Week 4 of my 5-week interrailing trip round Europe

Wow! Only one week left.

Monday

This was my extra day in Valencia, and it was nice to have it, because I got to wander round a less crazy Valencia and just enjoy pottering without stopping at a Falla every couple of hundred feet! It was a fairly laid-back day and just had a hotel picnic, rather than going out for a meal. The bed in that hotel was not very comfortable (or it might have been more about having a crazily sore shoulder, but I think the two made each other worse). But it was a nice place and I liked being close to the sea.

Tuesday

I made sure to get to the station early so that I could make a reservation for the Madrid to Badajoz trip on Wednesday. But then, the train was delayed by a whole hour, so there was a fair bit of sitting around waiting. The trip itself was fairly quick – just under two and a half hours. Got the metro to near my hotel and checked in. Room was fine, although there was a drip in the bathroom that was a bit annoying. It was a nice area with a lively, young and vibrant feeling. I had a beer and some olives and then went to dinner. There was a vegan restaurant quite close, so I went there. I over-ordered so left about half of the food, which felt a bit bad about. Actually, realised that I ordered something that I thought was a starter, but it was from the section of things to share. So not surprising, really. Sorted out where I’d be staying the next day. I had been hoping for a five-day stay in Lisbon, with maybe some daytrips out to a couple of places, but couldn’t find anything in my budget. So ended up booking three nights in Badajoz

Wednesday to Saturday

Nice train journey to Badajoz, and I sorted out the rest of the trip, booking TGV, AirBnBs and hotels and filling in my rail planner.

Lovely AirBnB in a great location. Quite a way from the station, but actually not that far when you don’t listen to Google Maps (probably 20 minutes walk), but right in the middle of the old town. I spent a pleasant few days, wandering around and seeing loads and loads of street art, and also visiting a couple of (FREE!) art galleries, as well as the Alcazaba. Cooked all my own food. And did a bit of work and just had a nice and relaxing time. Oh, this place had a REALLY comfortable bed.

Weekend (and into next week)

And Saturday was crossing the border into Portugal and moving to UK time, because Portugal runs an hour behind its neighbours. (But only briefly, because the clocks went forward on Sunday, so I was back to the time I was used to, but will then jump forward on Tuesday when I go back to Spain. The train journey was fine, but VERY hot. The train between Badajoz and Entroncamento is a tiny little green train. The size of a bus and a half, I’d say. But it wasn’t remotely full. It stopped at LOADS of stations, and did get busier as we got closer to Lisbon.

Arriving in Lisbon was a bit overwhelming. I think the first time I’ve fully felt that all of this trip, in fact. It was quite late (only six but almost dark – see above re. time difference). I had (as I have all through this trip) looked up how to get to the AirBnB by public transport and there was a bus that would go almost door to door, so that’s the one I was going to get. First of all I wandered round trying to work out where to get the transport tickets and finally went and gone one from a counter. Then I couldn’t find where the bus picked up from. The station was surrounded by bus stops and there was a big bus station right next to it. I asked multiple people and they all told me different things and pointed to me to this stop and that stop. But none of them had the number of the bus on them. I stood at the stop where Google Maps thought I should for about three buses worth of time and it never appeared (but lots of others did – a number of which would have got me VERY close to my AirBnB it turned out, but I was not in the frame of mind to dig down and think straight). In the end I got a taxi. It’s quite a long way from the station. The bus I was trying to get would have taken 40 minutes. So, I got some extra cash out from a machine, just in case. And then sat in this taxi, watching myself move through the city on the screen of my phone (I always have this fear that taxi drivers are going to rip me off – I don’t think any ever have, so not sure where that comes from). It was perfectly reasonable price and I still have the extra money I took out and the driver seemed very happy when I told him to keep the change (literally only a few Euros). And then I managed to negotiate the lock box and the stairs and got into the nicest AirBnB (and the AirBnBs are nicer than hotels because they’re bigger and have more you can do) I’ve had the whole trip. Two bedrooms, living room, reading nook, kitchen with very good washer dryer, lovely shower (actually the water pressure sucks, but you can’t have everything) and a balcony. Wandered quickly down to a shop round the corner to grab some supplies and cooked some dinner. And put a wash on of pretty much all my clothes (except for the warmer clothes that have barely been touched since Germany).

Sunday I started the day with some work and then went for a wander and took lots and lots of photos of tiles. So many tiles. And a wander round a museum. Picked up some more supplies. Had lunch and then a siesta that lasted a bit longer than I’d anticipated (note to self, maybe set an alarm if you’re having a siesta?). Then I walked up to the station from where I will need to get the train on Tuesday very early morning, to make sure I know where it is. Can’t miss the train from Lisbon. Tuesday is already going to be the longest travel day yet (over twelve hours, if you include getting to Lisbon Oriente station from the AirBnB). And picked up a couple more supplies. I want to make sure I have enough liquids and snacks for the train journeys on Tuesday, because a lot (or possibly all) of them will be on trains that don’t have buffets and I don’t want to be stuck on a very hot train again without enough liquid. Cooked a meal and danced around to some music (that’s something I realised I have barely done while away, though have listened to music on the train journeys, but not the dancing around to loud music while cooking that I do at home). Did a bit of homework and read a bit then typed this up. And, since I had such a long siesta, I’m going to do a bit of work before bed.

Next week (the last one!!) will be another full day in Lisbon (going to get me on a tram and explore a bit further afield, I think) and then back to Spain and then France at the end of the week.

General thoughts

Still enjoying myself, but definitely looking forward to going home and being with my family. I do really like having solo time, but I think this trip has probably stretched it a little bit far! And getting back to routines and normality and looking forward to spending the next few weeks digesting and processing the trip and hopefully outputting some art of some kind that draws on it all!

Follow me on Find Penguins

A reminder that you can follow along with my trip on Find Penguins – you can see a map of where I’ve been so far and see ‘footprints’ with lots of photos and some words and ponderings (some longer than others). If you’re into it, you can sign up yourself and share your own trips and also get notifications whenever I post a new footprint (that may be a bit excessive if you’re not a member of my family).