The Loooong Trip Home

Arrival at the airport was smooth and we were there well before the check in counters opened! Going through security and immigration was interesting with long lines that were quick to dissipate! Managing to spend the last of our euros we settled into our boarding gate waiting for our departure. And we waited, and waited....then announcement of a delay of our flight...waited more...and then meal vouchers were issued but only to a handful before the dreaded announcement - due to technical / mechanical issues with the plane the flight has been cancelled!! I should point out that this occurred at midnight! Oh well these things happen and I do want to be on a plane that is working.

More announcements instructed us to make our way to the baggage carousel, pick up our bags then find the Emirates staff. We obliged then found ourselves standing by the baggage carousel for over an hour before our luggage arrived. It was the most frustrating situation where by the bags came up a central conveyor belt and paused waiting for a space to drop into on the looped conveyor belt. The problem was that the conveyor belt was full with bags (they weren't being taken off quick enough) so no new bags could drop on!!

Eventually ours arrived and we found the Emirates staff who informed us to meet next to the cafe downstairs. Obviously behind the scenes, the Emirates staff were trying to find accomodation for 300+ passengers in the wee hours of the morning. Not an easy task. First Class and Business were sorted quickly, then it was the families followed by the elderly. Next people with medical issues, couples and finally us the singles!

We boarded a coach just before 4am and arrived at our new accomodation at 4.30am which was located at Estoril nearly 40km west of Lisbon! Check in took a bit of time too and we were glad to climb into bed for some sleep! What a drama!

Waking at 8am, we met for breakfast to find out that we had a midday check out; lunch at the restaurant was provided and a taxi would pick us up at 3pm for the return trip to the airport. Post breakfast to keep ourselves awake, we went exploring on foot. Turns out the hotel we were staying in was adjacent to the Casino Estoril one of the biggest casinos in Europe and also the inspiration for the James Bond 007 novel Casino Royale!

We wandered more and soon found ourselves on the coastal promenade that connects Estoril to Cascais. The grey skies were attempting to rain but it mostly held off. There were lots of people out walking dogs, running and riding. After a bit we looped back past the Forte da Cruz, a 17th century castle that was built to provide security to the wealth while enjoying their beach vacation and is now a popular wedding venue.

Back at the hotel, we packed our belonging before enjoying a relaxing big lunch. With a bit of time left before the taxi arrived, we lounged around in the hotel foyer, struggling to keep awake! The taxis arrived and we were keen to get going again. The drive to the airport was interesting as one of the other delayed travellers joined us. It turned out that she was a songorapher from Melbourne who had attended the same conference!

Inside the airport, we trudged to the all too familiar check in desk and were greeted with a massive queue. With two Emirates flights departing for Dubai within an hour of each other it was chaos. So glad to finally reach the front of the line after two hours of standing and shuffling. No one seemed to be in any hurry. On check in we were given a meal voucher and told that our flight may not be ready! He also told us that he couldn't check us in for the Melbourne - Canberra leg as we'd missed the connection. A bit concerning really.

The plane did leave on time and the flight was uneventful. In Dubai with several hours to wait, we were keen to sort out the Melbourne - Canberra leg but couldn't find an Emirates service desk so we gave up. Again the flight to Melbourne was fine. I slept as much as possible in an attempt to get back into the Canberra time zone.

As we disembarked from the plane in Melbourne, the air stewardess was holding a Canberra sign. We had 40 mins to get the Canberra flight so along with 11 others we were quickly ushered through the throngs of people at immigration and customs and were instructed that we didn't have time to collect our baggage. Of course when we checked in at the departure gate to obtain a boarding pass, we were told we weren't on the flight! The good news was there were spare seats! The bad news was the flight was delayed for 15 mins and then worse news it was cancelled due to a cracked windscreen. 

Gosh we were desperate to get home but resigned ourselves to having no control of the situation. Thankfully it was a short  delay as a bigger replacement plane was acquired and we were soon up in the sky for the last time. Landing in Canberra, we headed straight to the lost baggage desk and filed a missing baggage report. The staff member informed us our luggage should be with us in the morning!

Of course it wasn't that simple! Three days later with no luggage in sight, the link to my missing luggage still was in 'luggage waiting to be found mode'! Contacting the airline, they informed me that it could take up to 21 days! In my mind, my backpack only had the sticker to Melbourne (not Canberra) and therefore was in the Melbourne International Airport waiting to be reunited. I also found it frustrating that it had a personal bag tag on the outside with my name and phone number....

A week later I called Emirates but they palmed my situation back to Qantas! Again I called Qantas in which I explained (once again) the dramas of the flight home (delayed flight, no boarding pass to Canberra) and finally my request to locating my luggage was escalated. By that afternoon I received a call back informing me they had found a backpack matching my description however it had another persons bag label on it! Turns out the dude who checked us in at Lisbon airport had switched the bag labels on my friends and my luggage!!

I was glad to be finally reunited with my bag a week after arriving home. My fiend's bag took another week to find her!

Last Day in Lisbon

It was a relatively slow morning beginning with a walk / run north along the Tagus River. Breakfast and packing up were next on our agenda for a mid morning check out. We had one more day of exploring left before heading to the airport later in the afternoon to catch our 9pm flight.

Leaving our luggage in a the conveniently almost next-door baggage locker, we started with the last minute shopping to complete before we went walking! With the remnants of our food and picking up a few items on the way for a picnic lunch, we traversed Lisbon before climbing up to the most famous viewpoint, Miradouro da Graça. This balcony provides panoramic views north over the historic city centre, to Såo Jorge Castle, out to the Tagus river and the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge. Behind this balcony is the Igreja da Graça and the Graça Convent which both are prominent buildings when looking south across the city as we had often done.

Continuing west through Graça, we again climbed to the highest central point of Lisbon, the Miradouro de Senhora do Monte.  Miradouro da Graça might be the most famous but Miradouro de Senhora do Monte is the most popular with waves of tourists arriving and departing by tuk tuk! Securing a bench, we enjoyed our picnic lunch here while tourist watching. We picked up many pointers as how to pose for the perfect photo. Our favourite was the casual no smiling looking into the distance pose...we are yet to master this!

 

With lots of time still to kill, we decided to pay a visit to Såo Jorge Castle. Another viewpoint - Miradouro do Castelo de Såo Jorge where we stood and admired the views again! We wandered around the castle ruined walls for the next hour dodging the sprinkles of rain.

 

By now we had well and truly exhausted all the things to do and see in Lisbon! Traipsing back across Lisbon for the last time to retrieve our luggage was straightforward as we'd grown accustomed to the layout of the city so no map required. It was then a short metro ride out to the airport.

Extra Non Conference Bits

The few sessions that we decided to skip saw us explore new areas...

Located between the conference centre and the Tagus River is the Parque Nações Cable Car that was built for Expo 1998. We boarded the cable car at the north terminal for the 1.2km return journey that took around 15 mins. Panoramic views included oceanarium, MEO Arena, FIL Pavilions (including the one our conference was in), Oriente Station, the São Gabriel and São Rafael towers, the old Torre Vasco da Gama now Hotel Myriad, Vasco da Gama bridge (longest bridge in Europe - 17km long) and of course the vista across the Tagus River.

With our feet on the ground we wandered around Parque Des Nações (the Park of Nations from Expo 1998) finding various interesting sculptures!

Leaving the conference that evening we chose to eat dinner at Time Out Market, a gourmet market hall. It was busy, very busy. After securing a seat, we each found something to eat - Shannon braving a traditional Portuguese meal while I not wanting sardines, played it safe with a burger.

A late night from the conference party and a less appealing afternoon program meant we left early choosing to spend some time soaking up the sun with a run in  the largest city park - Parque Eduardo VII. We caught the metro out and then ran a few loops around the park before walking back to our apartment.

The final day of the conference was a half day of lectures followed by an afternoon excursion including dinner to Cascais. Given that we'd already visited this coastal town, we opted out of this one choosing to do our own thing. We first went in search of port...which led us to Alfama the oldest district of Lisbon - a charming area of small roads / laneways and many little shops.

  

To celebrate the close of the conference, we decided on wine tasting at a roof top bar and found the perfect one accidentally! A great way to wind down from a hectic week.

Conference Time

The next 5 days were intense. The conference was held in a warehouse type building next to the Tagus, a 20 min metro ride for us from the centre of Lisbon. It provided a large flexible space for the 3000 delegates. Divided into 3 sections - a curtained area provided a darkened relatively soundproof space with 3 massive screens and 3000 foldable chairs in compartments served as the lecture theatre; an area for the buffet lunch with numerous round tables each seating 10+ people and a smaller space connecting the two that contained the sponsors and imaging companies displays and all the latest innovations and gear.

We got to see many of the ultrasound gurus speak in real life! Lectures ranged from 15 mins to 1 hour and the program ran from 8am - 7pm. The sessions generally ran late so lunch was shortened and the afternoon lengthened or even rescheduled for early the next morning so delegates could get to the dinner party on time! Regardless  no-one seemed to mind and the lecture theatre was at capacity most of the time. The catering was impressive and we loved the GE gelato cart! The dinner party was also an interesting experience!

 

By the third day, our brains were at capacity and our bums sore from the unforgiving chairs so we allowed ourselves to skip a few of the less relevant sessions. Nevertheless, it was an interesting experience and I'm glad I went.

Touring Lisbon

Today we based ourselves in Lisbon for a tram day! Up bright and early, we boarded the famous #28 tram at the terminal Martim Moniz square. Despite the warnings that the tram is usually crammed with tourists, not surprisingly we found it was quiet at this time of the day! 

Line 28 of Lisbon's iconic trams was inaugurated in 1914, and today the 7km route goes between Martim Moniz Square to the neighbourhood of Campo de Ourique taking about 40mins. The little yellow tram rattles through the small streets of the historic districts of Alfama, Baixa, Barrio Alto, Chiado passing numerous attractions.

Disembarking, we wandered through the neighbourhood of Estrela down to the river aiming to catch the next tram #15E which would take us to the Belém district. From a colleagues recommendation we visited Pastéis de Belém, a bakery known for excellent Pastéis de nata (Portuguese Tarts). According to their website -

In 1837 we began making the original Pastéis de Belém, following an ancient recipe from the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. That secret recipe is recreated every day in our bakery, by hand, using only traditional methods. Even today, the Pastéis de Belém offer the unique flavour of time-honoured Portuguese sweet making.

Anyway we could see the chefs working away in the kitchen while we ate our tarts and they were delicious. The pastry was perfectly crisp and the filling nice and sweet. Well worth the stop!

Back outside we ambled past the impressive facade of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos with hundreds of tourist waiting to enter. We were happy just to wander past before crossing the road into the Jardim da Praça do Império and down to the Tagus river to the Padrão dos Descombrimentos.

Also known as the Monument of Discoveries, it was initially erected in 1940 as a temporary monument. In 1960 it was reconstructed to celebrate 500 years since the death of the Infante Do Henrique or Henry the Navigator. The monument is in the form of a stylised caravel which seems to be setting out to sea with Henry the Navigator on its prow. On either side are significant characters from the Portuguese Age of Discovery (exploration between 15th and 17th centuries) all portrayed with symbols that allude to their identity; navigators, cartographers, warriors, colonisers, missionaries, chroniclers and artists. It is a very impressive monument!

Continuing along the foreshore, the sun was blazing and we stumbled across a fancy car show! Next stop on our itinerary was the Torre de Belém. This 16th century fortification served as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers and as a ceremonial gateway to Lisbon. It symbolises Portugal's maritime and colonial power in early modern Europe. We took a few snaps while being hassled by locals trying to sell us bracelets or hats. 

The nearest tram stop was a short walk away. The plan was to catch the 15E tram back to town. We arrived at the empty tram stop and the monitor informed us that the next tram would be in 16mins. A few more people arrived. After counting down to about 7mins, the monitor jumped back up to 16 mins. A few more people arrived. By now we had been waiting for nearly 30mins and had realised that we hadn't seen a tram come past in the other direction. Finally we realised that there was a drivers strike and the trams had stopped. With no other option, we quickly ordered an uber to take us back to town.

The uber dropped us off on the foreshore near town.  On the small area of beach, one local was creative with sandcastle making! Across the road was the Praça do Comércio or the Square of Commerce, one of the largest plazas in Portugal. On the northern side of the plaza is the Arco da Run Augusta, the 30m tall stone arch was completed in 1875 to commemorate the city's reconstruction after the devastating earthquake, tsunami and fires of 1755. Another impressive sight. 

From there we ambled our way through the little streets and steep staircases upwards towards the Castelo de São Jorge. Perched on top of a hill, the majestic outline of the Castelo de São Jorge dominates the skyline of Lisbon. We scoot by the gate deciding not to enter the complex. Continuing our aimless wandering, we found ourselves at Miradouro was Portas do Sol with crowds of people  enjoying the view over the Alfama district. By now it was early afternoon and time for lunch so we backtracked to a small restaurant we'd eyed earlier.

The grilled salmon and salad was delicious and enormous meaning we wouldn't need any dinner! Glad to have a half hour stroll back to the apartment to burn off lunch. We had a bit of downtime in the apartment before deciding to visit a roof top bar for an aperitif while the sun set. A great way to wind down after a busy sightseeing day.