Lisbon... Blue Skies, Warm Weather and A Step Back In Time

 

Where to begin?  Should I start with the food,  the views,  the monstrous hills?  I think I'll just dive right in and, hopefully, share this incredible city with you

The Palacio Estoril

From the moment we arrived at this hotel, we were in awe.  We got out of our rental car and the bell hops, dressed in uniforms right out of the movies, were there to get our bags and welcome us to the hotel.  If you've ever seen the movie "Home Alone" and remember the grand hotel in NY... this felt just the same.  We've never stayed anywhere that the young lady at registration escorted us up to our room and gave us the grand tour including showing us where everything was and how everything worked.  Including the complimentary bottle of port wine and pastries. We sure weren't at a Hampton Inn!

Day One, Lisbon

 

We're staying about 20 miles west of Lisbon in the town of Estoril.  Everything I read about driving a car in the city was to not do that, so we're commuting in via the train.  It's about a 30 minute ride to the heart of the city.  And, of course, at the train station Sonja is making new friends.

The train station in Lisbon was pretty cool.  Very artsy.

One hundred yards from the train station, we encountered the first of "Bill's screw ups" in the planning.  Lisbon is a city of hills, much like San Francisco.  More on that later.  I had us catching a bus outside the station to take us up the first hill and we headed to the bus stop.  After standing there for 20 minutes, I checked the bus schedule only to find that the bus we needed to take did not run on Saturday!  So, off we went up the hill on foot.  

Which was actually a good thing because it gave us a chance to see close up and get a feel for this neighborhood.  Very artsy with an old time feel to it.

They have doors for us short people.

The Trams

San Francisco has their street trollies, Lisbon has their trams.  Riding these old historic modes of transportation was one of the highlights of our visit.

Coffee

An aspect of traveling that we love is the chance to try the coffee in different countries.  It is not the same as in the states where you drive through and get a 16 ounce in a paper cup and be on your way.  In Europe, it's an event to be treasured.  Espresso is everywhere and if I told the waiter that I wanted a "grande, half-caf, extra hot, latte with two shots of hazelnut and no whip cream" they would look at me like I was from another planet.  Here, it's simply a coffee for Sonja and a "bica" (espresso) for me.

Our first coffee shop was a place called A Brasileria which opened for business in 1837.  That's like the year Lincoln was in grade school.

Igreja de Sao Rogue

Did you know that the most expensive church in Europe was in Lisbon?  And from the outside, it doesn't look like much.  Kind of a plain Jane exterior.  But, oh my, when you get inside...  the amount of of gold would make Trump jealous.

Lisbon's Hills

If you've ever been to San Francisco or downtown Seattle and tried walking up those hills, you have a sense of how tough it can be.  Now do those hills by walking up stairs!  I had been preparing for a few months for these Lisbon hills and they still killed me!

But, I made it!

Miradouras

The reason you climb these hills is for the views.  They are spectacular.  

The temperature is in the low 70's and after climbing that hill and enjoying the view (while still trying to breathe) I found a living saint.  She saved my life and I would have gladly paid $100 for this drink.

And what goes up, must come down.

The streets of Lisbon are very cool.  Remember, this is one of the oldest cities in the world.  However, in 1755 there was a massive earthquake that leveled a lot of it.  And because they used candles at that time, they sparked a fire that took out even more of the city.  To top it off, the earthquake triggered a sunami that flooded all the low lying areas.  Helluva day, huh?  The city rebuilt itself and today when you walk around you sense and feel the history.  All of the sidewalks in Lisbon are made of tiles and many of the streets are cobblestones.

Let's Talk About Food

Portugal is primarily a seafood country.  Yes, you can get beef and pasta but there is a ton of seafood.  We tried Bacalhau which is cod.  We tried their national pastry which is called Pastel de Nata.  It's an egg custard tart that is to die for.  You'll see a lot of photos of us eating those.  

We did find some American food...

... and hot dogs that I know my brother Joe would love.

Castelo de Sao Jorge

From the miradouras you could see the castle up on the tallest hill.  Well, of course we had to trek up there and take a look around.  

Outside the castle, Sonja tried Ginjinha.  This is a cherry liquor served in a chocolate cup.

A Night of Fado

Portugal has its own style of music that is not found anywhere else in the world.  It's called Fado and it's played all over the city of Lisbon.  You can be in a restaurant when acoustic guitars show up and folks start singing Fado.  It's a sad, melancholy type of music that they call the Blues of Portugal.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the old part of town and were treated to our first taste of Fado.

It was a long first day.  According to our watches, we walked over 11 miles and we got back to our hotel after midnight, completely exhausted but with smiles on our faces.