Tuesday, April 30: Day 8 – Hostile

Today hostel life took a turn for the worse. I had a fitful night’s sleep and had been sleeping well when an alarm went off too early. It rang and rang and rang. It kept ringing for over 5 minutes. After lots of huffing and puffing, I finally projected from my top bunk to my 8 bunk mates, “CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE TURN OFF THEIR ALARM?? To no avail; it rang on and on and on.

It had the sound of a ringing land line and no one was answering it. I pondered the young and how they can sleep through ANYTHING. And once they are old like me, the slighest noise is heard. I believe that happens when you become a parent. Then FINALLY, it stopped.

Rob came over to my top bunk to whisper about plans for the day. The alarm started again!!!! It was coming from under MY bedsheets. I pulled out my phone and fumbled around and finally silenced the phone. THE NIGHTMARE WAS ME!!!!!

I had to get a new phone before we left and so the alarm was set on some other alarm tone. I had put my phone under my sheets at the foot of the bed so it would not fall off from the top bunk. How embarrassing. I am sure that the young are now pondering how the elderly can be so technologically clueless!! Maybe that is why that they call them youth hostels.

We scampered out of our rooms ahead of a mob beating and before I made any more mistakes (and noise) and to see what we can see on our last day in Lisbon. We are clocking about 10 miles/day. We were told to go a large flea market to see unusual things and people.

Next, to the National Pantheon where we saw centographs of Portuguese notables. Centographs are monuments erected in honor of a person who is buried elsewhere.

We went to a high recommended restaurant called Yak and Yeti billed as Nepalese food and food from Indiana??? Who knew that cuisine from Indiana was world renown. At the end of the meal, this pot of seeds, small candy coated licorice seeds, and sugar crystals showed up.

I was told to eat it for digestion and for sweet breath. All that might be true but I had twigs in between my teeth for hours.

We activated our Eurail 90-day ticket today and are off to Obidos where we will stay in our first Airbnb. Some room to spread out…and I won’t be setting an alarm.