Yesterday did not start off well ... To say the least :( Now remember I got back to Hotel Mundial around 3 am from the TV station and I think I fell asleep around 4 am because I was so pumped up from working a live NHL broadcast here in Lisbon and the 3 espresso's didn't help either LOL ! But at around 8 am I was abruptly awoken by some banging ? At the time it didn't kick in as to what was happening so I just began writing my blog . That was not working out so well as the banging became louder and then there was drilling and I heard some sawing ... Omg I forgot this building is under construction ! But surely you would think that we wouldn't be disturbed this early or at all ? By the time Kathleen woke up our room smelled like burning wood from the chopsaw and she wasn't pleased either .
She called the front desk and we went downstairs and asked to switch rooms . Let me tell you that the staff at Hotel Mundial are absolute professionals and went to extremes to make us happy ! So please don't take this blog as me bitching about the staff or hotel . This is just stuff that has to happen as the hotel is under renovations . Unfortunately it is not something we knew about when booking and it is not a budget hotel either . Back to the story at hand ... We obviously complained and were taken to another room that was nowhere as nice as the current construction zone :( we turned it down and were taken to a much nicer room which at the moment was quiet :) no noise , ok we will take it !
We went to our construction zone with one of the hotel staff and it was just like when you go to a doctor and your symptoms are not occurring ... Our room was quiet ... We scratched our heads and waited for noise , then the fellow from the hotel said they told the workers to stop because of complaints . So we grabbed breakfast and packed and moved to our new room . Would you believe that when we got there the noise was absolutely ridiculous loud !!! Omg !!! So this time the hotel manager came up and by this time I was stir crazy with lack of sleep :( the manager could tell I was minutes from going postal so he moved us to another hotel called Hotel Portugal which is not under renovations and is really nice . At this point it was around noon ... Our day at this point was a write off ...
We needed a drink so we went for a Ginjinha around the corner and walked down to the ice rink to see how the tent was coming along . Nobody was working on it and the ice was just water . It was raining as it constantly has been since we arrived and we were tired , beat down from a rough sleep (?) and the only option for us was to hide under a canopy on a patio and drink beer . Even that wasn't really appealing so after a beer we headed to our new room and went to sleep ...
Woke up around 9 pm and decided to go see the rink again just to get some exercise and walk around while being hassled by scum bag drug dealers that are like a pack of wild animals and frankly I would love to just beat the shit out of them as they are annoying and are a burden on society . Yeah I know , but listen up ... These guys are not from Portugal , they come here from whatever hole they crawled out of and sell fake drugs to tourists . One guy tried to sell me oregano yesterday . The cops know these guys are doing what they do and allow it ?!! It reminds me of Barcelona .... It's really annoying having these thieves chasing us around saying hashish , marijuana , cocaine ! Argh ... This isn't what legalization will lead to in Toronto ? Or at least I hope not .
It was time to call it a night . Seeing the ice rink being worked on at night put me at ease and I could see the giant puddle freezing up :) Mauricio told me we will play a game Saturday morning there so I can't wait , excitement is back !!! Today I am moving into Mauricio's place as we were invited over and I look forward to really experiencing Portugal ! As you all know I hate this tourist stuff and will always prefer to see the real side of things instead of the tourist stuff that is produced for the average traveller to experience ... Its time to pack my bags again . Have to send an email to the manager at the Hotel Mundial as he was really fantastic ! As I said I'm not complaining , I'm just letting you know what happens time to time when travelling . Unlike some other travel writers that tell you what you want to read , I'm keeping it real :) peace !
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