Alright, so I'm on my way to Albufeira and I got on the train safely
but it was very stressful because when I got to the station - I left from Sete Rios station
which is about 20 minutes from central the Lisbon area I was staying in.
Took a cab ride. That was fine.
But when I got to the station, there were no signs anywhere
that was saying that my train was going to Albufeira or the Faro region.
So I was looking around and nothing anywhere.
So then I found a station attendant and asked him and he was like, "Oh, that's Line 4"
like it was so obvious, hahaha.
but... so I went up to Platform 4 and again, looked for signs - anything that said Albufeira
Nothing.
There was a digital sign that said what train was coming next but it only did it one at a time so... that wasn't there
and I arrived about 30 minutes prior to my train time
but I saw this elder couple that looked confused too so I started talking to them
and asked, Hey, are you guys going on the same train to the Faro region?
And they said, "Yes! We're so conused because there's no signs anywhere".
And I'm like, I know!
But yeah so after... gosh, it was probably like seven trains that went by and finally our train came.
And it was a little late too. I think it was about 10 minutes late.
So, they're not on time, there's no signs anywhere to confirm that it's your train...
you just have to ask an attendant what platform your train is on.
But I got the first class ticket and these trains are really nice.
I was looking online on Yotube before I came to see what the trains looked like and it kinda looked crappy
so I wasn't expecting much but this actually looks really, really nice.
I'm very comfortable. There's like a little tray thing here
like on flights but bigger and made out of metal
A little... I'm guessing that's a trash can. Not sure what that is.
A little tray so I might do some work on my laptop.
But yeah, these chairs are very nice. Very comfy. I have lots of room.
See how nice that is.
Oh and they have free WiFi which I haven't even tested out yet so I'm gonna test that out.
And it's a pretty long train.
Oh and I was worried about luggage.
So another thing I was looking up online was where am I going to store my luggage.
So they do have luggage racks
but it's in between carriages and I didn't want to leave it out of sight
so I did get a chain just in case that happened.
But luckily, they have overhead space where I can put my carry-on suitcase up there
so everything is with me, in sight and all good.
So yeah, now I'm just going to enjoy this journey for three hours and enjoy the views I guess.
So the guy that checks the tickets came by and apparently I'm in the wrong carriage
so I'm not even in my correct seat but he was like, "Don't worry about it".
I mean, there's nobody else really on. It's pretty empty so he was like, "Yeah, just stay here."
But it's like how do I always get these things wrong?
Why can't I do things correctly?
It's just, it's so typical me.
So here's the bathroom.
Tight quarters but a little bit more room than the airplane.
It's very, very dark.
It's decent.
Oh, I guess if you need a plug, they have one here for you.
Well, looks like my train journey is about to come to an end.
We're arriving probably in about 10 minutes
and it went by really fast.
I could just relax and work on my laptop...
I was about to sleep but I was like, no, no, I want to stay awake and look at the views too.
A lot of countryside views.
But yeah, it went by super fast.
I can't believe it's already coming up on our final destination.
So yeah, I highly recommend taking a train if you're going down south or up north to Porto, I think it is.
First Class is very nice. 50 Euros. I think it's a really good deal.
Oh, I forgot to mention that when you get off the train, be careful.
Actually, these was at the Sete Rios station but
the gap between the platform and the train was kind of ridiculous.
I was kind of scared to go up with my luggage and scared for the children really
because there were some children there with their luggage and they were kind of scared.
So yeah, just be careful.
Uh, yeah, see - that gap is crazy.
And you gotta open and shut the door yourself.
Bye bye!