Fantastic sleep in our little apartment in Alfama, Lisbon! With luxurious bathroom facilities after the Barcelona boat!
The visit to Lisbon was booked around the weekly flea/steet market, held on Tuesdays above the Basilica De St. Clara…so it was an uphill cobbled climb!
Without the encumbrance of our rolly bags…
A pleasant stroll taking in the colours and sights of Alfama, the old town of Lisbon…
Actually retracing some of yesterday’s steps when we were gasping and sweating!!
To the bustling market…filled with new and old collections of people’s wares!
Sue checking out the €2 bargains…and after a coffee we took in the 2nd half, where we lashed out and got a new wardrobe for €6!
Time for a rest in the park, with a doggy free run area…
And a view of the sea!
After which we headed higher to the Church and Monastery of São Vicente de Fora…
Definitely a tourist area…but found a human free spot for a photo shoot!
The adjoining gardens
And baths…
Time for a refreshment we took the tram street down…
Choosing to not ride the tram as standing room only and looking decidedly uncomfortable we found a cafe to sit for a while before trying to google navigate our way home!
Wall art…
Street cafes…
Dollhouse homes…
Tiled (outside) houses…
Narrow streets….and home without a hitch…
We are now sitting in our window seats (one each!) relaxing and waving to all the other tourists who think we are locals and sisters! Before we shower and change to go in search of some local cuisine for dinner
As with budget European airlines, our easyJet flight was delayed by an hour! All good check in time at our Airbnb was not until 2pm – we landed at 1.15 plenty of time to meet our host! Or so we thought – we booked a bolt from the airport ….. finally found him in the chaos! And headed towards Alfama… which was only a half hour drive!
Here we go …. Alfama (the old town) had two parts! He got to a one way street and said he had to let us out! Took the money and drove off…,.
Little did we know Google walk does not understand the Lisbon old town….there we were dragging rolly bags up and down cobbled streets for an hour before we reached our destination (only with the help from some very kind locals!) sweat and tears (literally) and we finally arrived!
The host was very understanding and we gasped into our apartment for the next four days!
We needed supplies… and after gathering ourselves went in search of the basics! But first a cocktail (Pina Colada) then amino mart…for water, beer, bread, butter, wine! Back in our room it was time to do some washing… like all Maltese gals… hung out the window!
We are so happy to have a loo that works…
And a quirky little apartment in the middle of the old town….
With two bedrooms and functioning bathroom!
The bar across the road …setting up for cocktails… not tonight..we relished in a shower and snacks from the minimart!
This is our street, the walking tours (of tourists) keep stopping and taking pics of this and our washing…..
There is life outside, background music as we climb into our respective beds….tomorrow we will wander without suitcases and in a happy frame of mind!
Once again sitting at a transport hub in Barcelona to board a delayed flight!!!
Barcelona is a beautiful city…barring the toilet issues on our boat! The only thing we are not sorry to say goodbye to is the nighttime bucket!!!
Yesterday we walked north…
To wide expanses of concrete, tagged walls and beaches…
Then inland, past a major power plant…
And its outlet…
As the morning wind had a definite chill…we were hunting for a hot coffee..
Which we finally found as we circled back into our area…
The afternoon was spent resting (for Sue) and hanging out on the yacht watching the boaters come and go (for Trudi)
A nice (early) dinner at a local restaurant, a chat with our new neighbours, a bunch of young French lads, who then headed into town around 10pm and came back this morning as we were leaving at 7am….somewhat quieter than last night!
This morning a quick final pack and waited for the taxi as the sun rose over the port…
Barcelona is a fascinating place…full of fit, running, cycling, rollerblading humans….and huge open expanses of concrete and green parks…new and old, young and old…just so much to see…
Today we were determined to see some racing (yacht) on the big screen….so we set off and headed south!
Down a different street and came to a children’s paradise!
Not open early but thought of our grand babies and how much they would enjoy…
In our wanderings we came across the first actual fan zone setting up for the afternoon
And the sea antics in anticipation of the upcoming racing…
A great day ahead with people enjoying the beach..I can see why team NZ chose Barcelona as the venue…
We made a snap decision to head towards the old town, as recommended as we had a couple of hour before racing began!
It got busier and busier…
Barcelona’s version of l’arc de triomphe
And the streets of the old town Barcelona littered with the new high end stores of today!
Getting hungry and needing to eat before we settled in for the afternoon at the Americas cup village….and looking for a cafe (rather than restaurant style) snack we zigged and zagged…
Taking in the gothic old town…
Citadel gardens….
Streets and street art…
Banksy museum…
Spanish fashion…
Fruit and vege stores…
Cars in shops…
Cows in shops…
Restaurant arcades…and finally found a seat in a plaza to eat!!!…
Nearing the waterfront once again we arrived at our destination to enjoy 3 of the four races….having missed the first one…
And settled in for the afternoon in front of the big screen! Sporting our team NZ t-shirts which immediately attracted a few fellow kiwis!
The chef from this boat…
Khalilah – the gold boat….who is a kiwi now based in Poland joined us for drinks…and then pizza before we taxied back to our little boat!
Unfortunately we are moored near a beach club which for the last two nights and tonight is booming out terrible disco, Spanish remix music (on steroids) at 100 decibels! Kind of destroys the ambience of being in a boat on the sea….as we return to our home!
One more day in Barcelona with another 20k steps under our belt…we might have a beach day!!!
At least today we got to see some racing, with teams Great Britain and Italy dominating the first two races in their pool!
1st day of the Americas cup semifinals…the girls decided an afternoon at the fan zone was in order, with big screens etc…so a leisurely morning with a big breakky at one of the local cafes!
All going well so far – eggs on toast, coffee and off we headed at around midday…a visit to the local mall, which was a bit overwhelming as we really cannot fit any more in our little rolly bags….we then headed towards (what we thought was) the Americas cup fan zone!
Dressed in our new groupie t-shirts …..
Waiting patiently for the action to begin – gates opening at 2pm…meanwhile ….
The boats are warming up….zooming up and down the coast!
The beach was sporting a few more people in the sunshine…
There was even a fenced off doggy (and owners) area, where the dogs can run free!
We’d spied the seat we wanted to aim for in the grandstand ….so joined the queue….ready to race in!!! Getting a bit thirsty by this time.
Waiting in line we noticed groups of people in matching T Shirts, and athletic gear…we thought we were pretty cool in our matching (new) Team NZ t shirts….didnt feel out of place!(yet)
Average age 20! (That was a worry) Whilst waiting we were hearing very loud music and the big screens we could glimpse were showing…
WODELONA…which we thought was odd! But as we went to enter they asked to see our competitors band….to which we replied “they told us yesterday it was free” …. We were sent to another gate for supporters!!!
The penny dropped!….we were at the Barcelona Three day CrossFit competition..No wonder everyone was very fit and Young! And wearing athletic matching team gear!
Oh well, we were an hours walk away from the (Actual) Americas cup village, so decided we might as well act like we were meant to be here!
In we went…
With the rest of the supporters wandered through the merchandise tents, refrained from buying a sports bra and leggings, and….
Finally found the bar! Not even water! protein drinks and muesli bars!
The warmups had begun so we raced to the main grandstand and got our seat up the top…
Where we could still see the boats racing in the distance…
Loud music and CrossFit races followed…
We watched about three, clapped appropriately for the winners, and left to head to the nearest cabana for a drink!
Where we cooled off and watched the beach sights….some not so pleasant, but we could lift our gaze and see the yachts out to sea!
Nearing 4pm we headed back to one of our local cafes…
Taking a new route over the roads below…
And through more deserted open spaces, Trudi clutching her bag safely and both of us aware of any young people on scooters!
And….the Pizza place was closed, so we ordered a drink…and a Tex Mex meal to go…realising we were the only females at a Mexican restaurant….specialising in Shisha, Full of North African men (Moroccan I’m guessing) only…watching arrivals sniff some drug from tinfoil before settling in to smoking the Shisa pipes, which were about a meter tall….clutching our bags(again) whilst waiting for our takeaway order. Note the ladies toilet was very clean, possibly because never used by the all male clientele!
We had twice today found ourselves in places we least expected to be…oh well, again, might as well see the place while we are here…
Tomorrow, however we will resume our roles as yachting groupies!!!
Day two in Barcelona…the wanderers set off on foot (again) not having much luck in working out the public transport!!! Decided on a coast route…
There seems to be huge expanses of concrete heading south from our marina…looking back at the Lego hotels and apartments…
We stumbled into the most northern Americas cup fan zone…
And couldn’t get out the other side…a couple of blokes came and asked us what we wanted … reply “we are just trying to get out” high fences all around…after explaining how we got in, they then told us come back tomorrow when the racing is on (it’s free!) Good outcome!
What started out as a warm morning quickly turned into a very strong onshore wind…we stopped at a beach cafe for a coffee…
The beaches were quite deserted and definitely not swimming weather. As we continued down the coast this all became a little more interesting….
There is a gay beach…followed by…
A nudist beach…Sue got an unexpected flash as she sat down for a pic….other sights were not so pretty either! But rude to take photos!
We continued down towards the Americas Cup village…and as today was a practice day all the boats were out honing their skills…
Got a little excited as the signs were all there for a fun day!
It was very windy…and you can see the cup boats in the distance…we then saw all the respective(teams) tenders setting out to bring them back in…so as we had arrived at a vantage point right on the breakwater we thought we would settle in for some groupie action!
These were the teams out there today…as they start the semifinals tomorrow.
So we hung out at the end of the breakwater…in what had become very strong (and cool) winds just sporting our T’shirts….but fame has no pain! They all arrived back one by one either towed or supported by their tenders…
Rounding this point into the calm waters of the marina…
Now a little photo dump of the boats…hard to see who was who until we heard them speak!
Surrounded by security, support boats and police…
A very exciting hour or more, and Trudi got a wave from the French crew!!
We then wandered marina side back along the breakwater..
The team rooms on one side and all the boats…
Lined up on the other side…
Possibly the closest we will get to these boats as they begin their racing tomorrow!
The actual village was another 2 kms south, and, as now we were totally in the zone…we carried on past the marina and more beachfront…
Entering the port Olympic…where all the action (public) will be happening for the next few days…
The women’s village…
Eco catamaran…
And the biggest girl so far! To finally find our kiwi Team Emirates camp…
Somewhere along the way we sidetracked into a Spanish area selling street food where we enjoyed a spicy chicken burger and had a loo stop! As now we were more than 10kms from our little boat (and 15000 steps on our feet) and nearing the 5pm alarm!!! it was time to do a u-turn and head home for the evening!
We thought to catch a bus…but couldn’t really work these out so after another half hour of walking during which time…a young chap on an electric scooter took aim at Trudis backpack only to be foiled by the yellow plastic poncho (which was covering her and backpack!!) Saved by the $2 poncho but alas the poncho was destroyed and not saveable. After this incident we ordered a taxi…and came directly home….to our safe peaceful superyacht haven!
Oh and after sending a message to the owner of the boat about the toilet issue, they have been and emptied the tank…so the night time bucket can now go back to being a rubbish bin!
We are now official Americas Cup groupies as we have purchased our Team Emirates t’shirts to wear with our Peter Blake red socks which have travelled all the way from NZ with us!!
Yesterday leaving Fumel in what promised to be a glorious day…
Kevin dropped us to the train station for our first leg to Agen (45minutes)
As we had nearly an hour changeover, we took a stroll (towing suitcases) into town…
Kind of cute, but we didn’t have much time to dally as our next train from Agen to Narbonne left at 11.30am…this one 2 and a half hours…then jumping on the TGV at 2.30pm from Narbonne to Barcelona (crossing into Spain) and we arrived around 4.30pm .. to a madhouse…Bolt app didn’t work, Uber wanted ID number (which was buried in my bag somewhere) so we lined up with the masses for a black and yellow Barcelona Taxi! Arriving at our boat accommodation around 6pm and $60 poorer!
This is our one…aptly named Carter! And these are our neighbours!
Think we’ll be safe!!
Only downside is the loo! Only for number 1s, no toilet paper and we are guessing hasn’t been emptied all summer, as when we flush the pump the liquid disappears then refills with 6months worth of combined stale urine!! After battling with it last night and (not) stomaching the disturbing odour we have decided for us overnight a bucket is a better option!
We do have a swipe card for the port bathrooms, a five minute walk, where we can shower and do our ablutions…you get what you pay for!!!
Everything else is great…three cabins,
Kitchen
And a great outside lounge area
And the location is fabulous….not that anyone is very social…living their lives of the rich and famous..
Our little boat is the fourth one in from the pier in the forefront of this picture!
After the day of travelling we had an early night (10ish) and a reasonable sleep apart from the toilet aroma!!! This morning was unrushed as we settled in and then we started walking…
Over this bridge that spans the marina and 14 meters high..
With a great view of the inside marina…
Outer marina and breakwater…
With the dry dock and repair yard on the south side…
A huge structure of solar panels on the down side of the bridge.
Then we meandered on…. La Sagrada familia basilica our target for the day…trying to avoid trains or buses and travelling by foot…
Today was a national public holiday and the streets we took were very quiet, most things closed…however first coffee bar we came across almost an hour in, we stopped at!
The cardinal (George) rule, never eat at a cafe that has pictures!!! We were ok….the coffee was great, cheap and the toilets clean!!! (And we didn’t eat!)
Google walking maps took us towards our goal…
Some amazing architecture in this city..,
La Torre Agbar…Barcelonas equivalent of the sky tower (Auckland) …and mixing the new with the old…
Apartment building
The monumental Bullring of Barcelona and finally we found the tourist population at La Sagrada Familia Basilica – designed in 1882 – work began in 1891…and as you will see from the following images it is still a work in progress in the 21st century!
The cranes are still working…
Looking up at the first towers
And from the front….best I could do with tourists and buses…blocking the best views…I would say social media is flooded with images of this structure as people were taking selfies, posing, and pics with their cup of drink….etc…
We didn’t feel the need for an inside tour, queues long and we have seen some magnificent churches on our journeys!
A bite to eat and we started on the walk back…realising we may have taken on an overload of steps today…over 20k….footsore, even the hint of a blister and the old knee injuries telling us enough is enough!
We thankfully returned to our world of Aston Martins (yep two of them) and super-yachts … and our loo bucket!!!
This morning we are once again packed and ready for a big days travel (bus-train-train) to Barcelona, where we can don our red socks and watch some yachts race….as they battle for the right to race NZ in the Americas cup!
So we say goodbye to Fumel, where we have spent the last 12 days, Sues family and all our new friends!!
The office cat!! Making sure we settle our bill…
Rols in his French workplace and our home for this stay…
The owner of the hotel, who we had lots of laughs with…
Third dinner at La Dolce Vita – who treated us like locals (well Kev and Rols are) the Chef becoming very friendly as we walked past his ugly truck on our way to Kev and Rols house..
The French version of a Hilux!
And the many changing moods of the Lot river with our village of Fumel rising up the hill!
While we have had rain and jeans and jersey weather most days…the sun has broken through in the afternoons to lighten the load…and being chauffeured around by Sue’s family has made this a fabulous sojourn on our trip…Trudi has even picked up a few French words and can Bonjour with the best of them!
On The Lot river, 2nd longest river in France, which runs through Fumel in southwest France and many other towns and villages, found the wanderers aboard a small riverboat trip…having postponed from last Sunday due to rain and rescheduled for this Sunday! (Which still had rain but no further postponement opportunity!)
But first, we were taken to a castle, (Castle Fole in the nearby town of Penne) where there was a huge brocante (car boot market) to coin a translation from the recently published book – Living and Loving in the Lot!!! Just saying not a fantastic read!
Temperatures dropped, and rain began to fall….Trudi donned Roland’s Puffer jacket and Sue purchased a pair of jeans (€3) and a mohair jumper (€5) to layer up under the denim overall dress…yes certainly looked like she had dressed herself today – especially when adding the pink plastic poncho to keep the rain at bay! Trudi bought hot chips!!!
Then it was off to the wharf at St Sylvestre where we were going to have a picnic of our delicious homemade sandwiches before boarding our boat….
By now it was raining very hard, but as luck would have it we found, the only, carpark under the bridge….
We stood and ate our sandwiches in the dry area….and with temperatures dropping even more, Roland chose the comfort and warmth of the car under the bridge while Trudi, Sue and Kevin battled the weather to take our river cruise regardless!
Sue, layered and ponchoed up…in all her glory…
Trudi and Kevin, nice and dry under the roof of the bateau (boat) again narrating with the odd French word thrown in!!
The rain eased as we set off…
The water still as a mirror in the unsettled conditions – reflections amazing!
We left the village as the rain stopped and accompanied by a very verbose French lady (giving us a commentary and Kevin giving us the short English version) ….to more stunning mirror images…now for the photo bomb of our trip…
With only us three and four other passengers and one dog, there was plenty of room to duck and dive from side to side and up front…
A castle on the riverbank – 20 rooms that can be rented as a Gite (book a bach)…continuing with the trend….
Fly fishermen on the edge of the river….
Private boats at jetty’s…
Another castle as we u-turned to head back….with having just sheltered from a downpour and yet another drop in temperature…the sun started to breakthrough and the mirror images were outstanding…
Almost like there were two identical worlds…
Houses and trees….
Cloud reflections mirrored in the river as we neared our starting point…
And like Narnia though the mirror to the other side under the bridge…
A group photo kindly taken by one of the other passengers…
Looking back up the river before docking…
An hour and a half later…A fabulous €10 trip that we were happy we ignored the weather and took the ride, donned in all our extra winter vetements (clothes) just to top off the franglaise theme going on here!
I arrived in Paris Montparnasse around 8pm on Wednesday night.. two bags in tow and took a taxi to my friends in Clichy! A cool beer and a yummy salad and hit sack by 11pm..to wake to torrential rain…with no shoe or clothes change for the return journey…after a walk to the supermarket, shoes, socks and jeans saturated….gave up on the idea of getting back to Montparnasse by metro and took a taxi there for the return journey! The train station is huge – 14 long haul platforms to choose from…a red shirted controller pointed me in the right direction and I waited for 30 minutes hoping I was in the right place as the platform finally came up on the board!!! Found my carriage (18 of 20) and got in my seat…wet feet, and yesterday’s clothes! Not daring to move and get lost in this unfamiliar world! We left on time for the 4 hour journey to Agen, where I had 15 minutes to find my small train home to Fumel! Somewhere along the way we lost 8 minutes and my transfer became 7 minutes – from my carriage at the far end of the platform to another platform!!! Running I dropped into my last seat with 4 minutes to spare! Finally arriving back at the hotel around 6pm! Where we were booked into the local pizza restaurant for dinner…
At last enjoying the slower pace of our country village…devouring three huge pizzas between us and washed down with wine and beer…
Home and bed….and then after my wet day my cough kicked back in so had a rather restless night…
Today we took a trip to Cahors, the closest large town east from here on the Lot river…through the small villages on the other side of the river, stopping in Luzech for our morning coffee!
After which we took a wander through the streets back to the car…
Every town has an impressive church…this one surrounded by an even larger cemetery….
And bridges zigzagging across the Lot river…then on to Cahors for lunch…heading for the Pukeko cafe(run by a kiwi)…
Only to find it closed for lunch on a Friday…the lunch window again midday until 2pm! Cafes open, shops closed. We found another one nearer the river and had our main meal for the day….
After almost getting run over we crossed to the riverside….
Where there didn’t appear to be a lock for riverboats…
But still sporting impressive bridges….rain threatening we wandered through the town…
Perusing the shops that had now reopened after the midday to 2pm lunch closure…
Cobbled streets and colourful chairs…
Another church…
Massive doors and tiny Trudi…
The tourist train….full of visitors
And a very ugly statue welcoming those to the church….the gothic style of the area in full force!
As Roland had to work this evening, we headed back (the hours drive) around 3.30pm…by which time the humidity (after a chilly day) had set in for the impending rain, which duly arrived around 5pm….its an early night for the wanderers and possibly a quiet day tomorrow as the weather gods are promising a wet Saturday!
All who wander are not Lost girls 