The running girls did it again - not only did we complete a half-marathon, but we had a fabulous girls' weekend. The husbands are totally onto us though and said to stop hiding our girls weekends with the pretense of a run. We stay in shape, however, and have a reason (even if we don't need one) to run away for a weekend!
This time - Lisbon, Portugal. We left London on Friday 20 March. We arrived to Lisbon to balmy weather - near 70 at dusk! We checked in quickly and did a quick freshen-up before meeting up in the lobby for a quick pre-dinner drink. Then it was off to Bico do Sapato (owned by John Malkovich...the star stalking is never put to rest!). Dinner was fabulous, but the company even better!
We turned in very late for our first night but agreed to meet for breakfast at 8:45 a.m. so we could get to the expo and pick up our numbers and chips early and get on with sightseeing.
At just after 10 a.m. the line to the expo was already quite long. The weather was beautiful - dare I say "hot" - so we didn't mind the wait outside the large tent at Belem. After a brief stroll through the expo we were off for a day in Lisbon...First stop was a bit of shopping in Baixa along the Rua Augusta. Shannon was wearing a top more suitable for London so a quick trip into H&M remedied that!
We wandered up the many hilly streets of Lisbon to Castelo de Sao Jorge. There were some beautiful views from the castle grounds and especially from the Battlements.
After spending about an hour at the castle we decided it was time for lunch. We chose Resto do Chapito - a restaurant and performing arts school. It was perfect...shady with more beautiful Lisbon scenery.
Then we wandered back down the hills past the Se, Lisbon's Romanesque cathedral and into the Chiado...the shopping district! Most of us had to buy different running gear due to the warm weather...the usual London mornings caused much different attire than Lisbon. After some shopping we stopped at the Solar do Vinho do Porto at the top of the Bairro Alto for a port tasting. It was a long and wonderful day of sightseeing and shopping in Lisbon.
Time to head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We decided to take the tram the rest of the way down the hill...good call!
Dinner at Eleven was superb! Unfortunately the pesky half-marathon put a damper on the festivities and wine drinking! It was back to the hotel for a good night's sleep before running our race.
The weather was a bit cooler in the morning than originally predicted. But soon the clouds gave way to a spectacular sunny day. The start of the race was on the Ponte 25 de Abril, a large bridge named to commemorate teh revolution of 25 April 1974 and inspired by San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
We could have sworn that bridge made up 11 of the 13.1 miles. The race then took us through the streets of Lisbon - thankfully not in the hilly section! Unfortunately, our friend Lindsay was suffering from a bad knee so she dropped out at about mile 5. But she greeted us with a big smile as we all crossed the finish line in just over two hours!
We returned to the hotel and showered before enjoying a great big lunch! We had a GREAT time and look forward to our next run....Paris to Versailles on 27 September 2009!!
Felicidades!
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