Ausgebremst durch den Papst und Steffis Knie...

On Saturday, one day later than planned, we continued to Lisbon. As always, co-pilot Cindy entered the address into the navigation system and off we went on the one-hour drive to the Portuguese capital. Here I, Cindy, would like to note that the address was absolutely correct, and I simply can't help it that Lisbon has two streets with the same name...

We got off the highway and wondered about tons of garbage at the roadside. Cindy felt more and more like being in Brazil. It looked like the Brazilian slums: sheet metal huts, broken cars left and right, the only RV in sight, and to top it all off, the navigation sent us down a street with a 15% downhill slope over 30 meters. Steffi had serious doubts. She drove slower and slower, when suddenly a car appeared next to us, window down, and the driver gestured wildly to stop! In front of us was a road with a 22% downhill slope and a sharp curve at the end... The driver said we would get stuck there... Steffi had already refused to continue.

Plan B had to be made: turning in 3 moves on a 3-meter wide road with a 7-meter long RV, right in the middle of the garbage. Steffi sent Cindy out to help maneuver. The positive thing: in panic mode, a corona brain works surprisingly well, Cindy could give clear instructions better than ever before and the RV could be turned perfectly.

After a short break, the correct address was entered via mobile phone and the journey continued. In hindsight, we realized that we were in one of the worst hotspots in Lisbon (even mentioned by the Pope on TV the day before).

15 minutes later, we finally reached our campsite, which was located in the middle of a large park: everywhere green, trees, including a swimming pool and thousands of pilgrims who wanted to see the Pope. The outside temperature suddenly reached 35 degrees, and for the first time we were relieved to have an air conditioner...

We decided to use the next days to really rest so that Steffi's knee would get better quickly! Thank God we had the swimming pool and we spent a lot of time there (the sangria tasted great too). Of course, we wanted to do some sightseeing, but due to the Pope's visit, many places were closed off and the city was overcrowded. Late in the afternoon, we set off anyway and took a little tour of the city.

Lisbon is really beautiful and next time we should maybe check the schedule to see if the Pope or something similar is there at the same time.

On Monday evening, Steffi went to the German doctor to get reassurance that nothing serious is wrong and to get the letter declaring her unfit to drive (better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it). We were supposed to be there at 5 p.m., pay 120€ to talk to the doctor for 5 minutes. At least I was allowed to lie down and he pressed here and there until I said "ouch" every time. His diagnosis was that he didn't know if something was broken because I kept saying "ouch." Oh, I thought. But if you want, I can recommend physiotherapy... he said, but we're leaving tomorrow again! Oh well, then not! At least he finally wrote a 3-liner.

After what felt like 10 minutes, we were all outside again and made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe! We were all hungry and Elisa wanted to buy a cool t-shirt. After the meal, the plan was to take the old Tram 28, but there were also about 500 people waiting at the stop. So we took a taxi (which was even cheaper than the bus) back to the campsite and ended the evening there.

The next morning, we set off for Evora with the final destination being Sagres in the Algarve.

Conclusion: Lisbon is a beautiful city, unfortunately we were there at the wrong time. Sometime we have to go there again and spend a few days. I didn't even see the football stadiums...

Update on the knee: it's getting better day by day, except at night, when I can't lie down well and it hurts. But thanks to ibuprofen, it's bearable. The bruises now have all colors and will be gone soon 😀