Back on the bus and off early, to give us the afternoon for exploring Lisbon. Our awesome apartment is right next to the castle (in Castle Town) with a view (if distant) of the sea. The only drawback to this arrangement is that the castle is at the top of the city…which means everything is down. Which means returning home is up! Oh well…time to work off those smash burgers and fries. Not to mention the Port, wine, and beer!
Since the castle is next door, it made sense to explore there first. Fortunately, we had already purchased tickets online. That was one long line. The castle itself is really a shell with no roof any longer, but the walls are intact and walkable. And it’s massive! The various views of the city and sea from the walls and parapets are spectacular.
Another special and amusing sight was the courtship dance of a peacock for a peahen. I had never witnessed this, but they really do strut their stuff, shaking and rustling tail feathers and side feathers to add sound effects to the display!
Many photos later, we left castle city and ventured down to see what we could see. What we saw was a Fado show with dinner! We had planned to look into this, but serendipity took over and we stumbled onto a family-owned, very small restaurant which also did Fado. After being “hawked” on the plaza by several restaurant/Fado show hustlers, this spot was a delight. Great food and show, with a young lady singer, as well as an older gentleman performer. And the guitar performances with a Fado guitar and acoustic guitar as duet was something special.
Sunny Strolling Day
Lisbon is truly a modern, sprawling city but we focused on seeing as much of the old city as we could. Following our go-to guide, we started close to home and strolled the Baixa (bye-sha) neighborhood somewhat backwards, starting at the obelisk and Elevador de Santa Justa, to the train station and adjacent plaza, the church of St. Nicolas, and on through the upscale shopping district, ending at the Plaza do Comercio situated by the sea. In fact, there’s a landing stage with two pillars where royal barges and other dignitaries “landed” in Lisbon. Nearby, a sand sculptor was hard at work creating various animals in front of a growing group.
Rimming the plaza, there are cafés, and shops and a Wines of Portugal tasting room. Of course, we had to check that out! We got our card and loaded some EUROS on it, then began tasting the various wines and learning about them as well. I saw that they had Madeira as a special option and asked about it. The owner gave us some history and then offered to let us sample a 1998 bottle. Using a Coravin, she poured a sample…and it was delicious! We continued by walking the Chiado stroll, finishing our day at the Lions Fountain.
A tour of the Gulbenkian Museum gave us an amazing view of artifacts and art from 2500 BC including Egypt, Greece, and Rome, to Renaissance, Baroque, Romance, and Impressionist works. Rembrandt, Reubens, Degas, Turner, Monet, Renoir, and Rodin…to name a few. Also on display were fantastic pieces of Rene Lalique jewelry and glass. We had no idea so much would be in this museum in the suburbs of Lisbon!
Dinner or Not
We decided to try out one the places our hosts had recommended for dinner and walked on “mostly flat” streets (in Porto this means less steep up & downs) about a kilometer to find a short line. We decided to wait, and met a young couple from Brazil. Because the place was small and packed, when a table became available, the proprietor asked if we wanted to sit together. We quickly agreed and sat down to enjoy dinner and interesting conversation. Then…we noticed a note on the menu…cash only, no credit cards. Well, neither of us, had enough cash to cover dinner so after double-checking with the waiter, we left. We chose a near-by spot, but they decided to venture further. Oh well…we laughed and said we enjoyed our “almost dinner” with them!
Our actual dinner was really delicious. A dish for two of rice with seafood topped with a lobster, and brought to the table in a stoneware covered dish.
A Rainy, Blustery Day
Good thing we covered a lot of territory the previous day. We had chosen this day to venture out to Belem to see the Monastery of Jeronimos and other sights there. Unfortunately, the authorities forgot to send us the memo about an official ceremony of some kind involving the President and mounted military units. Kind of cool to see, but screwed up our timing for tickets. They were sold out until 1 pm, and the line stretched for a mile! So, we opted to see the church, which doesn’t require a ticket, and is the resting place of Vasco de Gama. Then we went through the maritime museum which is has a very good history of Portugal’s age of exploration. Most impressive were the models of the ships, which were detailed down to the last cannonball. Weather note: earlier, when we exited the church, it was raining and blowing a gale. It was still raining and blowing when we left the museum.
One thing I had really wanted to see was the Monument to the Discoveries. It’s located across the highway (accessible via an underground walk-through tunnel), next to the river. Dale walked with me through the tunnel, but opted not to venture out in the blowing rain. I couldn’t stay long…and was soaking when I got back into the tunnel. Then we had to find our bus stop, wait in the rain, ride for about 30 minutes, then walk back to our castle city eyrie. Needless to say, hot showers were in order! Dinner was whatever we had on hand, as it was too wet to go out.
Tomorrow we leave for the Algarve and a couple of totally relaxing days by the sea!