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-   -   Varsity Sisters visiting Portugal (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/varsity-sisters-visiting-portugal-1721594/)

uppsala30 Apr 4th, 2024 09:53 AM

Varsity Sisters visiting Portugal
 
Hi, my sister and I (of “varsity” age) are leaving next Monday 4/8 for Lisbon and Porto. We have been monitoring the weather reports and cannot believe our good fortune - it’s been raining for weeks - and this is the forecast for our trip

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d7f631269.jpeg
Arrive on Tuesday 4/9 in Lisbon
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3727976a9.jpeg
Arrive in Porto on Sat. 4/13
I am now moving my down vest out of suitcase and sticking my walking sandals and summer dress into suitcase.

We have been planning this trip for 8 months. My sister - who has her own home remolding business- had over 120,000 miles on Air France that we used for our flights. Surprisingly the flights are still priced at the same # of miles as when we booked 8 months ago, and appear to have over 140 empty seats each way (KLM). We also used miles to get lounge passes for our layover in Amsterdam.
Many thanks to Maribel and Mai Tai Tom for help with planning this trip. We had some requirements for accommodations that steered us towards apartments. My sister doesn’t want to climb stair so we had to have a place with an elevator ( haha wait until she has to climb all of the hills) and we wanted two bedrooms, with kitchen, washer and dryer. Maribel was kind enough to help us with locations in Lisbon.
I’ll try and post more as we get going on this fun vacation.


Melnq8 Apr 5th, 2024 06:14 AM

Along for the ride. Have a great trip.

bilboburgler Apr 5th, 2024 07:29 AM

Not that it matters, but neither I nor my access to Google knows what Varsity Age means.

SusanP Apr 5th, 2024 07:46 AM


Originally Posted by bilboburgler (Post 17550787)
Not that it matters, but neither I nor my access to Google knows what Varsity Age means.

I wondered about that, too! 😀

uppsala30 Apr 5th, 2024 07:51 AM

Senior😁

Maribel Apr 5th, 2024 07:53 AM

Have a great trip and look forward to hearing about your Varsity adventures!

ms_go Apr 5th, 2024 08:03 AM

What a difference a month makes! We were in Porto and surroundings exactly a month ago, and it was fairly rainy and much cooler. Enjoy your trip, and I look forward to reading about it.

aulop Apr 5th, 2024 09:06 AM

Interesting how the same words/expressions can have different meanings to people at different locations.
Varsity in my area means university, as in Varsity team, Varsity field ,etc.

k_marie Apr 5th, 2024 11:02 AM

In our/most high schools, there are junior varsity and senior varsity sports teams. I suspected OP was referring to senior varsity!

SusanP Apr 5th, 2024 02:22 PM

I did think it referred to "senior," I just never heard that term used for that meaning. 😀
We also used it for teams in school.

uppsala30 Apr 9th, 2024 02:34 PM

Landing in Lisbon
 
Yeah - we have arrived in Lisbon. We quickly jumped in an Uber from the airport and got to our apartment this afternoon. I’ll try to attach photos. It is lovely, on the top floor with nice river views from the balcony. In spite of jet lag, I dragged my sister over to Bonjardim for dinner and we made a special trip to Luvaria Ulisses to look at their lovely gloves. My husband suggested before I left on this trip that he would like to get me a pair as a Mothers Day gift!!! So much fun.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...73ee8d162.jpeg
Flying into Lisbon- we lucked out with great weather
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ebff7e00b.jpeg
One of the bedrooms- this room has a rack for hanging clothes
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fa7a49133.jpeg
View from balcony
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...498f9ba41.jpeg
More view
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b8a8521d1.jpeg
Living room
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e4f56d165.jpeg
Dining room
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...87647f6ad.jpeg
My sisters gloves
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...928552106.jpeg
Yeah cute early Mothers Day gift and a sunset glass of wine
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bc56efa36.jpeg
Luvaria Ulisses glove store- only twpmpatrons can enter at a time. They measure your hand for exact fit.

aulop Apr 10th, 2024 04:09 AM

The first photo shows Cristo Rei, it's often overlooked by tourists.
There is an elevator inside the statute of Christ , great view of Lisbon from the other side of the river.
If you have the time to visit , take the ferry from Lisbon at Cais do Sodré to Cacilhas, then take the bus (#3001) to Cristo Rei.

quinmj57 Apr 10th, 2024 06:26 AM

Looking forward to hearing of your travel since we will be there in October.

Maribel Apr 10th, 2024 06:59 AM

Great landing shot! I love the gloves, very fashionable.

Yes, if you do hit a nice day, the ferry from Cais do Sodré to Cacilhas, then a walk down the Rua do Gijal past the abandoned warehouses to the end, to the terrific Atira-te-aoRio or Ponto Final seafood restaurants, sitting next to each other, for lunch and the views of pastel Lisbon in front of you is a real treat!

uppsala30 Apr 10th, 2024 08:27 AM

Second day in Lisbon
 
We started our day at Copenhagen coffee near our apartment, then took a long walking tour. I don’t know if I
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fa79263cb.jpeg
Yeah - cold beer in Chiado
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...16b35d667.jpeg
Copenhagen coffee
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a184aef98.jpeg
Praca do Comercio
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fabeb105f.jpeg
We actually were able to ride on the Funicular up Barrio Alto
mentioned this but my sister is having a lot of leg/ hip pain and told me before this trip that she couldn’t walk more than 4,000 steps at a time Well we broke that rule already, 10,560steps today. I’ll try and attach photos. We were walking downhill from Barrio Alto and I decided we needed lunch in Chiado. No lines at A Brazileira! Time for a well deserved beer.
in the afternoon we took a Tuk Tuk tour with Silvia Guimaraes de Moura ( +351 917 072 052). She is a wonderful guide - so much information. It worked out great as my sister could rest her hip in the Tuk Tuk.

Maribel Apr 10th, 2024 08:37 AM

Looks like you´re having great weather in Lisbon! Is your apartment in Baixa? Very nice views from your balconies!

uppsala30 Apr 10th, 2024 11:04 PM

Good morning, yes. We are staying in an apartment on Rua da Madalena. I believe you scouted out the location for us. Thank you so much. The only issue is it’s up a slight hill and my sister is struggling with the hills and stairs.

eshamdas Apr 11th, 2024 06:46 AM

Apartment on Rua da Madalena
 
Hello,
I will be visiting Lisbon in October and would like more info on the apartment, can you post some more info ? Thanks

uppsala30 Apr 11th, 2024 09:19 AM

Great day today- we hired a private guide from Picta Travel to take us to Sintra. We were so lucky - got a fabulous young woman - Sara- for the day. It was such a treat. We did the Peña Palace in the morning, lunch in the coast - and Quinto da Regaleira.
eshsmdas I will try and link the apartment info for you. It does have 2 bedroom and two bath, it’s on the fifth floor. But - it has an elevator which is a luxury in Lisbon.

uppsala30 Apr 11th, 2024 11:40 PM

Photos from Sintra
 
I’ll try to attach
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...abd7352e6.jpeg
Arriving to Peña Palace
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...499ac8250.jpeg
Peña Palace
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3149b9193.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ae5e169dc.jpeg
Really nice sightseeing weather
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...113c03029.jpeg
Westernmost point of Europe
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...18263f82f.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4eb71e04c.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8cd9975ee.jpeg
Quinta de Regalareira- my sister could not make the climb here. It’s too bad, the grounds were stunning
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e34abf6ed.jpeg
Occulus- 9 stories down. Evidently it was used as an initiation rite for Kinights Templar
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...05238c04a.jpeg
Very mystical
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...59c90324a.jpeg
More mystery
photos from our trip to Sintra and Peña Palace


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