Arriving in Lisbon

Our trip started out on a fun note. We were flying with British Airways via LHR. As we were boarding the flight to London, I noted the flight attendant scribbling something on the tags that are attached to the hangers for coats and jackets et cetera in business class. She was scribbling so much (turns out the pen just wasn't working) that I asked what all they wrote on those tags. For example, did they write (for their own knowledge or for crew members) helpful or warning information on passengers, such as "Ornery," "Bad attitude," "Ignorant American," or "Already overserved?" She  just laughed.

Before take-off, I had put my own jacket on the footrest and she asked if I'd like her to hang it up. "Yes, please. And I hope my note is good."  She laughed again.

Just before landing at Heathrow, she returned my jacket and  noted there might be a note in the pocket if I could read her handwriting. And here it is.  

Love the sense of playfulness. And the entire flight crew was extremely efficient as well. Very good in flight experience.

Unfortunately, we had a rather long six hour layover in London. I actually wish it had been even an hour or two longer as it would have allowed us time to get into the city and do something. Alas, no. But we were fortunate to have access to the BA lounge and hung out there, watching as breakfast fare turned into lunch and then snacks and beverages other than coffee were consumed in large amounts (though after only a few hours of sleep on the flight, we were certainly of the coffee quaffing group).

The flight to Lisbon was uneventful, other than the couple sitting ahead of us. British Airways his business class in Europe that is like Lufthansa -- same seats as economy and same legroom, just a guaranteed empty middle seat and, in this case, a meal served.  After our boarding passes were scanned, we were in a sort of holding area waiting room before boarding. The first row near the jetway was reserved for those requiring special assistance. We were amused when a woman I will refer to simply as Princess and her sugar daddy walked up to those seats. He was wrangling all of the luggage while she, wearing dark black Louis Vuitton sunglasses, was hobbling along in high heeled knee high black leather boots and wrapped up in a Louis Vuitton logo-covered trench coat.  She took a look at the seats and the writing and symbols on them, paused, and sat down. 

Kim:  Perhaps she thinks "special assistance" means VIP?

Apparently.

The two of them ended up being directly ahead of us on the flight. There was some confusion as Princess wanted to order something from the on-board purchased food menu while the flight attendant kept trying to explain that there was a full meal served in business class, but if they really wanted to pay for something from the Marks & Spencer On Board menu....  There was also some drama when she was flinging her long hair around and managed to lose a grip on her hair clip that went underneath the seat in front of her.  She turned to sugar daddy and apparently asked him to help her get it back, so he's talking over the seat directly in front of her to the gentleman ahead who managed to retrieve the item. I don't think she even gave him an "obrigada." Anyway, she made the flight a bit more eventful. As we were getting off the plane and onto our bus on the tarmac (something of Europe I have definitely NOT missed), I noted that she had Louis Vuitton luggage while sugar daddy had the good sense to have the matte black Rimowa case. I was going to comment to Kim that I was surprised that the camel-colored wool coat she was carrying wasn't carrying the LV logos. But then I realized that the pattern was on the inside....  And there's my cattiness for the day.

I had researched in advance transport options from the airport to our hotel and it looked like one of the easiest and cheapest (I AM a tight-fisted accountant, after all) was the Metro which would, with one connection, get us to within a few hundred meters of our hotel for about EUR 1,50 and which would take about 20 minutes.  Sweet.

I was confused, though, when the train slowed but didn't stop at our station (Praca Marques de Pombal -- apologies for this and other names, but don't have a Portuguese keyboard installed on my app to provide the correct characters) but went on to the last and final stop of the line. Okay, maybe it was just an express train? So we crossed over to get the next train back. Same thing -- skipped our stop. I sighed loudly in exasperation and a young woman explained that the stop was closed off because the local football had won a big match and there would be a celebration in the area of the skipped stop. Which meant right around our hotel. Hmmm.... So we got off and started walking. There were quite a few places where the streets were blocked off and we even had to ask the police to let us through the gates set up outside our hotel so we could check in.

After we got settled, we decided to head out to grab some water and snacks and see what all the hubbub was all about.  I really enjoy grocery stores in other countries -- to see the types of food that are popular, whether there are unique offerings, what is available as prepared/take-out foods, etc. And, of course, what the level of pricing is.  

So here's a quiz for you.

How much would you expect to pay at a convenience store for all of the following items in Lisbon at a convenience store:

• Three gala apples
• One banana
• One package of chocolate covered cookie sticks (like Pocky from Japan, but a local brand)
• 1.5 liter of water
• One package of rice cakes
• About a liter of beer (in a giant glass bottle - classy)

A. EUR 5
B. EUR 10
C. EUR 15
D. More than EUR 15

For extra credit, which was the most expensive of the six items?

Think about that and I'll share the answers below.

We dropped off our bag of goodies at the hotel -- going through the police barrier again -- and headed out to follow the crowds. We weren't able to go directly into the main area where the celebration -- St. Benfica had won the Liga Nos championship -- would be held. But we followed the crowd and found a really , really long queue on Avenida Liberdade to go through security and bag checks and then get into the area. We decided it wasn't necessary for us to do that since we could clearly HEAR everything from our hotel room and could probably watch the whole thing on TV. Instead, we hung out in the queuing area, grabbed some beers from a little outside cafe/bar and watched some of the proceedings and awards ceremony that were still going on at the stadium on television. Quite fun.

There is a large fire department adjacent to our hotel and one can see the various vehicles outside of our room window. Last night there were a lot of their crew outside, likely in preparation for anything that might happen related to the celebration. But what I enjoyed most was that they were outside and grilling a bunch of chicken on a grill made out of a 50 gallon metal drum. There was a LOT of chicken so I guess they were planning on a long night or there were more firefighters inside than I had thought.

I think we were back in our hotel room by about 10:30. The celebration was clearly just getting underway and there was a lot of noise. We were both glad to have saved our earplugs from the flight, though after a long day and a short night on the flight, I don't think anything could have come between me and sleep.

Quiz Answers:

It would be an understatement to say that I am amazed at how low some prices are here. The answer to the grocery store total question is EUR 5,37. WHAT?! Yeah.  

And the most expensive item? The off-brand Pocky at EUR 1,67.