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Continuing South: Sintra, Lisbon & Setubal
Obviously we can’t risk having the documents – you know, those documents which were in my wallet when some light fingered asshole lifted it from my pocket on the Porto metro – delivered to an airbnb apartment, especially when our stays are so short. No need to worry, DHL’s website says it’s incredibly simple to have your package delivered to one of their “Service Centres” where they will hold it for collection. Our friend Jason back home is now in possession of my replacement documents, so we send him, as instructed on said website, to his local DHL man, who refuses to help Jason and tells him it can only…
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Through Two Tourist Hotspots: Obidos & Sintra
Portugal is on fire. TV screens are filled with graphic footage of firefighters tackling any number of wildfire blazes throughout the interior and a state of emergency has been declared in some areas. Eyes in bars are glued to the screen, with much shaking of heads. On the train journey south from Braga, we pass under a gigantic smoke cloud drifting from some of those fires towards the coast, blocking out the sun for nearly an hour of the journey. After three changes and four trains – one of them unplanned as train number three unexpectedly aborts at Leiria – we alight at the rather remote station at Obidos which…
