Walk about in Lisbon

We have till 17:30 before the official meet and greet session with the race team so have the day to explore Lisbon. Chris, Jane and I ramble off into the city centre via the public transport system. After coming from London where I am used to being able to wave a payment card, phone or smartwatch at a barrier it is a bit of a shock to the system. The system is ticketless but you have to buy and charge up a cardboard contactless token for each service you will use. Underground and overground systems are not integrated. Doh! Buying credit for these cards is incredibly fiddly with lots of screen presses. There is even a stage where you can enter your VAT number. 

The next issue to solve is cash as the race organisers warned they wanted the real thing for any expenses incurred. Lisbon is stuffed full of ATMs but apparently they will be scarce in some of the overnight stops . We go to the first one and for some reason it will only dispense 200€, and in small bills. We try the next and get the same. Chris is beginning to look like the Harry Enfield character ‘Loadsa Money’.

I quickly come to the conclusion that Lisbon is a great place to hang out, walk round and generally chill. There is a lot to see and I only get a little taster. The old town with its narrow streets and mix of bars, cafes, restaurants, grand old buildings and crumbly old houses is and easy place to wander and kill a few hours. I try one of these chocolate cups filled with a fruity liqueur…delicious!

We have a lunch date with Chris’s friend Vlad down the coast in a very cute town called Caiscais, and jump on the train down the coast.  A tasty treat of mussels and chips washed down with a gin and tonic is not what I thought I would be having today. I'm not sure this is how the professionals do it but it is great to sit outside in 27C and eat a meal in the middle of the street,

A quick dash round the corner to a place that serves coffee and what Vlad describes as the ‘2nd best 'Tarta de Nata’ in Lisbon sprinkled with a dash of ground cinnamon. Fab. If you are in the area, Caiscais is a great place to go for a break. Stuffed full of restaurants and bars and a nice beach,  Not the cheapest place you can go I suppose as it seems that the wealthy Lisbon crowd like it here, but I think I'll put a trip to Lisbon for a few days on the bucket list and come out here to Caiscais for part of it.

Tomorrow, we get on the bus to Chaves and all this lounging around comes to a stop. The whole deal gets a lot more serious as we are repatriated with our bikes and get ready to race. The pictures of us wandering around  town with a gin in hand will get replaced with sweaty middle aged men in lycra trundling through the Portuguese countryside.