.



Note to self:- don’t pick restaurants when you’re tired and just want to eat and go to bed!