The long road back to the USA

With Porto Tango Marathon finished, we packed our bags for the return to Lisboa by train.

Getting up early and indulging in a coffee and a nata, a Portugués pastry that tastes like a creme brule but with a flaky crust that is delicious but not sweet.

The ordered Bolt showed up and took us the 10-minute ride over the hill. Yes, Porto is very hilly to the main train station. This old train station is very close to the Atlantic Ocean and the main docking area of the big cruise boats. That location leads to a packed station with many people who are also waiting for the scheduled fast train to Lisboa. There are two types of train services: the local and the fast express.

The train arrives, and we find our seats. But when you travel with 4 bags, finding space for the bags can be a challenge, but we find space and sit down. For the next 90 minutes, the train goes approx 80 kpm, not as fast as the train to Porto went for some reason.

We are stopping for the night in Coimbra to the town that was once the capital of Portugal  and is home to a very well-preserved medieval city along the Mondego River.

We are only staying here for the night as the next morning we’ll reboard the fast train and return to Lisboa.

After finding our hotel via Bolt and stashing our bags, we started walking a bit into the old city. It’s another small, beautiful old medieval city that has had the newer sections built around the older city. Many of these medieval towns are very similar in their construction as they were built at approximately the same time. This one was started in the 12th century, so it was a little different, and the streets are denser, and there are 7 churches and various monasterys and government buildings.

We walk and find a place for a coffee at the Cafe Santa Cruz next to church of the same name in the heart of the city. This cafe is one of the most beautiful that we have visited, but the space still feels like a chapel. Later that evening, we returned to listen to the featured Fado music.

Walking further, this medieval town is from the 12th century. The streets are very narrow, normal sized street cars, and busses are not allowed into the city. But we do manage to find our preferred method of exploring a city – an electric tuk tuk. This is a great way to explore a city with a small footprint, especially if your guide is versed in history.

With our driver Wesley, he takes us on an exploration of Coimbra. The main old churches, the old university, and to a spectacular vista overlooking the city where a rope swing was installed where we take a photo. The tour was only 90 minutes long as the city itself was not very large. It’s a bit overcast and gray, but the viewpoint is marvelous.

As now we are hungry, we find a place for soup as while the weather is warm, the wind has the chill of autumn in it. The soup is  another version of vegetable and potatoe soup that’s delicious with a glass of tawny port.

We realized we need to get to bed early that night as we are finishing our train journey tomorrow, but it is still early in the evening.

We returned to the church cafe to listen to the Fado music. The cafe has fantastic acoustics, and the music is very haunting. There was a guitarist and another instrument shaped like a guitar but with a round body and double steel strings called a Portuguesa guitarra. And the singer, this time a man. The music is very melodic, and it could be considered sad or very stirring with stories of love and loss and sea adventures in Portuguese.

Fado means literally “destiny” or “fate”, and therein lays its sad beauty. We must accept our fate, even if it’s cruel, especially if it’s cruel. Quoted from a story posted on the internet at liveluso.com

With the drama of the performance finished, we got another Bolt and arrived at our hotel in 5 minutes.

After a hotel breakfast, it’s time for the return trek to the train station. We again boarded the train, made our luggage fit unto the overcrowded rack space, and proceeded to our seats.

The journey was about 3 hours, but this train was not as comfortable as the first train as the seats didn’t recline and didn’t seem to have any cushioning either.

Our experience in Portugal and Spain trains have decent wifi, which is great as somehow I managed to pack my book in my big bag. There’s even a quiet car available on some trains if you are willing to pay for silence!

We arrived in Lisboa and took a street taxi to our airport hotel. Lisboa is a small city and the airport is almost in the city.

We have learned over the years that the way to travel for us that is kinder to our bodies is a train and an overnight hotel. A plane and an overnight hotel. This process allows us to recoup our energy.

And then we are back in Barcelona for the evening as we fly back to Miami the next day.

Our adventures will continue, but we will be based in Delray Beach until we leave for Venice Tango Encuentro in early December.

We will dance in our Florida community and renew friendships with the tangeros that we have met over the years.

The adventures continue!

!La vida es tango¡
!Tango es la vida¡

Abrazo y Besos