305 words on Travel
Before departing from Lisbon, I had enough time to have another stroll around the town, going up the elevator they have to get to the higher quarters, having a nice coffee in the sun and visiting the cathedral, which had very interesting excavations going on in the monastary adjacent to it. They had signs explaining what the different things they excavated are and how old they are. I image it takes a lot of skill to do that kind of work, firstly telling the rubble from the actual structures when excavating and then using all your knowledge of cultural history to deduce the period in which things were built.
Catching my plane in Lisbon this afternoon proved that Frankfurt isn't the worst aiport on earth. Lisbon could as well be. While it isn't large and you actually find where you want to go – you have to walk around many corners to get to wherever you want to be. Also, it isn't hospitable at all and having time to kill is a pain - with only unpleasant seating areas being available if you don't want to spend a fortune on a mediocre meal or go to some gross international fast-food chain.
To top things off, the girl at the check-in counter wasn't able to put my luggage through all the way to Birmingham, meaning that I'll have to pick up my bag in Frankfurt and check it in again immediately afterwards. It turned out her colleague in Frankfurt didn't understand why sending my luggage all the way through wasn't possible. But despite her trying to sort things out for me, I had to reclaim my bag, go through 'customs' (well, nothing really, being within the EU), go up one level to the arrivals hall, have my bag X-rayed again and give it up... Haha, funny.