Day 1. It was an early morning start. At Heathrow, there was a tentative moment at Air Portugal check-in desk. They questioned my carrier bag (in which I have travelled far and wide in numerous airlines). Mum was resigned to cancelling the trip. But when they saw I was completely comfy inside of it, they let us through. Phew!
Upon arrival in Lisbon we learnt we needed to have made a vet appt at the airport for a check-up and to pay 40€. This is unlike all the European places we’ve visited except for Malta. We made it through and relieved to finally arrive at Altis Avenida hotel in the very heart of Lisbon.
The Altis Avenida is located on the Praҁa dos Restauradores, it faces the Avenida da Liberdade on one side and the neo-manueline, horseshoe-arched Rossio station on the other. And we could see all that from the balcony of our room.
They laid out quite a welcome for me.
After taking in the view from our balcony, we went for a bit of sightseeing of the old city in a tuk-tuk. 🛺
If I thought cars were unstable and caused me anxiety, I was in for quite a ride as we rumbled and tumbled along the cobbled stone streets and up and down the hills of Lisbon! 😂😅🤣
Lisbon is a city of seven hills – we went to the top of some of those hills to catch a view of the layout of the city.
Some of the city landmarks concerns those hills – Elevador de Santa Justa, the 147 m. structure is built in the same style as the renowned French architect, Eiffel. It connects the lower streets of the Baixa with the higher Largo do Carmo (Carmo Square). The Elevador da Bica is the yellow funicular that would not let us on unless I was in a carrier. So we walked down instead and saw street art and street life.
Day 2. We went on a street art tour. This time in a “Vintage” Car – modelled after the Ford T.
And soon discovered that Lisbon is an open-air gallery, not just for its beautiful tile-covered façades and the traditional cobblestone designs, but also for its street art.
I think Mum’s favourite is the painted wall tiles!
Day 3 🇵🇹 We have been eating well.
While there are lot of places in Lisbon where one can dine outside with dogs, there are few places where they are allowed inside. The hotel Altis Avenida managed to find us two excellent Italian (but of course) restaurants that happily greeted ME by name – the hotel told them we were coming! ☺️
Caffe di Marzano and Valdo Gatti, both walking distance from the hotel were some of the best pizza and risotto ever had!
We also ate local at the Rossio Gastro bar in the hotel and watched the sunset over Lisbon.
Of course we had the Pastel de Nata. And some Port.
Obrigado, Lisboa, por um tempo maravilhoso!
May’s comment: It is never always relaxed when one chooses to cross borders with dog in-cabin. The world is not that ready.
As stressful as it was, once we’ve arrived, it’s all worth it. I love sharing moments with them and making our memories. George sniffed harder and longer everywhere we went. And he was thrilled that everyone at the hotel knew him by name. And his Man Bun was one of the attractions for tourists and locals alike.
I had for a long time wanted to travel with Darcy to Lisbon and Porto but trains in Portugal and Spain required dogs to be crated. That would have been impossible trying to carry her in a crate travelling by train across Spain to get to Portugal. The rules seem to have changed recently and I could have made that arduous journey. Instead George and I flew directly to Lisbon from Heathrow because he weighs under 8kg.
When all the fun was had and we began to make our way home. I knew the trip would be a long one. There would be six legs of the journey and had planned it such that there was plenty of time to make connections.
Our day started at 6.30 am. As we still cannot fly into the UK with pet in cabin, we flew to Paris, the closest we could get to before we began our train journeys across the Channel. ✈️ Checking in at Lisbon was no problem. In the plane and feeling relaxed because we had a buffer of over an hour after landing to catch the train from Charles de Gaulle Airport to Calais via Lille Europe. But due to busy air traffic, our flight was delayed for an hour which meant we had minutes to disembark and board the train. Thankfully, I had carry-on luggage and between EU countries there was no immigration.
Not wanting to risk George releasing himself while running through the airport, I carried him in his carrier as I hurried along. He weighs 5.8 kg but after a few hundred meters, I felt like I was carrying a stone! We arrived at the station only to find out the train was delayed by 40 mins! No way! That meant our buffer for the next part of the journey was again compromised. Any later, we would miss the connecting train to Calais Frethun and delay in crossing the tunnel.
When we finally boarded the train 40 mins later to Lille Europe 🚅 they then announced it was going to Lille Flanders instead – which meant another trot 🏃♂️to change station yet again! As soon as the doors opened, we hopped off and hurried as fast as my tired legs would allow me to go, but George had to do a poo in between stations! 😂 He conveniently did it right next to a tree … and I left it there because I didn’t have minutes to spare trying to find a bin! Up some very long escalators and immediately spotted that the train was already at platform 43. We had just 5 mins to spare after we sat down, perspiring and out of breath! But we were on the train to Calais Frethun. 🚆
What a relief to finally get off and see a familiar face. One of our regular Folkestone Taxi Driver was there to meet us. He seemed relaxed. I wasn’t!!! I wanted to get home asap. Having a Flexi Plus ticket to cross the Eurotunnel meant we could take the next available crossing. After a quick visit at Pet Immigration, we were raring to go. But the UK immigration queue was long and slow.
Just when we finally got to the checkpoint, we were told to pull over. It turned out that our driver had a nuclear medical test the day before and he had set off all the alarms!!! 😳 Surely, you’ve got to be kidding me! 😂
Luckily a piece of paper pulled out of nowhere proved that and he was indeed telling the truth and in no way endangering the world! Off we went, flying along the Flexi Plus lane and safely onboard the next train to cross the Eurotunnel. 🚘🚝
🇬🇧 HOORAY! We made it back to UK soil.
But we still had to take a train from Folkestone to St. Pancras International 🚄, and a taxi to home.🚕
We finally came through our front door at 20.40. That in total, took over 14 hours.
So proud of George and how well he did. He knew where and when he could do his pees and poos. And he just went along with the running and sitting still – not a single complain.
And I would do it again and again if I have to. Because visiting new places with my dogs have always been part of the joy of my travels. It wouldn’t have been as fun, and people wouldn’t stop to talk to me if I was on my own. Darcy, and now George have always stopped people and we’ve exchanged conversations.
At Valdo Gatti, we met an Australian family who had just put down their dog the day before they left. Their little boy couldn’t get enough of George. The mother came and sat at our table to tell us all about their heartache.
A woman and her friends from Panama stopped by to say how sweet George was because they saw him saying please while we ate watching the sunset at Rossio Gastrobar.
When we arrived at Caffe di Marzano, the staff said, “This must be George.”
I chose to stay at the Atlis Avenida Hotel, because it was listed as a dog-friendly hotel. It is perfectly located on the Praҁa dos Restauradores, and faces the Avenida da Liberdade on one side and the neo-manueline, horseshoe-arched Rossio station on the other.
What we didn’t expect was such a warm welcome. The staff knew George by name and they told us they had read our blog, and even knew about Darcy.
Some of the restrictions in Portugal it less dog-friendly than what we are used to in London, but overall, the people were lovely and they mostly love dogs. And I am so glad I saw that side of Lisbon.
