I woke up to gray skies and cool temperatures, which was the perfect setting to be in various forms of transport for most of the day. First though, I made one last trip down the hill for something I almost never do – a return engagement.

There was really only reason to do this – one last bite of the perfect brunch dish – the Salty Salmon Waffles, which were once again pure bliss. I will truly miss not being able to have it again and know that any attempts to replicate it at home won’t do it remotely justice.

My Airbnb host had been gracious enough for me to leave my luggage after I checked out. I had about 90 minutes to kill but the cumulative toll that my various adventures had taken on my body meant I really just wanted somewhere comfortable to chill. Fortunately, I had just the spot in mind – the nice hotel that was home to Scarlett’s so I already had their wifi info stored.

I had long discovered lobbies of nice hotels were the perfect place to decamp before heading out of town. As long as you act like you belong there, no one will question why you are there. This proved to be the case yet again as no one said a word as I entered and plopped myself down on a comfy couch.

Soon, it was time for a final Uber to the train station and my voyage back to Lisbon. I got there about 30 minutes before my train was arriving so I walked into the waiting lounge to check on which platform. I matched train number on my ticket with the monitor, which said it was going to be on track one.

I didn’t want to almost miss it like what happened in Lisbon so I made my way to the platform and right on the dot, the train arrived. I couldn’t quite figure out where the first class car was but decided I’ll just go there inside the train. It was then I noticed that this clearly wasn’t the right train but as I started to get off, the doors closed. Shit.

A nice couple noticed my concerned look at confirmed that yes this was the metro line not the train I wanted. The next stop was only a few minutes away so there was a chance I could get back in time. I raced off the train, ran to the other track and stared for my return train to arrive. I now had about seven minutes before my real train departed but decided to stop incessantly looking at the time as it was too stressful.

I bolted out of the train, flying through the tunnel to the correct end of the station, my luggage wheeling faster and faster behind me. I came close to crashing into a man and almost lost a shoe as I raced up the stairs… to my train now long in the distance.

Defeated, I walked back to the ticket counter and explained what happened. Since my train had left without me on it, my ticket was now void so I would have to purchase another one. Fortunately, there was another fast train in 2 hours so I begrudgingly paid for a new ticket. This time, however, I selected second class after the guy at the counter said first class really wasn’t worth double the price.

By this point, I was really tired of schlepping around my bags so I looked for a locker to store them… and of course, it only took coins I did not have. Great. I really wanted a beer so looked on Google Maps to see what was around the station as they didn’t have anything there. As soon as I found something a couple of blocks away, a biblical rain started as the sky turned black. I took this as a sign I had to do my penance for my travel sins and slumped into the hard plastic chair of my booze-less station cafe.

Not wanting to take any chances, I went to the correct platform, after confirming it with the ticket counter, and finally boarded. They had given me a window seat with no one next to me, which actually gave me plenty of room. Soon thereafter, we were off into the rain, and I sat back to finally relax. At the next stop, I lost my free seat, but it turned out the aisle still gave me decent legroom.

About 3 hours last we arrived at the Lisbon Oriente station, which was quite more modern than the Apolonia. Still, wasn’t quite modern enough to have a working elevator or even escalator so I once again had to drag my luggage down the stairs to my waiting Uber. Fortunately, I knew the hotel was fairly close by so I would soon be finally able to shed all of this dead weight.

It was now just past 8pm and given my early flight tomorrow, I decided to just stay at the hotel for my dinner. The main dining room was way too bright with someone at the table watching something on his phone at full blast. Both of these things made me want to have as simple a meal as possible and get the Hell out of there, starting with a beer at last.

I briefly considered a final actual Portuguese meal but didn’t want to take anything to chance so instead ordered their version of a fancy burger and fries. It was… fine. So no, dear readers, I won’t be waxing poetically about this one.

I had been able to upgrade my room after being initially assigned one with twin beds – uh nope. The new room was definitely nice but ultimately just a place for me to lie my head down for a few hours before my long trip home.

I’m always torn with when to end a trip blog and would have done one more entry of my journey home had not gone according to plan. Thankfully, it went just about as smoothly as possible.

The year wait for this trip had definitely been worth it and while I don’t have the next one when/where just yet, I’m sure the itch will return sooner rather than later. Until then. Adeus.