Lesson #1 arrived without us even leaving Auckland…. pack the tent pegs into checked in luggage and not as part of carry on luggage!

Oh well, they’ll be easy enough to replace in Lisbon.

The flights were pretty good. 17 hours to Dubai and then another 8.5 to Lisbon. A bit of sleep, quite a few movies and eating occupied us well.

Our bikes travelled well in their Air New Zealand bike boxes and after being assembled in a little alcove at the airport, Greg lead the way, despite my near panic and overwhelm, to wind our way through the Lisbon traffic to our accommodation. A 7km ride taking nearly an hour!

Staying in São Vicente on edge of the tourist areas, we have a lovely haven, Patio São Vicente, as we adjusted to European time.

We were quick to discover the local pastelaria, full of delicious pastry treats. Nearly every street has numerous pasteralias to buy pastries and sandwiches and sourdough breads.

Portugal is famous for its Pastel de Nata, a custard pastry tart, of which we faithfully sampled.

My favourite pastel was a raspberry cruffin. Delicate pastry standing tall like a stretched muffin filled with fresh raspberries and an exquisite custard cream!! I’m only sorry I didn’t take a photo before devouring it.

It may be that these pastels have upstaged our treasured hot chips from our last cycle adventure!!

Exploring Lisbon meant wandering through narrow cobblestone streets and alleyways. No walk in the city each day was ever the same.

Azulejos, tiles, fronted a lot of the buildings that we passed. They are an imbedded part of Portugal, with many pictures and stories painted on them in churches and used simply in naming a street.

Inner Lisbon is full of apartment buildings with iron window guards and balconies and in various stages of disrepair, although rebuilding work and repairs are also scattered throughout the streets. Evidence of waxing and waning financial fortunes (and Air BnB) it seems.

It fascinated us to learn that it has only been 51 years since the Carnation Revolution, when Portugal changed from a military dictatorship to a democratic state. We’re looking forward to experiencing the annual celebrations on April 25 (which we are told are enthusiastic) and hope to learn a little more about recent history.

The weather has been definitely cool and rainy.

Even resorting to keep our feet dry with buying some plastic bags from the local mini mercado.

Making the most of our time here to see the city we have walked along the waterfront,

visiting São da Lisboa,

Castelo de São Jorge,

MUDE – Design Museum, which included an old bank depository and a magnificent mosaic in the stairwell,

the Belém Tower, the nearby Discoveries Monument and the Monumento aos Combatentes do Ultramar (Monument to Overseas Fighters).

The huge market, Mercado dos Ribeira, had an amazing array of fresh produce and food stalls.

And separately visiting the Mosterio de los Jerómimos for me

and the Museu da Eletricidade for Greg.

The local Mosterio de São Vicente de Fora was an absolute highlight with the amazing painted azulejos.

Riding the #28 tram was very welcomed at days end,

gladly retiring our tired feet and bodies back to our apartment for simple dinners of sourdough sandwiches.

My gluten free, dairy free food requirements had to be put aside as these options are not available, either in buying from the local mini mercado or on a menu.

And the tent pegs… replacing them was not as easy as we thought. Lisbon is not renown for its outdoor camping stores other than the behemoth Decathlon, which primarily sells its own branded products.

No Hilleberg or similar product to be found there or any else. Some basic pegs from Decalthon will tie us over until we can replace our beloved Hilleberg ones.

We really need to start cycling to justify all the treats.

Getting ready…