Two Nights on a Houseboat in Lisbon

When we travel, we look for interesting and unusual places to stay.  In the last few years, we have stayed in over 30 AirBnB’s, with great experiences in all but two.  Places like the converted Blue Bird school bus in Portland make our trips more memorable and fun. 

Since we’ve been in Portugal, our trips have been more conventional, because we’ve been traveling with Sox, our Boston Terrier.  But we recently met a young woman here in Parede who will “dog sit”.  We agreed to do a trial run so that she and Sox could get acquainted.  

Without the dog, we could make the entire trip on public transportation.  That is a much less expensive way to travel than renting a car, but it did limit our options.  There are several towns on the Atlantic coast that we would like to explore, but the trains don’t run close enough and we weren’t sure about local buses.  So we decided to stay close to home and spend a couple nights in Lisbon.  We’ve only seen a small sliver of the city and were looking forward to doing some exploring.

Mary found a unique place to stay – a houseboat on the Tagus river on the east side of the city, near the Parque das Nações – the Park of Nations.  She also started searching for interesting restaurants that we could try.  This turned into a mini-vacation that we both thoroughly enjoyed.  In today’s post, we’ll talk about the houseboat experience.  In our next two posts we’ll cover what we saw in the area and the restaurants we visited.

Getting Our Sea Legs

We took the train into Lisbon and then a bus to the Marina Parque das Nações, on the east side of city.

We were escorted into the marina by an agent of HomeBoat, the company we were renting from.  They have about a dozen houseboats in Lisbon; more in Albufeira, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal; and are opening a new location in Cagliari, on the island of Sardinia in Italy.   

After we checked in we were given a tour of our boat.  Each boat was named after a different type of beer.  We stayed in “Bock”, in between “American Lager” and “Dunkel”.  

The tour was quick – there’s not much to see on a 520 square foot houseboat.  The front room was a combination living room, kitchen, and dining room.  The back room was a bedroom.  Off the bedroom was a tiny, but fully equipped, bathroom.  

The agent showed us that the living room couch was a futon that converted to a double bed.  The bed in the bedroom also was expandable, though we were not sure how you’d get into or out of the bathroom with the bed opened up.  (That’s probably more of a concern to folks “of a certain age”, like us, than some younger guests.)

On top of the boat was a sitting area, complete with a lounge chair, hammock, and umbrella.  To get up there, you climb a very narrow ladder.  That was tricky enough when sober in mid-afternoon.  Getting down would be completely hazardous at night, after a few drinks.  

The good news – if you did fall overboard, you wouldn’t go far.  The water around the boats was only about 18 inches (45cm) deep.

It was about 4:30 pm and we hadn’t had lunch, so we walked out of the marina and along an esplanada where there were several open air cafés.  We looked at the menus, but nothing appealed to us.  Mary suggested we find a mercado and buy some snacks to enjoy on the boat.  There was a small market a half block away where we found everything we needed for a late afternoon picnic on the boat.  

We enjoyed sitting on the open deck of the houseboat and looking at the boats across the marina while we enjoyed our picnic. 

Later, as we left the boat to go to dinner, we saw that the tide had gone out.  Instead of water, the boat was surrounded by wet mud.  

Cramped But Comfortable

We quickly learned that living in a small space required some minor adjustments.  Moving around inside the boat was a bit of a challenge.  It seemed that there was always something – or someone – in our way.  To get the toaster off its shelf under the microwave, you had to move one of the dining chairs. One of the end tables was tucked away under the dining table.

The boat was well organized – there was a place for everything, and when not in use, things needed to be kept in their place.  There was no room for clutter. This might be what “ship shape” means.

When the tide was in, the boat was level.  When the tide went out, the boat settled and tilted just a bit.  Not enough to be noticeable as you walked around, but enough that the door on the shower kept sliding open.  

But the beds were comfortable, the boat was warm, and the marina was quiet all night, both nights.

Breakfast On Board

Our rental package included breakfast delivered to our door.  Both mornings we were pleased to see a wicker basket arrive promptly at 8:30.  The basket had straps, so it could be worn like a backpack.  (We want one of these!)

Each morning the basket contained a delightful assortment – two rolls, two croissants, a dish of ham and cheese, small pots of yogurt, small pots of butter and jelly, a bottle of orange juice, some fruit, and coffee pods.  It was more than enough for the two of us and we enjoyed leisurely meals inside the boat, looking out over the marina. 

Two Nights Were Enough

We had been intrigued by the tiny house movement in the US and thought this experience would give us a sense of what it would be like to live in one. It did. We decided that our two night stay was just enough. We would stay in a homeboat again, but living in a tiny house is not for us.

That said, the boat was as well equipped as any hotel suite, and the location was perfect for us to explore the Parque das Nações. More on that next week!

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An update on Ukraine

After we published last week’s post, 41 Hours to Kyiv, we heard from several readers who said they would like to see more European perspectives on the situation in Ukraine. We are not news analysts or political commentators, and we try to avoid controversial or divisive topics. There are plenty of other places to find those on the internet.

But, like many of you, we are deeply concerned and troubled by what we see happening to our neighbors in eastern Europe. So we created a new page, Perspectives on the war in Ukraine, where we will posts links to news items and other sources of information that reflect events and attitudes in Portugal and across Europe.

We welcome your comments and feedback, and we hope that the need for this page is short-lived.

Until next week / Até a próxima semana

Mary and Mike

The Cook and The Writer

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