05:45

After a full day in Faro we’re relocating to Porto by catching the 07:00 train which will take us all the way through to our destination without changing. This service is worked by one of the ‘Alfa Pendular’ tilting trains which are capable of speeds of up to 135mph. They’ve had an interior refresh since we last travelled on them in 2010 and now have new seats, plus plug sockets and wifi, so I’ve chance to update my pictures – and (hopefully) blog from the train. See you later…

06:55.

We’re settled in on our virtually empty Pendular, with barely half a dozen of us in coach 4. Sadly, two of them are noisy young children with a mother who’s decided she doesn’t want to be distracted from her phone so has left them to amuse themselves with various noisy electronic gubbins! Deep joy! Hopefully they’re not going far. In response, Dawn’s plugged herself in to listen to a meditation on her phone. Me? I’ve set up the mobile office on the wide backseat table and logged into the wifi, ready to update this blog with a few pictures.

07:12.

We left spot on time. 10 minutes later we called at our first stop – Loule, where our coach began to fill up. Curiously, most of our fellow travellers are women. Meanwhile, I’m already contemplating infanticide…

I’ve downloaded pictures from the camera, so here’s a look at the Pendular’s Standard class interior.

07:22.

We’ve reached Albufeira, having enjoyed watching the sunrise en-route. The train’s really filling up now and the gender balance has improved. On the downside, the whiny kid quotient has also increased with the addition of another family. Dawn’s made the sensible decision to stay ‘plugged in’ whilst trying to get some sleep. Don’t get me wrong. I like kids, I just couldn’t eat a whole one…

In the short time it’s taken me to write this we’ve arrived at our next stop: Tunes, an attractive little junction station where the cafe is already bustling. The line along the coast to Lagos branches off from here. Now we’ve been joined by younger backpackers who’ve leavened the mix of travellers.

07:45.

North of Messines-Alte the Pendular’s tilt mechanism has come into its own. This section of line’s sinuous as it weaves its way through the low hills. Tilt isn’t as smooth as in the UK but I suspect that’s due to track qaulity more than anything. The handy display on the car bulkhead tells me we’re doing anything between 90-100kph.

08:25.

We’ve just left Funcheira, a station that looks to be in need of some TLC compared to the other well-kept places we’ve called at. There seems to be little surrounding it other than abandoned buildings, which makes the sound barriers lining the railway seem rather surplus to requirements!

I’ve had time to explore the train further, checking out loadings in various cars, and I have to say they’re pretty good. most are over 70-80% capacity. Talking of capacity, I had to use one of the toilets, and they’re ‘cosy’ to say the least. Claustrophobic would be another word I’d use. I’d think your average sized American would need a shoehorn and vaseline to get in/out.

08:40.

Having zipped along at 220kph under overcast skies we’ve passed the triangular junction for the freight only line to Sines to arrive at Ermidas Sado, another neglected station with a vacant station building. To add to the depressing air the rain’s arrived, in a complete contrast to the wall to wall sunshine we basked in yesterday.

09:35

We’re close to Lisbon now, having just left the suburban junction of Pinhal Novo after crossing the plains and the Do Sado estuary. Unfortunately, rain and mist has dogged us all the way, leaving visibility low. At least it’s quietened down inside the car, so I won’t get hauled off the train in Lisbon in handcuffs!

10:30.

We’re now North of Lisbon. Arriving in the city on the bridge high across the Tagus river is always a delight as the views are so dramatic. First stop was Entrecampos, then Oriente with its magnificent vaulted roof. There was little chance of getting pictures as we exchanged that many passengers the platform was a melee of people and suitcases. Some people who had having no idea which car they were supposed to be in ended up traipsing up and down the interior of the train like lost souls. This is new track for me as I’ve never been North of Oriente before. The line passes through a lot of industrial areas which (judging by the numerous rail yards we passed) look to provide a lot of CPs freight traffic – something we’d seen little sign of in the South.

11:10.

We’re well on our way North now, having passed through Entroncamento, the Portuguese version of Crewe, with it’s sprawling railway works and depot, stuffed full of locomotives, coaches and wagons, many of them stored or withdrawn. It covers a huge area either side of the railway and hosts the national railway museum too. The town’s also the junction for the lines to to the East of the country. The landscape North of Lisbon is markedly different to what we’ve seen so far, it’s far less arid and much more lush, with forest cover and green fields in contrast to the dusty farmland we saw in the Algarve. Mind you, I wouldn’t mind the Algarve weather back. Whilst the clouds lifted over Lisbon they’ve returned with a vengeance to hide the tops of the forested hills.

12:30.

Yay! 20 minutes to go before we arrive in Porto and the weather’s brightening up! We now have patchy, high cloud and blue skies with temperatures (according to the train’s information screens) in the mid 20s. The landscape’s continued to change. The North is so much more built up and industrial, yet greener (that’s not an oxymoron, honest).

16:11.

We’ve made it to our apartment, which is in a fabulous location by the river. We even have old trams outside.

Now to go and explore…

21:45.

I was going to round off today’s blog with a selection of pictures from our wanderings around the city, but the hotel’s wifi has taken umbrage with my laptop for some unknown reason. So, pictures will have to wait.

Tomorrow, we’re heading up the Douro valley by train. I’ll try and do some form of blog during the day – technology permitting…

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