July 17, 2014
FARO to PAREDE, CASCAIS - 300 kilometers
São Macedo thru airbnb, €218 for the week ($42.51 per day)

Train to Lisbon and Parede, Cascais

After our unpleasant encounter with the turds at International Car, we waited thirty minutes for the city bus to arrive and take us to town and drop us at the Faro train station. Surprisingly, we were not livid or upset after our altercation. We recognized the comedy in the situation and remembered the bemused glances from nearby customers as they were taking care of their business with other car rental companies while we were arguing with ours.

Now, we were looking forward. We had plans to meet Rick, a friend we had made while in Georgetown, Malaysia, and also, Junko, Hiro, and Ryoko, who would be passing through Lisbon on their way from London to Spain. We were now anxiously looking forward to seeing them all.

It was a bit of a mad rush to board the 3:05 train which would have us in Lisbon in just 3 hours. The seats were mostly booked and everyone had big luggage to stow. We joined the scrum and easily found room to stow our stuff and settled into our cushy airline style seats. The rails were level and the air-conditioned ride smooth as butter. And the train had free wifi. The only thing we could think of to complain about was the lack of a USB port or outlet for us to recharge our electronics.

 
Damn VIVA viagem cards

We needed to change to the Lisbon Metro to get to the Cascais Line that runs along the water front to our stop in Parede. We were hoping to get to Parede without making three changes and asked the train conductor for advice. The way he recommended was different than our original plan but still required three changes. There were many directional signs but not enough. We often needed to ask someone which way we needed to go. We needed to buy a card to enter the Metro and a local man helped us figure out how to get the green colored VIVA viagem cards from a machine so we could take the Metro toward the Cascais line. To get on the Cascais train line, we needed to buy an identical green colored VIVA viagem card, magnetically coded for 4-zones, valid only on the Cascais train line. During our stay, we ended up buying VIVA viagem cards for 1-zone, and 3-zones, since each have different prices. Each of us ended up with four identical looking cards with different magnetic coding. Try not getting those mixed up! How tough would it be to have a system that would take the right amount of money off one card automatically? We eventually got a 'zap card' which was valid on both Lisbon buses and the Metro (but not trains). Lisbon has a great mass transit system but it still has a lot of room for improvement.
 

Our First Airbnb

Two stops ahead of our Parede stop, we called Jorge, our Airbnb host, and told him we would soon arrive. He said he’d meet us at the station and drive us to his house. That was nice. Along the way, he gave us a mini tour of his area showing us his favorite bakery, the supermarket and a few restaurants.
 
Airbnb is a web marketplace to match up property owners with individuals looking for a place to stay. We've had our profile up for years but never made a booking through it until now. Well located hotels and hostel prices skyrocket in the busy summer months. A bed in a Cascais hostel will run you 30€ in high season, like now. We booked a room in a private home, partly because it was near the train line and Rick’s apartment, but mostly to save money. Airbnb requires a surprising amount of personal information to become a ‘verified’ user but is understandable since the web can be rife with fraud. In fact, the main reason we picked Jorge and Maria’s listing, is because they have a handful of positive reviews which was a must for us. Most other listing did not have any reviews. Rick had warned us that the home was far up a hill, and he was right, but we went with it anyway because of the positive reviews.

 
July 18, 2014 – Reunion with Señor Rick
 
Rick whom we met 2 years ago in Malaysia, has been dreaming of retiring in Europe "somewhere" for ages. He recently got his residency visa in a suburb of Cascais, Portugal. He wouldn't stop raving about the place. Finally, we decided we better go see what is soooo great about Portugal in general but especially Cascais. We met him at his humble basement apartment in Parede which is more economical than Cascais. He rents it furnished for €300 a month. His utilities are quite reasonable too.

We had a lot of catching up to do. After a sampling of local wines, Rick whipped up ham and cheese wraps with home made salsa. Definitively a more domestic side of Rick. Portugal welcomes foreign retirees and they even let him in their public health care system and he gets his medical care for peanuts.

We agreed to meet the next day, at the Parede train station, so he could show us around his favorite town in Portugal.

 
July 19, - Cascais "This is the Place"

Ricks apartment is equal walking distance (about eight minutes) from the Carvelos Beach and Parede stops so he met us at Parede and we took the 15 minute train ride together into Cascais .
 
Dave and I immediately loved the vibe in Cascais. Cascais is a small town, yet sophisticated. Rick gave us the grand tour. We spent the day walking the neighborhoods with attractive sidewalk cafes and tourist shops, the historic part of town, the lovely parks, the harbor, and a Montecito like ocean front...... We fell head over heels in love with the place.

It is the first place in the five years we have been on the road where both Dave and I felt like this could be "home." As Brigham Young did, when he reached the Salt Lake Valley in 1847 with his wandering wagon train of Mormons, we said, “This is the Place". Anyway, we let the excitement wear off a bit and went from "perhaps we should buy a little place here" , to: "we probably should come back during off season and chill here a few months in a rental "

.....A Smart-Car convention was taking place which meant 2400 of the cute little m&m cars in all colors of the rainbow buzzed through town. We had a great meal at a Brazilian BBQ before heading back "home".

 
July 20, 2014 - Take a Day Off

After 10 days in the rental car moving from place to place, and then getting to Lisbon, it was time to take a day off and relax.

We planned an itinerary for our remaining 3.5 weeks in Portugal. We booked a hotel for our final days in Portugal where they would let us store one backpack, with our cold weather and excess stuff, while we visited northern Portugal with only the other backpack. It will be nice to lighten our load for awhile.
 
This is our first airbnb experience and, even though our hosts told us "Mi casa es su casa", we felt a bit uncomfortable to using their kitchen or siting in their living room when they needed it. So most often when we were at home, we'd be in the spacious bedroom.

Our airbnb hosts, Maria and Jorge invited us to have dinner with them. They are lovely people. Jorge is a contractor and Maria works with teens who have drug dependency.