My last day as a tourist

I woke up really early today, with a mixture of being excited to be going home to see the family, and sadness about saying goodbye to Europe, the tour, the tour crew and the other riders.

I had to leave at 2pm to make sure I was at the airport on time so I tried to make the most of the time I had. I went the Fado Museum; it is really worth a visit.

The Fado Museum

They had instruments on display plus a tour with head phones in English giving the history of Fado. There is also a couch area you can sit in and go through 30 of the most famous Fado artists with photos, information on them and audio recordings. It made me wish I had pushed myself a bit harder and gone to one of the many Fado bars last night.

A sign at the Fado Museum

Fado instruments, they have double stringing

At the museum on the wall there was a saying that I really liked:
“Fado is sung as if tomorrow would not happen, as if this was the last song one would ever sing”.

A picture at Fado museum – looks very relaxed

I looked around the wharf and saw the Atlantic Ocean, the river Rio Tejo, and the Ponte 25 de April Bridge, plus saw more buildings with amazing ceramic fronts.

View from the wharf area of Lisbon

The Rio Tejo (River Tagus) just as it meets the Atlantic Ocean, with the Ponte 25 de April Bridge in the background

Last night we had hugs good bye with the tour crew and Danya and Jan, and then I bumped into them all again today, so the farewell hugs were repeated. Then before I knew it, it was time to go to the airport for the long flight(s) home.

Interesting buildings in Lisbon

As many of you already knew, and others have discovered, I am a specialist at getting lost so I really appreciated the email Christiano sent to us all today:

“Getting lost will help you find yourself”