After ten uncomfortable hours on a train wishing we'd forked out for a sleeper, even in separate cabins, we eventually arrived in Portugal at 6:30am. Lisbon to be exact. Desperate for some creature comforts, I had organised an apartment for us to stay in just West of the city for the next couple of days. After the seemingly never ending train ride we were in desperate need of a shower and change of clothes, so we headed straight to the apartment with the hope of checking in early. In a perfect world this would be smooth sailing. In our world it pans out like this. We cram into a packed peak hour bus, hike up the Mt. Everest of suburban streets (slight exaggeration) following dodgy google map directions, arrive at a door with no sign or instructions, only to find an email in my junk mail saying we needed to send credit card details before arrival so they could give us the codes to collect the keys just as my phone goes flat. Not exactly what we were hoping for after a fairly sleepless night! Thankfully our luck started to turn. While sitting at the front door trying to decide if I should go find a pay phone to ring the owners, Nick, a young guy from Sydney, came out the front door and allowed us to use his apartment to charge the phone and contact the owners. We weren't able to check in as the rooms weren't cleaned, but we could at least leave our bags while we ventured into the city to kill some time.

Lisbon, like much of Portugal as we were soon to discover, was not a city for leisurely bike riding or skateboarding. Steep hills and staircases were about to become the normal terrain for the next couple of days. Some were so steep they had Funiculars, which are basically trams set at a certain angle, to go up and down the hill all day. Not the most exciting job for a driver! For the next couple of hours we took in the pretty streets and panoramic views of Lisbon and visited the lamest botanic gardens and butterfly house I've ever seen. It's a crime they charged us entry!

By this stage, checking into the apartment was like all our Christmases had come at once. This was the Hilton compared to the accommodation we'd been staying in. Set over two floors, we had a living/dining area, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom/laundry, all for 50€ a night. I've never been so excited to see a washing machine before. Now we just had to figure out how to use it! All instructions were in Portuguese which is not an easy language to decipher. Unlike the French and Spanish we'd had to deal with up until this point, Portuguese was very difficult to speak and understand. It looks similar to French and Spanish but sounds almost Russian when spoken. Lots of 'ch' sounds!

After a quick relax and a load of washing we headed out once more to catch the No. 28 tram through Alfama, which had become the unofficial tourist tram. Winding through small cobblestone streets, stopping along the way to allow oncoming trams to pass at sections so small the tracks merged into single lanes, we finished up on top of a cliff over looking the bay on one side and the castle St George on the other. From there we ventured into Belem, a seaside suburb west of Lisbon, where we walked along the Promenade to the Belem Tower as the sun was setting over the bay.

Our second day in Lisbon began with a visit to the Oceanarium, the highlight for me of course being the adorable sea otters, followed by a stroll along the water front. From here we could see the Vaslo da Gama bridge. Hard to miss really being the longest bridge in the world when it was completed in 1998 and still today, one of the longest bridges at 17km long. Here's an interesting fact, due to it's length, when designing the bridge the engineers actually had to factor in the curve of the Earth's surface.

Portugeuese buildings, Lisbon's in particular, are characterised by the decorative tiles that adorn their facades, ranging from simple patterns to intricate and magnificent murals. To try and learn more about the history of these tiles, we decided to finish off our sightseeing at the Museu do Azulejo (tile museum). Although the museum displays were very beautiful, the lack of information on the history or creation process of these tiles was a little disappointing and meant we were simply looking at walls of tiles and not really learning much at all. Our stay in Lisbon ended with a drink at a hilltop bar with spectacular night views over the bay and fake Golden Gate bridge, followed by some live music at another tiny out-of-the-way bar. It's amazing how Oasis defy the language barrier. In a room full of people, none of whom spoke the same language, Wonder Wall was belted out in harmony...well sort of!

It was a mad rush for the train to Porto the following morning. Thinking that an hour to get to the train station was plenty, we were seriously underestimating the frequency of Lisbon buses. On arrival to the main station we had 15 minutes to buy tickets and grab some breakfast from the station supermarket, which was empty the previous day but now was so busy you would think they were giving the food away, and board our train. After cutting the line at the supermarket and making a mad dash down the platform we were on our way to Porto.

The train station of Porto, like many of the buildings around town, was simply stunning. The main foyer or entrance area was breathtaking with it's high ceilings and walls adorned with blue and white tiled murals. Definitely a good first impression. After a stuff up with the accommodation booking, in case you're wondering the 8th and 9th of December, like September, also fall on a Thursday and Friday, we finally ended up staying in the attic of Pensao Duas Nacoes. We felt a little Anne Frankish!

We decided to tempt fate and possibly a heart attack and try the famous Porto Francesinhas that night. As terrible as a sandwich of ham, bacon and sausage smothered in cheese and spicy sauce sounds, it was surprisingly good and extremely filling. From there we took a much needed walk along the Douro river back to our hostel.

The next morning we took a train ride to Pinhao after reading in our Eurail guide that this was a very picturesque route. The tracks run right along the rivers edge overlooking the vineyards and villages that line the opposite bank. On arrival in Pinhao we only had about 30 minutes before our return train back to Porto arrived so we had to use this time wisely. What better way to fill time than with a port sampling. After all it's what this area is famous for. We tried a glass of the '96' and '2000' vintages and, surprisingly, we preferred the '96' which was the least expensive of the two.

Back in Porto we crossed the river to the Port caves to compare the produce with what we had sampled earlier. We had a guided tour of the Croft Port Cellars, which I'm sure would have been much more interesting had it not been in French and we understood more than Chocolat e Fromage (chocolate or cheese)! Not all bad though, we did get to try two more glasses of port. We followed this up with a boat ride on the Douro river. Unfortunately the weather was starting to turn, and it was getting cold, but it did offer some lovely views of Porto all the same. Returning to our new hostel to change into something warmer. We'd changed accommodation that morning as it was closer to the train station and cheaper because it didn't offer free wifi, although we discovered we could steal it from the restaurant below if we sat near the open bathroom window. All rugged up, we headed out once more to a bar near the uni for a couple of drinks and to sample another local specialty Bacalhau (salted cod). It was tasty but as the name suggests it got quite salty by the end. We finished our drinks and called it a night. Tomorrow we would be heading back across the border to the North of Spain.