Our first stop...Lisbon Portugal

After an overnight flight from Toronto we arrived in Lisbon sleepless with a mission to figure out how we get to our accommodation using public transit. A taxi would have cost 45€ while the Metro costs 3€ so Metro here we come! It turned out that the system was very easy to use and delivered us quickly and safely to our destination...now to find the place.


This is me with no sleep and trying to read my notes on not getting lost!

Google Maps told us it was 12 minutes walk, but they were wrong... winding, small streets with hidden street signs had us walking longer than expected but we finally found our street, just as we were losing our patience, no just as Don was losing his patience!

We are staying in a very old building on the top floor with lots of steep steps and as usual here no elevator. The apartment is small but clean with kitchen facilities and two bedrooms. We are in one and a young couple from Toronto who have been travelling throughout Europe for a year are in the other one. There is no central heating so lots of blankets and a space heater keep us somewhat warm.

And a great balcony to dry our clothes...

The neighbourhood is called Barrio Alto....these friends were having a serious conversation 

We rested for awhile and then went to a local supermarket where the first thing we spied was bacalao, a very traditional Portuguese food.

Here they prepare their salt fish in many ways so we are hoping to sample a few.

Groceries were very reasonably priced and more so if our dollar was better against the Euro, right now with the exchange we are paying 1.45 for one Euro so don't think our money will stretch as far as last year in SE Asia but one thing here is definitely cheaper and that is wine! 

Looking for supper we set out to find a place to eat and found a food market full of stalls with lots of people enjoying the fare...

We enjoyed salt cod fritters, done in a traditional manner, very salty and then ones with pimentos and the others with olives. They were very much like our fish cakes and delicious!

The sun was shining, about 15 degrees so a short walk and then back to try and sleep and adjust to the time difference which is 5 hours from Toronto and 3.5 from NL.

The sun shining on the neighbourhood houses...

Lisbon is the capital and largest city in Portugal with a population of approximately 500,000. It is Europe's westernmost capital city and the only one on the Atlantic coast. Therefore a lot of the city lies on the water and there is always activity going on there...

This street artist was creating sand sculptures that I thought were pretty cool!

There are musicians everywhere and this young woman was creating wonderful sounds from her instruments...

And this street mime would break out in song...she was hilarious 

Lisbon is also known as the city of seven hills as everywhere we were walking up or down...

This tram actually just went up and down the hill if you didn't want to walk..

Lots of stairs to climb...

And around a lot of corners a glimpse of the water...

Sitting at the highest point of land is the Castelo de Gorge which was built as the home of the first Portuguese king. It was used as a place for the elite to live above the masses and also over time as a military fortification. It was quite peaceful and gave great views of the city...

A quiet spot in the castle...

A view through the ramparts...

Some amazing views of the city, again the late afternoon light is beautiful here...

And as in all great cities there are plenty places to enjoy a beverage and the sun...

As we walked we came across beautiful plazas or pracas...

This one was Praca de Commerico and has a long history of being the place where the merchant ships would sail away to bring goods across the ocean. It is now quite popular as a gathering place for locals and tourists alike.

Another day we decided to visit Belem, a neighbourhood to the west of the central core. We started off on a bus which stopped for construction,told us all to get off, walk around the construction site and wait for a tram. After waiting for awhile we jumped on the tram which again abruptly stopped, told us all to get off again. Had no idea where we were, no one spoke English so we followed the tram tracks and walked there. This is one of the challenges of travelling, never quite knowing where we are but we got in a few more steps as a result!

Belem is a neighbourhood of grand buildings and monuments and it was particularly busy as a former President of Portugal was being buried, so many of the buildings were closed.

One of the most extravagant buildings is Mosteiro dos Jeronimos which was built in the 16th century funded by wealth that flowed from trade with the colonies. It is built on the site from which Vasco de Gama sailed on his epic journey to discover the oceanic trading route to India. Unfortunately we couldn't gain access but it was beautiful from the outside...

Some details...

There was also the Belem Tower built to protect the city from sea attacks...

Also the Discoveries Monument built to celebrate Portugal's explorers and the Age of Discovery. Standing at 52m tall it is a beautiful monument reaching out over the water...

However besides monuments there were tasty treats to be found in Belem called Pasteis de Nata, the famous Portuguese custard tart. There was a lineup at the door but worth the wait...

They came warm with little packets of icing sugar and cinnamon 

And on our quest for more cod we found a shop that served cod fish with cheese inside, here was the girl making them...

So gooey and yummy but salty!

One of the icons of Lisbon are the trams that wind through the narrow streets, they are mostly yellow and can be seem all over the city...

These trams were made in the 1930s and still work here every day. We took a ride on Tram 38 which goes through most of the neighbourhoods and gave us a great view of the city...

I had a good view right behind the driver, you can see the tram goes so close to the houses...

Parked at the end of the line...

We also did a lot of walking through the parks where the locals were enjoying their time...

 

And of course there were churches to visit...

And candles to be lit by special request...

We liked our time here in Lisbon even though it is a dirty city, full of decrepit buildings and graffiti it had a certain charm about it and there were lots of signs of improvements being made everywhere

This was a typical street, full of graffiti 

But what makes me like a city are the times spent watching people and their everyday life...

Like these two ladies having a great chat..

Or the woman at the fish market...

The lady selling her vegetables 

We did find every person we met here to be friendly and always smiling so we think that Lisbon has been a welcoming place to start our visit to Portugal. We look forward to the rest...