Way back in August I had the rarest of things - a holiday! I managed to book 2 weeks off, and booked 2 holidays. The first week I was going to go to Cornwall, but in the end I didn’t go. However the second week of my holiday I went to Lisbon with Cat so that’s how my story begins…
I must admit, my memories have all amalgamated into a big mess, so I’ll simply try to describe my thoughts and feelings and throw in some of the things I did. I remember going to MK a day early to spend the night with Olly and Phil, while I waited for Cat to return from a conference. I remember eating chips. And a battered sausage.
I picked Cat and Becca up from the coachway late into the evening. When we got back, Cat had to franticly wash her clothes as we needed to leave at about 3 in the morning to get our coach. I had booked a taxi, but of course it turned up late. Cleverly I had misguided the taxi company to when we needed to leave, so we still had plenty of time. Even so, we were treated to a masterclass of “Driving Faster Than Light” by the taxi driver. 120mph on the backstreets of MK. Hilarious :S
We did of course get to Coachway with bags of time to spare. The ride to Luton airport was dull and uneventful.
Our flight was during the time when the airports were on high alert, so we had to go through many hoops at the airport, and be searched countless times. The plane flight was ok. Its the longest I’ve ever been on a plane, and even though I tried to get some sleep, I didn’t really manage it. Plus I had an annoying kid next to me, who I was tempted to bitch slap.
We were collected from Lisbon aiport by Rita, who is one of Cat’s best friends. She drove us to Cat’s house in the south of Lisbon. I got to go over the big bridge which separates north and south. I got to go over that bridge lots of times in the days I was there. 
Cat’s house is great. It has everything you need without being small. Cat’s father was staying there, but he was out when we arrived, so it was a great opportunity to catch up on sleep. I seemed to spend a great deal of time sleeping.
Cat’s father came back to pick us up and we went out to eat. I am not a fan of seafood, so basically I was screwed. I just ate lots of chips and meat the entire time.
Then we got a lift to Vanda’s house, which is a bit out of town, to borrow her car for the week, which was very nice of her. Insurance is different in Portugal, and its the car, and not the person that is insured. Vanda didn’t really need the car because she has a work car and could use that, on top of which was that she was not only working, but was also painting her house and making it all lovely. So she was too busy for cars!
We drove to get petrol and then went and had a quick coffee. Then Cat and I went home and went to bed.
===== From here on in, memory degradation occurs, and I cannot clearly distinguish one day from the next =====
We went to see Cat’s friends in Alges. Many espressos were drunk. I had a pink cake which was very nice.
One evening we were at Rita’s and Cat mother came over so I got to meet her. Unfortunately, like her father, Cat’s mother doesn’t speak english, nor can she pronounce my name very well We had chips again I remember. Or potatoes. I sat there silently unable to join in any conversations.
Another time, we went to an indian restaurant. Indian restaurants in Lisbon, at least in my limited experience, aren’t as good as the ones here in England. I was a bit disappointed with the food, as it was not as rich and flavoursome as ours.
One day we went on a tram to go into the city centre. We walked around the streets and I got offered drugs a lot. Obviously my sleep deprevation was mistaken for drug addiction. On the way back, we went to Jeronimo’s monastery!! There was a place that sold cakes called pastéis de belém, which are only available in that one shop. And it was huge. There were rooms full of tables with people eating these cakes. They were very addictive. I think we had 3 or 4 each, and took about 8 home to eat later!
At the end of the week, it was Cat’s father’s birthday, so his girlfriend cooked us all a lovely meal of steak and chips. After we ate that, and briefly watched football, we went out into Lisbon to one of the bars there. It was a very unusual bar, and it was in all of the tourist guides. It was very full and we almost didn’t manage to get a seat I had a strange lime, vodka, crushed ice thing, which was interesting. Then we went out into Lisbon to a few other bars, in the social part of the city, where the streets were full of people, and it wasn’t even that busy!
Also at some point we went to some back street bar that Cat used to frequent. The bar man there was a right geezer, and the flirty sort who tries to get people together and such. There I met Rui, who was fantastic. He spoke in english for the whole evening, even when other portuguese people were there. He was the only one who did that, and it meant that I could actually take part in conversations. Thanks Rui!!
There were other things we did such as go to the bank, and look for coats, but these are minor things. Most of the time was either sleeping, or eating, or drinking coffee!
The plane back was fairly uneventful. I ate Pringles. Cat drank coffee. The landing was a bit bumpy and Cat was a bit jumpy, and my custard was lumpy. Or something like that
In a way I was glad to be home, but I was sad that the holiday was over. My feelings for Cat had magnified spending the whole week with her. I was sad that we both had to go to separate homes at the end of the holiday.
I am planning to go to Lisbon again over new year, so that should be really good. I’ll have spent the week before at home, so hopefully I can spend more of the holiday exploring all the delights Portugal has to offer and not just spend time in bed!
Sounds like you had a nice time!
Fatty
October 29th, 2006