[ Feb.2019 ] In the last few years, it has been our custom to have a short trip to a warm location in this cold season and, this year, we went to Lisbon in Portugal.
On the day we flew from London, there was dense fog everywhere, so after boarding, we had to wait for about one hour.
Finally, we took off and the flight was about 2 and a half hours to Lisbon.
We arrived OK at Lisbon airport, but we had a big trouble when we got there.
My husband, who found our suitcase on the conveyor belt, started to run towards it and after two steps, he pulled a muscle in his calf.
The pain was too much for him to walk.
At that moment, we did not know exactly what had happened, so after managing to leave our luggage at our hotel, we went to the emergency hospital by taxi.
I do not know the Portuguese language at all, but when I pronounced ’emergency’ in a sort of Latin way, the driver understood me.
The place he took us was the big, old-fashioned hospital called Sao Jose.
It was crowded, but fortunately people there spoke English and they were very kind, though they do not smile unnecessarily.
So, without being forgotten about, we reached the doctor.
The procedure was the same as in England.
After being called, we met the nurse and talked to her so that she could allocate us to the right doctor.
The waiting time was not as long as in the emergency hospitals in London.
The doctor spoke English, too, and we found it was a pulled muscle.
According to the taxi driver on the way back to the hotel, the hospitals are merging in Lisbon.
He pointed out one building under construction, saying “It used to be a hospital, but now they are converting it into a hotel”.
After arriving at the hotel, I went out to buy the things that the doctor had prescribed on my own.
What I found was that there were many pharmacies in Lisbon.
People there were kind, too, for example, when they did not have what I needed, one member of staff came out with me to point out the nearest pharmacy.
A pair of crutches was included in the things the doctor prescribed.
By the time I got back to the hotel, my husband had regained some good spirits, so we went out to the nearby restaurant the hotel receptionist recommended.
The name of the restaurant was O Raposo.
The squid and cod roe starter the friendly waiter served, which was not in the menu, was very good.
They were dressed in olive oil with chopped parsley and onions, and were very tasty.
For the main, I had a roasted cod and my husband had the stewed one.
A Portuguese acquaintance of ours had told us to eat cod in Portugal and it was certainly good.
As for the dessert, we shared a small piece of cake, which the waiter had recommended.
It was very sweet and dense, so sharing was a good idea.
We even had a glass of Port Wine after the meal and the bill was €76.20, which was very reasonable.
