The road into Lisbon is very good with plenty of signs to guide you. They even tell you how far to each petrol station, which is just as well because when the dashboard lights start flashing red and telling me to "STOP the car" I know that I only have to drive a further 20 kilometres to the next petrol station, 'cos there is no way I'm stopping in the middle of nowhere! GC had filled the tank with unleaded petrol at our last stop, despite the sign on the tank stating "diesel only", so we somehow made it to the next stop but once I turned the ignition off.....that car was not moving again! We somehow made our dilemma clear and after about an hour's wait we were delivered another vehicle, which, all things considered, was a great outcome.
Driving into Lisbon was a whole other story! With over 550,000 people in Lisbon alone it is a nightmare to drive....coupled with the fact that we had to find a toilet in a hurry it was a scary nightmare. I eventually pulled up on a roundabout, which I though was entirely illegal (we were desperate) but then noticed there was a taxi and a police car at the same junction!
The city of Lisbon makes no sense to a newcomer so we ended up hiring a cab, which we then followed, to guide us to our hotel and then to the rent car office.....I was over it!
The Hotel Britania is a delightful Art Deco hotel situated in the historical centre of Lisbon and well deserving of the rave reviews it receives. The staff were delightful and the concierge, who also was our barman, went out of his way to help. He recommended a local restaurant not far from the hotel that specialised in seafood and we had a great night!
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| A quaint replica barber shop in the hotel |
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| The lobby |
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| The bar |
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| Our room - very generous |
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| Yes.... a clean bathroom |
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| Dining with the locals |
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Being the only blondes in the room we did stand out
and the girls certainly received more than a little
attention from our waiters.
Other patrons almost had to fend for themselves! |
