The hotel I booked was on Avenida Da Liberdade. It is the main drag that runs into the city center. It is about a ten minute walk from my hotel or there is a metro stop right outside the hotel. The walk from the hotel to the city center is downhill to the water; great in the morning but a difficult climb after a day of sight seeing in |Lisbon. The Avenida Liberdade is a huge wide, tree lined, beautiful boulevard. The boulevard is lined on both sides with little cafes and gardens and ponds. I miss walking on that street everyday. The people who work on this boulevard are very lucky indeed.
Once in the city center area I stopped at this square to snap a few pictures. While looking around, I spotted the Hard Rock Café of Lisbon and remembered to stop in a purchase a shot glass for my son-in-law.
See the Hard Rock Café on the right of the picture below
The picture below is a random church and square in Lisbon. Nothing unique about it in Lisbon. but it was a great picture of the beautiful sky I had all weekend.
The pictures below are from Rossio Square. It is a huge square with matching fountains at both ends and a large monument in the middle. There is activity all around the square. The main train station in Lisbon is right off the square. There was live music in the square on Saturday. The square is lined with little cafes where one can sit and enjoy an espresso and people watch all day. It reminds me of piazza Navona in Rome without all the street peddlers trying to sell you things. It was at this point on Friday I realized no one had approached me to buy anything from them. It was very pleasant to sit in the square and not be pestered like one is in Navona. I did not miss this aspect of Rome piazzas.
This is view of the railway station and mall.
This is a view of some of the architecture around the square.
Below is a view of Terreiro do Paco. It was the sight of the royal palace until an earthquake destroyed it in 1755. After the royal family moved to another residence the arch continued to serve as a bustling welcome area for people who arrived to the city by boat. The avenue is lined with shops and cafes. I stopped and tried many pastries along this street which is totally devoid of car and vespa traffic!
One of the unique aspects of Lisbon is the use of trams like street cars. The guidelines recommended one should try, but I had enough of crowded buses in Rome. After roaming the city by foot, I understood why many make use of these trams. The city is very much up and down; seemingly almost all up to me. I thought Rome was up and down, but I never took an even step in Lisbon.
Another view of the arch
Here is a view of the arch from the seaside.
Another view of the statue and arch from the seaside. The sea is directly behind me. It was at this juncture when I was finally approached by someone selling something. Although I was in the city for hours, he was the first. And although I was wearing sunglasses, he offered to see me a pair. I thought he ought to approach the tourists who were shielding their eyes for lack of sunglasses, but who am I to say.
I stopped at this "boat" café for a beer and to sit down, relax, and look at the sea.
And I enjoyed a hot dog from the vespa hot dog stand
Fortified by my hot dog and beer lunch, I set out to explore the Chiado and Bairro Alto sections of the city. These adjoining neighborhoods were characterized in the tour guides as bohemian, hip, and fashionable historic districts of Lisbon. Many shops and cafes, but I didn't see any hipsters, only tourists trying to be hip. They reminded me of the area around the Spanish Steps in Rome.
Loved this statue of the sailor. The history of the Portuguese has always been connected to the water from Vasco de Gama to the present.
some of the sights in Chiado and Bairro Alto
Because of the many electrical lines for the trams, it is almost impossible to take a picture without them crisscrossing in view.
But I did like this one
I posted the picture below on facebook as well. On my way back to the hotel to prepare for dinner, I stopped at the boulevard café nearest my hotel for a libation. And I noticed this table of gentlemen next to me. It reminded me of the small piazzas in Italy where the men gather for an apertivo and solve the problems of the world, or at least discuss soccer. Apparently in Portugal they do this over a couple pitchers of sangria instead of an aperol spritz.
On Friday, I had an adventure for dinner. I did not have time to complete my usual research of restaurants before arriving in Lisbon. And I never trust the recommendations of the desk staff at large hotels because I am convinced they receive a kickback for every tourist they send. So I did a quick search of restaurants near my hotel on trip advisor. I found three highly rated restaurants within two km of my hotel. I set out for the furthest, thinking if I was unsuccessful I could just keep making my way back to the hotel. The first restaurant refused to seat me. They said I needed a reservation and they couldn't fit one more person in anywhere. I even offered to eat in the kitchen. So I set out to find the next restaurant on my list. This restaurant was a very difficult climb up a very steep street, but as I neared the restaurant I could see a line outside. This could mean good and bad. Good because it was popular, and bad because I probably couldn't get a seat. Turns out, the long line in the street was because it wasn't actually a restaurant, but rather take away food. while the grilled chicken and meat smelled wonderful, I really wanted to sit down in a restaurant and eat rather than carry food back to my hotel. If I had booked a flat through Air BnB like Amy and I did in Wales, I definitely would have grabbed some food to go. It smelled delicious.
Instead I walked back down the steep hill to the restaurant closest to my hotel. I found it with the help of my iphone on a back alley just blocks away from my hotel. It smelled heavenly as I approached. I opened the tiny door and stepped into the smallest restaurant I have ever been in. And it looked totally full. As I stood there enjoying the smell and pondering my next move, the owner/waiter/maître de came over. I explained my predicament and he told me to wait. After a few minutes he motioned me to come forward. There was a table for four with three friends sitting and they agreed to let me join them at their table. It was a little awkward at first, but they spoke very good English and I bought a bottle of wine that matched the bottle they had been drinking. Before long we were ordering food and passing it around the table to share. the picture below is the mussel appetizer; biggest mussels I ever saw. They serve them on the half shell like oysters.
I also ordered fish stew in a bread bowl. It was delicious!
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