Lisbon, Cascais & on to Skylark

I reached Lisbon after a short 2 our flight from Heathrow, early in the morning. It was really grand to have had Bern and David send me off so early, especially with the heavy big luggages to lug. I decided to leave my heavier warmer clothing with Bern now that the weather forecast predicts a MUCH warmer change.

Arrival in Lisbon with a greeting from the Immigration officer asking me where I intended to stay. I had no address save for the Marina at Cascais! I explained that I was not intending to stay long as I have a beautiful boat waiting to sail me off to the Med. She finally got the idea that I will be staying on a boat, and hence no address save for the Marina at Cascais.

I immediately went to the trainstation at Lisbon to meet Stephen and Ed. 

A cab ride and a quick drive through the town of Lisbon "don't impress me much".. or so goes the song by Shania Twain. The 25 minutes drive didnot reveal any landmark architecture or object which made me go WOW! or SIGH! I can make this critique and say I am a proud Malaysian... thanks Dr M for KLIA, KLCC, highest flagpole etc.

(Later in 2 days I revisited Lisbon and more of the city in the next blog or so and I had a change of heart).

I met up with the 2 distinguished gentlemen (Stephen & Ed) easily (how many Chinese man with an American man could there be in the trainstain in Lisbon?). They being brought up from a different era, quickly assisted me with my heavy luggage (without any murmur on the size and weight of the accompaniment!). That's why I really adore older men!

The train ride to Cascais was great! Euro3 for one way. The train line ran alongside the coast, and what a view! Blue skies, blue seas and distant sails! I have to pinch myself!

The Marina is within walking distance to the trainstation. It's a very pretty marina with wonderful facilities.
And the yacht Skylark was breathtaking, What a beauty! More later.

London 1st day

Before heading to Lisbon to board Skylark, I have a stopover in London for a few days. MAS flight was delayed for a good 3 hours due to a technical malfunction, and I didn't get to sleep the night the before... that was the start of my holidays. As a friend said, it's a good start - angels watching over me... it could be worse, the flight could have had technical malfunction midflight!

My poor "Aunty Bern" was rather worried - especially when she could not get me on the phone (yes, the battery went flat on arrival).  And the queue at the immigration was unusually long. Took about an hour to clear , by which time I was being paged by information! :-)

Anyways, I am all settled - it has been 2 days - very sunny! I brought the Malaysian sun over to supposedly "wet and cold" London. The first day here (2 Aug) was spent having a lovely Sunday visit to Karl Marx and Douglas Adams and made aquaintance with a few other very interesting characters.

My first stop - London after a looong wait

Got into London, after a 3 hour plane delay - technical fault after boarding! I was stuck in the plane for a good 45 minutes before they announced that they needed more time to clear the problem. So t's back to the lounge for another 3 hours. A friend was correct - I am starting the trip rightly, better safe, and that's why last minute hiccup.
The phone battery was flat when the plane landed and I only realised then that I didnt have the address of Aunty Bern with me. It was a very long queue at the immigration and after the hour long queue, I had to explain my lack of an address to the Immigration Officer. She was kind to allow me through with a little reminder not repeat the offence again.
As the phone was dead, I had to try get some coins or smaller notes to call Bern. Luggage and all at hand, tired and frantic after the long delay - cursed when credit cards didnt seem to work on the public phones... Bern bless her heart! had paged for me at Heathrow, my name was repeated a few times over the PA system .. help was at hand!
Finally managed to get to Caledonian Rd station where Bern and David came to pick me up.

Mykonos - Tagoo.

Hotel Tagoo is situated in the golden area of Mykonos over looking the Aegean Sea, where you can see the islands of Ciros, Tinos, and the historical island of Delos.

Delos is a must visit - the birth place of Apollo.

I chose this hotel for location ... and yes, it looks perfect too. The hotel has won Travellers' Choice awards for the past 4 years consecutively.

Flights booked

Skylark will make her grand debut out of the La Rochelle Harbour tomorrow, flying the Malaysian flag! (sternside).

Plans wise - The itinerary is settled... (with fingers crossed), with the booking of flights in Spain and Greece.

After the sailing of the Southern Coast Portugal, and then pitstop in Gibraltar of Spain and the rest of sailing of the Mediterranean Spain coast, we will set off exploring Barcelona, move on to Granada, Seville and Madrid.

From Madrid we'll catch a flight to Athens (Euro 319 for both of us!!).

In Athens, we'll take a driving route through Pelopnnese - stopping over Corinth, Nafphion, Mycanae, Olympia and thereafter to Delphi, before heading back to Athens. Yes, I plan to do the whole mythological route of ancient greece.

From Athens' port Piraeus, we'll take a boat ride to Santorini stopping over at Paros and Naxos.

And after the sojourn in Santorini, we'll take a fast boat over to Mykonos. Hope to visit Delos for a day and then a few days later from Mykonos back to London (Euro410 for both of us) for a few days before heading back to KL.

Quite a task getting the routes planned - Colin is such a techie - got printed google maps charting the routes!

Back to work and more reading!

28 days to trip

I have yet to post anything on the plans for Southern Coast of Spain. I have left it to Colin to do the reading and research first. He's more interested in Spain - the spanish guitars, tapas, wine and songs.

I love the idea of Spain but I am haunted and called by Greece. It's so cliche - but the many different legends, fables, myths of Greece which are intermingled with its rich history have filled many of my reading hours with great pleasure, fuelled my imaginings and now that I am so close to stepping into that world, it's so unreal yet exhilarating and intoxicating at the same time, even the simple step of planning the itinerary.

I plan to give Homer's Iliad and Odyssey another read and if I have the time - I will re-read David Gemmel's books on the Kings of Greece.

It is oh, so very easy to be seduced by this beautiful country. It was born in glory - having given birth to the great philosophers - the minds that gave foundation to political systems, the cradle of democracy. It is the enchanting home - the land and seas - of gods, goddesses, heroes and heroines. It is my dream to take a stroll in their paths, perhaps catch a glimpse of their shadows.

My reading of the travel guides have left me overwhelmed - there are so many things to I want to cover - historical sites, museums, art galleries, markets, food, scenic routes, performing arts, sunrises, sunsets and everything in between!

Armeni Village

The Armeni Village is a pretty boutique hotel perched on the edge of the Caldera in the lil seaside town of Oia, Santorini.

I plan to spend a full day dawn to dusk in the hotel itself just soaking in the sights and looking out for nymphs and cyclops, hoping to catch the bewitching notes of of the mythical Sirens' songs. The hotel being on the edge of a hill will afford a grand view of the Volcano, the cycladic islands of the Great Green, the specks of white sails of boats bopping by, the winding marble streets of Oia ... Yes, have a confirmed booking for 4 nights - we have a studio here!

p.s. The pics are from the official website for the hotel at www.armenivillage.com. I will post my own Armeni pics later and you can see for yourself if the official pics are a close representation of the real thing.

Caveat : Not all our accommodation will be like the Armeni Village. Whilst this trip is not quite on a shoe string, Colin and I agreed that we will budget it such that we will enjoy the luxurious and pay the price for it by staying in cardboxes on other days! (may be not quite cardboxes but at cheaper lodgings like the B&Bs, smaller motel-like places).