The days do tend to blur a bit when we Aussies move across the globe. Travel time from Yallingup to Perth to Dubai to London/Heathrow to Lisbon was, well, I'm not quite sure. Three hours by car followed by 21 hours by plane with various layovers in between and a 7 hour time zone shift makes for a tad of confusion.
But no matter, we're here, in a delightful old apartment in the old town in (hilly) Lisbon, overlooking the Tagus River estuary. More of this shortly.
The various flights were fine - nice planes and good service from Emirates. Arriving in Heathrow Friday night UK time I managed to direct us to the wrong Hilton Hotel for our sleepover, and after an GBP18 taxi ride of about 1 mile we ended up in the right place. A solid sleep, a testament to the double glazing given that we had all manner of planes flying past our window at 60-second intervals and didn't hear a thing.
Saturday morning we decided to go exploring nearby Hounslow Heath. Dick Turpin, the legendary British 18th century highwayman (read all round bad dude) worked these parts, Wikipedia noting that on 20 August 1735 he and an accomplice "relieved a Mr Godfrey of six guineas and a pocket book, on Hounslow Heath". I remember reading of Mr Turpin when I was a kid - although it didn't eventually end well for him, as he was hanged in April 1739 for his troubles. A few decades later and he might have been shipped off by the Poms to the Antipodes.
Anyway, we wandered around the streets of Hatton and Hounslow, catching a few typical British sights as we went along:
Typical terrace houses ... I was interested to see a smattering of St George cross flags hanging from windows. I wonder whether this is a Brexit statement or something more fundamental.
Under the flightpath :-(.
The Green Man pub, dating back to 1639, although not much of the original remains
A couple of locals
Which brings me onto Lisbon. More in coming days, but below is a shot from our balcony overlooking the old town and the River Tagus.
We had a delightful meal at the Tabuaria Do Paço followed by a (hilly) wander around the old town to get our bearings. A few shots follow:
The impressive front of the Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição Velha
The Praça do Comércio and the very impressive Arco da Rua Augusta after dinner.
To end, this is this morning's view from the balcony (at sunrise!). Off exploring in a while ...
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