Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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2023 Lisbon Trip (Day Two – Belém Tower)

The first historic destination we went to in Lisbon was Belém Tower (Torre de Belém), using one of the city trams which I’ll write about separately. Belém Tower, also known as the Tower of St. Vincent (Torre de São Vicente), is a historical monument which was built in the 16th century and is a prime example of the Manueline architectural style, which combines Gothic, Renaissance, and Moorish influences. The tower served as a key defensive structure for the city and played a significant role in Portugal’s maritime history. Today, it’s a tourist attraction, but a beautiful one.

The tower features several notable elements, including intricate stone carvings, a bastion with cannons, and a watchtower. It also includes a chapel dedicated to St. Vincent, the patron saint of Lisbon’s sailors. The tower has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Portugal, so it’s fair to say that they’re very proud of it and it’s also another thing ticked off my list of World Heritage Sites. That’s another one of my main projects that I need to do more work on. Visitors to Belém Tower can climb to the top for panoramic views of the city and the Tagus River, which Bev and Susanna did, but Steve and I went for a wander around to avoid all of the tourists.

It’s accessed by a walkway which all adds to the anticipation of the tower. The limitation about these beautiful buildings is that the most attractive views are from outside looking at the structure rather than the other way around, so I was quite content just gazing at this piece of historic architecture.

Very artistic. Just to bring the blog back down in its quality once again, it’ll perhaps be most memorable in our group for toiletgate which took place beforehand. The local authorities think it’s a great idea to charge €0.50 to use the toilet, which isn’t ideal, but there we go. Steve and Susanna rushed in but I won’t dwell on that, leaving Bev outside with no money to get in. Patiently waiting for Susanna to return, although it transpired she was yelling within the toilets to the toilet attendant to let Bev in and she’d pay later, Bev bemoaned the charge and how she didn’t have any coins. All hunched up and complaining about her back it’s fair to say the visiting tourists took pity on her and before we know it, a kind man gave her the €0.50. Silver linings and all that…..

March 6, 2023
2023 Lisbon Trip (Day Two – Orange Juice Outside Rossio Railway Station)

I haven’t got a clue what this cafe is called (what an informative blog this is), it’s missing from Google Maps, but it’s located on the square to the side of Rossio Station. Bev was craving caffeine and so we went to this quaint little location by the main railway station and I’m pleased to say that no-one in our group repeated the actions of a tourist a few years ago….. The others wanted their morning coffee, but I’m trying to avoid caffeine and so I went for a rather more healthy freshly squeezed orange juice. There was a friendly welcome from the staff, even though we all paid separately by card which I doubt was their ideal solution to the payment situation.

Look at that healthy goodness. Well, something like that anyway, but it did taste fresh and it’s always a little bonus to see your drink being freshly squeezed. I mean, you could do that with craft beer at the bar with a little creativity and ingenuity, but it wouldn’t feel quite the same. It was a handy first stop to plan our expeditions over the following few days to ensure that we knew where we were going.

We then got muddled up thirty seconds afterwards, but I didn’t say anything.

March 6, 2023
2023 Lisbon Trip (Day Two – Using the Lisbon Metro for the First Time)

My night in the Holiday Inn Express Lisbon complete I was going to walk directly to Encarnação Metro which was around twenty minutes away, around five minutes quicker than walking back to the airport and its Metro station. Unfortunately this plan was soon set aside as the Google Maps walking route was so complex in terms of crossing major roads that I thought it would be just as quick to return to the airport. After all, the other three were desperate to see me.

The airport Metro station looking modern and contemporary, part of the Red Line extension which opened in 2012. I’d also add that it was too hot for me, the blazing February sun was already just a bit too much.

There was a sizeable queue to buy a Metro ticket, but fortunately it was efficient and so I had a wait of only around five minutes or so. Note the heap of litter as the machines automatically print out a receipt that most people clearly don’t want.A single ticket is €1.65 but there’s a €0.50 charge for the ticket itself, although that only has to be paid once as it can be reused. There’s the option of a day ticket as well which is just over €6, all a lot cheaper than TFL in London.

It’s quite a deep Metro station so there were numerous levels to descend.

I don’t know whether it’s normal for musicians to meander up and down the carriages with a dog sitting on them. I’ve never seen this in London, or indeed in cities such as New York. Perhaps it’s to try and surprise and delight the tourists arriving in from the airport station.

Inside of the Metro carriage. Basic but functional.

I was heading to Restauradores Metro station, so I switched to the Blue Line, or the Seagull Line, which was well signed. This line is the only one of the four which is entirely underground. I’m not a huge fan of seagulls, so I’m not convinced they couldn’t have found something better to name it after. I’d add that seagulls don’t offend me, they just always appear to be quite a menace in the sky, particularly when I’ve got chips. Passengers need to keep their Metro ticket, not least as they’ll have to pay €0.50 for another one if they lose it, but also to be able to exit the network through the barriers.

The four lines, the Red, Green, Yellow and Blue lines. Although there had been plans to build a Metro system in Lisbon since the late nineteenth century, it didn’t finally open until December 1959. They started with the Blue Line, then came numerous extensions to that, then the Yellow Line, the Green Line and finally the Red Line. They don’t seem to have any plans to build a new line, with much of the city not that near to a Metro station, but there is also a train, tram and bus system to patch those gaps up.

And into the square where the three were standing to the right hand side of the monument. My peace and quiet shattered for the next few days….. At least the catching a Metro service had been simple and easy.

March 5, 2023
Norfolk Church and the 1934 Visitors Book Still in Use

On a visit to a number of churches this afternoon I signed the visitors book and then realised it went all the way back to 1934. Not only that, but they’re still only half way through the book so at current rate it should last until the end of this century. I’m bemused, but pleased, that no harm has ever come to this book and it’s still in decent shape. Long may it continue……

March 5, 2023
2023 Lisbon Trip (Day One – Holiday Inn Express Lisbon Airport)

There’s a shuttle bus that can be requested to get from Lisbon Airport to the Holiday Inn Express Lisbon Airport, but I thought that I might as well just walk. What could possibly go wrong with walking through industrial estates at night and all that?

The airport roundabout has a car on display and then I was off on my little meander.

I was delighted to see that there was a pavement as these things are never entirely guaranteed. Even so, I wouldn’t have wanted to do this walk with luggage as there were a lot of bumpy surfaces along the way.

This happened a lot in the United States and there was little option other than to walk in the road, but fortunately, there were sidewalks along both sides of the road. I do sometimes slightly dread a road closure on an expedition such as this as there wouldn’t have been an easy alternative road for me to walk along. For anyone reading this post wondering whether to walk to the hotel, I’d say it’s easy enough.

The hotel is just visible in the background, a little shining beacon.

And here we are. I then promptly couldn’t find the way in as it’s accessed from the other side and there are no signs. For a moment I wondered whether it was closed. However, after walking around looking at the hotel from numerous angles I was able to find the reception area. The receptionist was welcoming guests in English which I admit is helpful, although I was slightly surprised they didn’t at least start in Portuguese.

With the choice of a welcome drink or points, I decided I’d try the beer and I received 0.5 litres of Super Bock. It tasted of pretty much every other generic European lager, but I was pleased to be safely in the hotel and there’s a little bar area.

I was worried when I entered the room as the toilet was flushing in the bathroom and I wondered whether they’d given me an occupied room. However, it transpired that the flush was just jammed and using my extensive civil engineering skills that I’ve learned from my friend Liam, I fixed it. I nearly phoned reception to tell them I’d fixed part of their hotel, but I decided against it in case they thought that I was odd.

The breakfast is included in the room rate and the cold meats looked fairly mass produced, so I avoided those. The cheese was better, albeit unexceptional.

The pastries were better, including the pasteis de nata (custard tarts) which are a personal favourite of mine.

I think that’s suitably healthy.

It’s a large breakfast area and it wasn’t particularly busy during my visit. There was a friendly staff member cleaning and restocking, it was an inviting environment and I liked that it wasn’t too busy and bustling.

Just before I left I thought I should check the other pastries, I was very pleased with the doughnut.

This is a perfectly agreeable hotel, the room rate was around £50 for the night and it was convenient for the airport. On reflection, it would have been just as quick to get the metro into the city centre and stay in a more central hotel, but I liked being near to the airport hotel in case there was a long flight delay.

I had a look at the reviews on-line, which are broadly favourable, and wondered about this one:

“Staff is extremely unfriendly, they make you do downstairs for every little thing. Not to mention it is very expensive, I paid USD 3200 for 5 nights.
There’s no service here; it’s better to go Airbnb because you still have to do everything yourself. No microwave in the room; no cutlery, no water. The reception told me drink water from the bathroom tap”.

I’m not quite sure how anyone could spend $3,200 for five nights unless that somehow includes business class flights. And I drink water from the tap, although to be fair I have quite low standards in this regard.

“I thought I would book with an American hotel near the airport so I would not need Euros just for my overnight stay”

I’m not sure that it works like that and they were disappointed that this US hotel did charge them in euros. Most of the complaints about the hotel are around their shuttle, or lack of shuttle in many cases. But, I’d stay at the hotel again if arriving late into Lisbon Airport, there were no noises disturbances internally or externally and everything was sufficiently clean and comfortable.

March 3, 2023
2023 Lisbon Trip (Day One – Wizz Air from Luton to Lisbon)

Before I start writing about my flight, I have to mention the enormous common sense shown by Steve. Using his initiative and experience in the car industry he had managed to acquire Bev a stick at Lisbon Airport. This seemed a good idea at the time, although we heard Bev stomping around with the stick clacking about for the entire weekend. We were very tolerant though of course.

That was my flight, the Wizz Air W4493 18:30 to Lisbon. I was slightly nervous here as it was 17:44 and it was saying that the gate would be shown at 17:40 and my experience from BA is that when the time is reached it means there’s some kind of problem. Fortunately, a few minutes later the gate was announced.

We were departing from Gate 26 and the airport has a lot of these gates downstairs to give them extra space. Some of the gates are a bit of a walk from the main terminal, this one was only around five minutes.

I managed to be third in the non-priority queue which gave me no benefits at all.

Well, other than I got a seat in the non-priority section after they had checked my passport.

The whole arrangement was efficient and well thought through, I liked the professionalism of Wizz Air here. It’s not glamorous, but I like knowing where I’m supposed to wait and they do make it clear. Wizz Air work their planes hard, this was the fifth of six sectors that the A320 was making that day. It’s aircraft G-WUKF which they’ve been operating since March 2018, their fleet is generally all modern and I feel they’re a very safe operator. Their customer service reputation is somewhat all over the place, but that is true for many budget airlines and I’ve never experienced any negative issues with them.

I didn’t get fortunate with the seat Gods insomuch as I got randomly allocated a middle seat, but all was well and there was sufficient space. The crew are much more ruthless in terms of timing than with BA, they want backpacks under the seats and larger cabin bags in the overheads as quickly as possible. I appreciated that efficiency, it meant that we landed in Lisbon on time with the flight taking just over two hours and thirty minutes.

The flight wasn’t too bad in terms of being sold stuff, as Ryanair traditionally go a little over the top. There were a couple of food and drink runs with the trolley and I think a call for duty free, but for much of the time they dimmed the lights perhaps in the hope of sedating the passengers. The aircraft was clean, the pilot making the announcements sounded competent and the crew were all friendly. Bearing in mind that this flight cost me £11, I can say that I received decent value for money.

One thing that I’ve never really understood about so many passengers is their rush to leave the aircraft. They’ll get up before the seatbelt lights are off, they’ll barge others and then push their way onto the coach that took us to the terminal in Lisbon. I don’t mean every passenger of course, but a good number and that’s been on every flight I’ve ever been on. I have no idea why some people seem so much in a rush at this point of their journey.

The reason I don’t understand it is that everyone then just meanders around so slowly to get to the border control desks. If you want to rush, my aviation top tip is just dither about on the aircraft and then walk quickly when in the terminal as you can just walk around everyone or use the stairs when others use the escalators. I know that not everyone can walk quickly, but for those that can it means getting to the border control desk ahead of everyone else and that’s what happened to me. I’ve digressed again though in my airport observations, but passengers so often seem stressed and hurried when disembarking. As an aside, after I navigated the extensive queueing system the border guard had a smile and it was good to be back in Portugal, my second time in the country and my first in Lisbon.

Here’s Lisbon airport terminal and all I had to do for the evening was walk thirty minutes to the hotel as I wasn’t going to pay €5 for the shuttle bus. I’m not made of money and I was conscious that the train from London had cost £2.90 (£1.45 after delay repay), the flight was £11 and so paying nearly £5 for a five minute shuttle was not good value.

Finally, all four of our little brigade were safely in Lisbon, but we were missing Gordon already who couldn’t come for reasons unknown, mostly ones we made up.

March 2, 2023
British Airways – Using Avios for BA Holidays
I was interested in this announcement from British Airways that passengers can use Avios to book BA Holidays, which is something new. As there are currently double tier points on BA Holidays until the end of the year, and rumoured for even longer, I’m tempted to complete some flights between November and December 2023 in what would be the start of my Tier Point year. I’ve lost my silver status which was handy for lounges, so I might well save some Avois during the year to help in getting that back in 2024.

Anyway, the copy of the press release is below:
- From today, British Airways Executive Club members can pay with loyalty currency, Avios, when booking a holiday package with British Airways Holidays
- Avios can also be used as an alternative to a cash deposit to secure a holiday booking
- Executive Club Members travelling before 31 December 2023 will continue to earn double Tier Points on packages of five nights or more
- Members can collect Avios on everyday purchases, including more than 1,500 retailers on the British Airways Avios eStore
British Airways Executive Club Members now have more choice than ever when it comes to using their Avios, with the new option to redeem them towards the cost of a British Airways Holidays booking.

Customers choosing a flight and hotel and/or car package with British Airways Holidays, can now use Avios towards the total price of a holiday when making their booking. After selecting their preferred package, customers will be able to pick one of up to nine different Avios payment options at check out, allowing them to choose the amount of cash and Avios they wish to spend, with the cash amount starting from as little as £1, subject to holding a qualifying Avios balance. Examples include:
- Return flights and two nights’ accommodation in Barcelona from £1 + 67,650 Avios for two people sharing (50p + 33,825 per person)**
- Return flights and three nights’ accommodation in New York from £1 + 246,275 Avios for two people sharing (50p + 123,188 Avios per person)**
Alternatively, customers can secure their holiday with a deposit just using Avios, paying any remaining balance with cash in as many or few instalments as they like, provided the balance is paid off in full four or five* weeks before travel for short haul trips or seven weeks for long-haul.

British Airways Executive Club Members will also continue to earn Double Tier points with British Airways Holidays. To qualify they need to book flights and hotel, or flights and car hire, for five nights or more and travel before 31 December 2023. This includes solo travellers and any holidays already booked.

There are a number of ways for customers to collect Avios to spend on holidays, including spending on the British Airways American Express Credit Card, travelling with Uber, converting Nectar points and shopping on the British Airways Avios eStore. With more than 1,500 outlets to select from, savvy shoppers can earn Avios from any purchase that they make when visiting www.shopping.ba.com.

Claire Bentley, Managing Director of British Airways Holidays, said: “Now more than ever we want to give as many options as possible when it comes to booking that much needed holiday, so we are really excited to offer our Executive Club Members the ability to spend Avios on a package with British Airways Holidays.

“When people book with us, they can do so knowing that we take their holiday seriously. As well as a wide range of holidays to suit all travellers and budgets, we have a dedicated helpline available to customers at any point during their holiday, so they can switch off and relax knowing that they are in safe hands.”

In addition to packages with British Airways Holidays, British Airways Executive Club Members can use Avios to pay, or part pay for flights, as well as seat selection, upgrades and on board food and drink.

Elsewhere, after much feedback from customers, British Airways recently rolled out its Reward Flight Saver to 100 per cent of its network. This proposition allows customers to purchase a Reward Seat at a low flat fee, plus a fixed Avios amount. Members can travel to and from Europe from as little as £1 plus 18,500 Avios, or to a long-haul destination, such as New York, from £100 plus 50,000 Avios.
March 2, 2023
2023 Lisbon Trip (Day One – Getting to Luton Airport)

There was little to report from the other three over in Stansted Airport, but Bev was enjoying being pushed about and thought after her two meals in the JD Wetherspoon outlet that she’d have a Pret to wash it all down.

Whilst Bev was being treated like a celebrity, I’d completed my visit to the White Horse in Luton and I’ve written about that separately.

I didn’t realise that the bastion of journalism that is the Sunday Express has left Luton. Or, perhaps their sign just fell off.

It’s about a 40 minute walk to the airport from the town centre, but I managed to get lost and ended up meandering randomly around, although at least that means I saw more Luton streets than I could ever want to ever again. The reason that I mention this is that I walked by Luton Airport Parkway railway station and they’re near to opening the Luton DART, which has been in testing before passengers can use it from 10 March 2023. Some people have been more fortunate, King Charles III got to have a little ride on the DART last December.

There’s currently a shuttle bus to the airport from the railway station, or it’s around a 15 minute walk. I must admit to being quite astounded that they’re planning to charge £4.90 for this three minute journey on the DART and I can’t quite imagine many more expensive railway journeys for the distance travelled. The costs of construction are ludicrous, it was meant to cost £225 million and has gone soaring over £300 million already and judging by the local newspapers there are some slightly annoyed residents wondering where this money has gone. In the future, any ticket to Luton Airport Parkway will now include the cost of using the DART, but this raises the odd situation that I paid only £2.90 for my ticket from London St Pancras to Luton last week and so they’ll have to charge a fair chunk more for passengers who aren’t going as far (the parkway station is before Luton if travelling from London).

Anyway, I doubt I’ll ever use the DART as it seems completely unaffordable and as I won’t have any luggage, children or other things slowing me down, I’d rather just walk for 15 minutes. Maybe if Bev flies from Luton the matter might be different though.

After getting only slightly lost en route, the promised uplands of London Luton Airport appeared on the horizon. It’s a functional airport, but it struggles to cope with the number of passengers that it’s getting and it’s not really a sufficiently large terminal. To be fair, they want to change matters by expanding the current terminal and building an entirely new one as well. That would see an increase in passenger numbers from 18 million a year which they currently get to a new limit of 32 million. They’re already the fifth largest airport in the UK by passenger numbers and if they want to increase they’ll have to build that new terminal.

Inspired by Bev, I used my coffee subscription and charged my devices at the landside outlet of Pret. And, yes, I am getting onto writing about Lisbon very soon now. The screens were showing that my Wizz Air flight was going to be on time and just as I getting ready to go through security I heard that the others had landed in Lisbon. Leaving them just with one problem, they needed to find Bev a stick.

March 2, 2023
Luton – The White House (Visit 2)

I’ve written about this pub before, so won’t linger on its history again. But it’s the Good Beer Guide listed JD Wetherspoon venue, their only pub in the town as they’ve closed the London Hatter on Park Street.

It’s quite an attractive interior although there’s quite a lot of bouncing of the upper level floor when anyone climbs up the circular stairs. It’s peaceful and calm with numerous power points up here if anyone wants them. I didn’t really get to engage with any team members as I used the app, but they seemed friendly and helpful.

There were six real ales on, two that I’ve haven’t had before and this is the Going Loco from Tring Brewery from Tring in Hertfordshire. It was well kept and at the appropriate temperature, but it didn’t have much depth of flavour although would likely make a satisfactory session beer with its 3.9% ABV.

There was a little bit more going on with the Ossian from Inveralmond Brewery who are from Perth in Scotland. Hoppy and full in flavour, it’s a 4.1% ABV golden ale. Well-kept again, the pub feels like it deserves its place in the Good Beer Guide and the beers were both priced at £1.23 for a half.

The pub is generally well reviewed on-line, although I was amused at this:

“Generally when someone orders a meal in any restaurant and it isn’t available either a refund is given or a substitution of such . I do not understand why if a meal of beans on toast is ordered then given as just toast that you have the cheek to refund the beans as if it was and extra”.

That’s not really ideal, I’m with the customer there. If you sell beans on toast and only have half the core ingredients, it’s probably best not to just bring out half the elements required for the meal.

“Was just starting to eat my breakfast at around 10am. I was watching a film on my phone while eating my breakfast as there was no music. This bar tender came over and asked me to turn the volume down. The volume wasn’t that high and didn’t see anyone going to complain. Unless there people praying there I can’t understand the point as being a pub where music is normally played and sometimes can’t hear what you are saying, I found it insulting. There are are better places to be treated properly. I’ll take my money else where.”

I’m entirely with the pub, I’d personally say that team member was spot on. Music isn’t normally played there for a good reason…..

Anyway, definitely a safe bet for anyone wanting real ale in Luton.

March 2, 2023
Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market – Week 4 and A Taste of Punjab

This is the fourth week of our plan to eat at every food stall at Norwich market this year.

WEEK 4 : A Taste of Punjab

This is the menu for today’s dining at Norwich market, a range of meat and vegan dishes all clearly displayed and priced. This is one of those stalls where it’s easy to see what they’ve got available, which is much appreciated for me when I’m working out what to have. I did think that it was quite a wide selection given the small size of the unit that they have to work with.

There was only a brief wait for service at the counter and the server was polite and helpful. When I asked she mentioned that they did accept card payments, but they preferred cash so given that I decided to use my emergency cash supply if that’s what they preferred. At least there was a choice, although I must admit that I prefer to pay by card.

I went for the tarka dall which the menu stated came with a choice of rice or chapati, although I wasn’t offered that choice and was automatically given rice. This is much thinner than I’ve ever had tarka dall before and for my personal taste I think it needed some texture to it rather than being mostly liquid. I was offered coriander and chillies, both of which I accepted and the latter added some slight texture and spice to the whole arrangement. There probably could have been a greater depth of flavour as well and although I’m sure it was freshly made it didn’t have the richness of spice I would have ideally liked. The rice was cooked well, so that didn’t disappoint, with the portion size of the meal being reasonable and everything was at the appropriate hot temperature. I did consider adding on a chicken samosa, but they seem to only sell them in threes and I didn’t want that many.

And there’s Nathan’s vegetable biryani, which looked agreeable to me and he mentioned that it tasted very acceptable. The food was served promptly, near enough immediately for mine and Nathan’s was ready within around ninety seconds. There’s also a handy ledge, which was clean, to stand and eat at if required which proved useful for me to get started.

My food cost £6 which wasn’t unreasonable for a hot lunchtime snack, but I would have ideally liked something with more texture and a deeper level of flavours. I did like the taste of the meal and it was filling, so that’s all to the good. I wouldn’t be averse to visiting again though, perhaps next time going for the chicken biryani.

March 2, 2023