Intermediate Stop

Mileage: 161596

It had rained all night. The drumming on the roof and ongoing stomach cramps had made for a restless night for Sebb. Not much would happen today.

Ines kept herself busy throughout the morning until Sebb was finally ready to continue at 1:00 PM.

We approached Lisbon and reached our parking spot in Janas, a suburb of Sintra. The owner, Carlos, had waited specifically for us and was already running late for his appointment in Lisbon when we arrived. Nevertheless, he took the time to quickly show us the somewhat run-down parking spot. Unfortunately, it turned out on-site that the distance to Lisbon by public transport would take almost two hours. We might have to come up with something else for our visit. But first, we had to settle in. This meant showering and washing our hair.

By evening, we played several rounds of Pandemic, and then had a modest dinner. Ines settled for cold dishes—cheese, olives, and fish—while Sebb played it safe with bread, some feta, and a few nuts.

We continued researching mobility in the region. From the train station in Sintra, you could reach the city center of Lisbon in forty minutes by commuter train. That was fine, but how would we get to the station? The seven kilometers could be walked through the mountains in about 1.5 hours, but would we still want to walk around the city after that? What about buses, taxis, or alternative transportation? In the end, we decided on one of the booking platforms that now had an app for mobile phones. In the first test request, the system offered the ride from the parking spot to the old town for under twenty euros. Tomorrow morning, we would put it to the test.