ONE of the many other names given to Lisbon over the years has been the City of Seven Hills and, as the flight touched down in the attractive Portuguese capital yesterday lunchtime, it is easy to see why.

The landscape of one of Europe's most popular cities has so many different levels of terrain and the government has clearly worked hard on development after being handed massive EU funding, largely as a result of the infamous 1988 fire which ripped into the Chiado district.

Chiado is close to the Lisbon port and is just a stone's throw away from the Hotel Altis where the Press have been stationed. There is very little sign of what went on 17 years ago.

Ironically, that fire led to the rejuvenation of the city and it was named European City of Culture in 1994. Since then the local Lisboetas' have never looked back.

They have enjoyed spectacular economic growth and invested in major infrastructure projects like the longest river crossing in Portugal, the Ponte de Vasco de Gama.

Now Lisbon, a city that struggled for over a century to recover from a massive 1755 earthquake which reduced it to rubble and many, many years of political and military chaos during the 20th century, has regained some pride and has a revitalised urban life.

Great pride was also taken in the hosting of Euro 2004 last summer, although a shock defeat for the host nation in the final to Greece did not go down too well.

But for the whole continent to focus on the country for such a big football spectacle touched the Portuguese and there remain many memories of the tournament.

As the flight from Teesside yesterday morning got closer to the runway in Lisbon the Estadio Jose Alvalade - the venue for Boro's second leg tonight - flashed by for those looking out of the window and it was a stunning venue to see from the air.

The coach journey to the airport also took us by a number of phone booths, which were made to resemble a Euro 2004 football covering the phone.

Lisbon hosted the final of the competition and the masses of modern hotels that were clearly constructed to cope with the thousands of supporters than descended on the city last summer.

OVER 2,250 Boro fans will make the trip to the Portuguese capital for tonight's game. Some 550 of those were at Tees-Valley Airport yesterday morning boarding flights at a similar time to when the players were asked to meet.

Among those was one Football Association communications director, Adrian Bevington, a lifelong Boro fan. Maybe he was there to examine the fans' behaviour abroad or maybe it was just to cast an eye over one Stewart Downing ahead of next week's England qualifier with Northern Ireland.

Darlington boss David Hodgson has given star midfielder Craig Hignett permission to miss training and fly out to Lisbon to work for BBC Radio Five Live this evening - or that's what we are told anyway.

Hignett, a former Boro midfielder, will be assisting with the commentary in the Estadio Jose Alvalade tonight and if Hodgson was unaware he won't be for long!

SPEAKING of Hignett here's something you may not have known - he was born with 12 toes.

Few on the flight to Lisbon yesterday believed him but he said: "I was born with six toes on either foot.

"The sixth one just sort of dangled and did nothing so I had them taken off when I was young.

"It's the truth," he insisted.