Greg's Wanderings

Tag: Train

  • Day 32 – Train to Lisbon

    Day 32 – Train to Lisbon

    Oct 12

    I’ve confirmed a key difference between a hostel and an alberge.  Beyond the fact that Alberges are exclusively for pilgrims, there is a code of etiquette that you just don’t find at larger hostels in cities. 

    In the Albergue, we’re on a common quest, having walked long hours.  Everyone goes to bed early and tries to be as quiet as possible in the common sleeping areas.  

    In my hostel last night, when I returned from dinner around 8:30, the light was out in my 8-person room and curtains were pulled across two of the lower bunks, likely indicating someone trying to sleep.  I crawled into my bunk, pulled the curtains and – with AirPods- listened to the radio broadcast of the Ducks game (sad).  

    About 10pm, the room lights were flicked on, the hostel host brought in two more guests who proceeded to talk, rustle about and turn the lights on and off for the next 30 minutes. This would have NEVER happened in an Alberge. 

    Today I take the train back to where my trip started in Lisbon. After being flumoxed by public transit ticketing on my first visit, I’ve decided to purchase a 48-hour all-access card that works on trains, metro, busses, trolleys and funiculars (not currently running due to a fatal accident last month).  The 48 hours works out perfectly for the time between when my train arrives on Lisbon today and when I can check into my near-airport hotel Tuesday afternoon.  

    The six-car train pulled into the station 15 minutes before departure.  Several hundred people with luggage quickly boarded and we pulled out exactly on time. The train is very comfortable with tons of legroom, wifi and power ports.  

    The overhead display shows the time, outside temperature and our speed – which has reached up to 218kmph (135mph).  

    I got into Lisbon and bought the 48-hour pass.  I now feel like I have the keys to the city.  

    I took two different Metro subways to reach my hostel, which is just 150 meters from the nearest station.  I dropped off my pack and walked a few blocks to the waterfront.  I’m sitting in the beer garden of the Museu da Cerveja (Beer Muesum) watching a Euro Cup soccer match on the big screen.  As soon as I finish my beer, I’m going to hop on the first tram that comes along and go explore the city.  

    Following my beer, I decided to just randomly hop on a ride and explore. I went to the nearest Metro station and hopped on a Azul Line train.  A few stops up, I recognized a name from my first days in Lisbon.  

    I hopped off thinking I would be in the neighborhood I stayed in last month. To my surprise, when I got to the surface, I was inside a very modern shopping mall.  I went outside the mall and realized my mistake.  I had been here before, but this was the shopping district I went to looking for the sporting goods store when I needed to replace my pocket knife.  

    By this time, my phone battery was getting low, so I shut it off and decided to find my way back to the hostel just by using the transit maps.  Two stops over on the Vermelha Line and five down the Verde and I emerged by the square in my neighborhood. 

    There was a craft fair going on in the square, so I wandered through the booths.  I then bought a t-shirt so I could launder all the entire collection I had been wearing.  

    Walking back to my hostel, I encountered a film crew shooting a scene in a shop just across the street.  I don’t know what is was for, but just judging by the amount of equipment and number a trucks, it was no small budget effort.  

    After getting a little charge on my phone, I headed out to dinner.  I’ve so emersed myself in the local cuisine that I’ve been really ready for something lighter with more vegetables.  I found a Vietnamese cafe and enjoyed a tasty meal.  

    Taken outside the Porto train station, you can do the construction boom. Look closely and you can see 10 construction cranes in the photo
    Ample leg room! Oh, I wish I had this much for the flight home!
    Simple, but tasty lunch at the train station. €3.80
    Map of the Lisbon Metro. My hostel is near where the green and blue lines converge in the Rossio neighborhood
    This dog is a doppelganger of Jessie’s dog, Buna
    Back at the square where my walking tour started last month
    A beer museum!
    Served in insulated inverted bottle-shaped glasses
  • Day 25 – train ride to Santiago

    Day 25 – train ride to Santiago

    October 5 – Happy Birthday Dad!

    I wish that I had visited this hostel in nicer weather.  There was a large yard with lots of outdoor seating.  But with it raining all day yesterday, we had to choose between the public room – a small kitchen and eating area for 12 – or hang out in our rooms.  

    I met my first Chinese person of the trek at dinner last night.  My bunkmates were two women, one from Germany and the other from South Korea.  

    With my leg bothering me, i spent most of my 18 hours at the hostel lying in my bunk.  Thank goodness for decent wifi and air pods.  

    It’s now 8 am – still 36 minutes to sunrise – and most of the 30+ people here have left or are about to.   I’ll be summoning my Uber ride to the train station shortly, but see no reason to get in the way of those heading on, as my train doesn’t depart until early afternoon. 

    My Tesla-powered Uber driver dropped me at the train station a little after 8:30.  There was not a soul there.  I could see on the reader board that there was an earlier train leaving at 9:36.  Unfortunately even though my ticket was exchangeable, the online app kept timing out as it went to confirm the change.  So faced with sitting in a vacant station on a hard metal bench for four hours, I decided to walk a few blocks into town. 

    I found a quiet neighborhood bar and ordered a latte and tosta.  

    I wandered through town briefly, but between a throbbing leg and most of the city not open on a Sunday morning, I decided to wait the final two hours at the station. 

    The train arrived promptly at 12:43.  A half dozen of us boarded and we were off again. Two stations up the line everyone on board needed to get off and onto a different train.  I had received an email about this last night and the helpful woman seated next to me showed me where the replacement train was.  At 2:06, exactly on time, the train pulled into the station in Santiago and my Camino reached a bittersweet end.

    I enjoyed lunch at a sidewalk cafe and then checked into my hotel room.  Given that I’ll be here for four nights while my leg rests, I was delighted by the size and amenities (based on my last month of accommodations).  

    I’m currently sitting in a laundromat washing nearly every article of cloths I brought along.  Good thing the weather has been warm so my long pants and shirt are clean and I had some items to wear.

    My hotel is listed as being “downtown” but is located on a quiet side street. It being Sunday, many shops were closed. I knew I was in a big city, but my location has a peaceful ambiance to it – perfect for my recuperation.

    When dinner time came, I ventured out again. I had seen a Donner Kabob place walking in from the train station and had been thinking of a Donner (like a Gyro) ever since. The nearest shop was a few hundred meters away, so I ventured towards the core city.

    As I rounded a corner two blocks from my hotel, I suddenly encountered a sea of people packed into dozens of sidewalk restaurants. I found my donner shop and went inside where a soccer game was playing on the big screen. The donner and the local Galicia Estella beer hit the spot.

    Time for a good night’s rest.

    Shoes not allowed in rooms at alberges
    View of the yard we were not able to enjoy due to the rain yesterday. Cover photo is the other side of the driveway
    Stream running through Redondela.
    Waiting for the on time arrival at the platform
    After getting off the train in Santiago
    My home for the next four nights.