Portugal 2024

The timing of this post is a case study in procrastination. Not your ordinary first-level procrastination either, but the next-level kind where you eventually forget you even had been working on something. Going through my backlog of posts, I was chagrined to find this one from over a year ago. Seeing as there is nothing time-critical in the content, I decided to wrap it up and post.

Mostly just photos. Click on any image for a larger version.

As far as I'm concerned, Lisbon's most prominent landmark is the gate of Augustus. We had a discussion as to what the connection could be between the gate (built 1755-1853) and the emperor Augustus who reigned 27 B.C. to 14 A.D.

Maybe you've had this experience of receiving various email invitations to upgrade your flight in advance of the day thereof. This time was no different, and one of the options offered was the airport lounge in Lisbon. I did not take this option, but once I got to the airport I understood why people might.

The Lisbon airport was different in several ways from any I had previously seen. Curiosity stimulated, I looked it up online and saw it described as the worst-rated airport in the world. I myself would not have said so, but rather that it seems designed to handle a huge number of passengers with the smallest possible footprint. 

One difference, rather irritating, is that when you get there they won't tell you which gate your flight is leaving from. Rather this appears on the monitors a few minutes before it is time to board. Rather than sizeable waiting areas at each gate, there is one massive central waiting area. This is surrounded by luxury stores, so that you can kill time by spending money if you want. Same for food, which was arranged around a single massive food court. Meanwhile you keep watching for your departure gate to show up on the monitors and then rush to the gate.

From the center of the waiting are an escalator rises towards the heavens. This is the lounge that you can pay for if you want. The lounge has windows so that the elite can literally look down smugly on the unwashed massed (of which I was one). You have to admit, that's a privilege maybe worth a few extra Euros.

Street scene in Tavira, where I spent most of my time.

I found the Carmo Convent in Lisbon charming. When the convent was heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1755, they decided they liked the damaged version better and left it that way. 

Random scenery. These multi-gable roofs are characteristic of the town of Tavira.

A Portuguese shopping cart. It has wheels on the bottom, so you can drag it around on the floor. I tried to decided whether I like this or not, and the main disadvantage that I can see is that it poses quite a tripping hazard compared to an American shopping cart, which is torso-high.