Lisbon:

Our Neighborhood.

We were excited to be leaving Barcelona. After Javier’s family left, it was just plain sad to be in the city. We had looked into using our rail pass to get from Barcelona to Lisbon, but there was only one night train that left from Madrid and it was booked for like…two weeks after the new year, so we flew instead. 

We arrived in the early afternoon and hopped on the metro to get to our neighborhood. Our stop was Rossio square, and as soon as we surfaced from the underground, not more than 5 seconds later, Javier was approached to buy hashish. We walked for another 5 steps, and there was someone else…psst, psst…hashish? Three times within 2 minutes. We decided to keep count. It became a joke. Whenever we would see someone questionable start to approach, we would whisper, psst, psst…hashish? and start laughing. I think it deterred a few of them. In total, Javier was approached 13 times during our few days in Portugal.

Lisbon.

Have you ever been to Lisbon? It’s hilly, like really hilly, and while we were aware of this, we were still surprised. The walk to our apartment was not long but it was up. It was like the ultimate stair master. Our apartment still had a little decorated Christmas tree in the window facing the street, which gave it a cozy feel. It was cold, but there were two small portable heaters that we kept in the living room and bedroom, which worked out perfectly. The shower was so high-tech, that I couldn’t figure out how to turn it on. I figured out how to turn on the radio and fan, but couldn’t manage the water. Javier had to figure it out for me.

Breakfast at home.

We were hungry, and asked our hostess for a dinner recommendation. She told us that there was a place she liked, and would walk us there since she was going in that direction. When we walked out of the apartment and into the open stairwell, I noticed a rope that dangled from the top floor all the way to the bottom. I gave the rope a gentle tug, and nothing happened. When I asked the hostess what the rope was for, she said that there was a little old lady that lives on the top floor, and since there are no elevators in the building, she ties the rope to her bag(s), walks up to her floor, and pulls up the rope. Brilliant! We walked downhill to a very busy and touristy area. We had dinner at a small bistro that was quite delicious, and decided to get to know our neighborhood a little bit.

CAMOES SQUARE…. The free tour meeting point.

The next morning, we took a free walking tour. Our guide kept insisting that Lisbon was absolutely, hands-down, the best city in the world. He was a native to Lisbon, 22 years old, and had lived in Africa for a while, as well as traveled around Europe a bit, so I guess that makes him the expert. 🙂 We saw the major areas of Lisbon, including our neighborhood, Chiado, and Barrio Alto, the party neighborhood. He took us to the famous Café a Brazileira where there’s a statue of Portugese poet, Fernando Pessosa, who is famed to have written his masterpieces in a number of multiple personalities. While we were at this location, a group of local men, wearing matching little hats, were singing acapella. We later found them at another location, still singing.

Fernando Pessoa statue.

Lisbon is home to the oldest bookstore in the world, as evidence by the Guinness World Record plaque in the window. We made a lunch stop during our tour for a chance to have a quick snack where they try to swindle us into purchasing another tour or two. Well, we became addicted to the chicken sandwich, and booked two more tours…what just happened???  At one point, our guide had us acting out different scenes of Portugese history, which sounds a lot more fun than it actually was. We ended our tour at the Praça do Comercio- with the statue of King Jose I. At this point, it was early afternoon, so decided to walk up to the mirador. There is a big castle on one of the hills in Lisbon, where many like to go to catch a great view of the city. It is also rather expensive. He recommended a different spot close to a church on a hill.

The Praça do Comércio

There was this local guy who infiltrated our group and would add his expertise here and there. I thought he was pretty cool, but he and the guide would disagree on small points, and I think the guide was a little irritated by him. Anyway, he recommended a viewpoint, wrote it down for us, and included which tram to take. We asked if it was safe to walk and he insured us that it was safe during daylight, but not at night. Well, the sun was out and the weather was nice, so we decided to go for a stroll to the top of the hill. 

Welcome Tourists. Lisbon.

As we were walking, we noticed that many of the buildings were covered in printed tiles. I later found out that this not for decoration as I thought, but to keep the houses cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Magic tiles. We also noticed that as we left the tourist area, and walked up the hills, the area started to look pretty sketchy. When we approached a spray-painted wall that said, “F*** turists” we took it as a sign to get moving. We were relieved when we arrived, and yes, the view was beautiful. Best thing about this mirador?? We could actually look down on the castle as well as the rest of the city. We took some pictures, sat back to relax a bit, and decided to walk back down, but this time, we were going to take the longer scenic route, and follow the tram, rather than risk our lives and go back the way we came.

Lisbon

On the way down, we stopped at an outdoor kiosk for a coffee, and sat at a little table situated at the edge of a cliff where we could look out over the water. We stopped in a Cathedral and snapped a few pictures and walked through parts of the famous Alfama neighborhood without realizing it. The day had been long. We had walked a fair amount and were tired. 

For the next two days we took the local train to Sintra, which for me, was a huge highlight, but more on that later…

Lisbon

Our next walking tour was more exciting than the first. First off, we liked this guide much more. He was also really excited about Lisbon, and loved the history, but wasn’t annoying about it. We had to walk a bit just to start the tour, and the guide took the time to talk with everyone and create a laid-back atmosphere. We started climbing some stairs. As we walked, we could see lots of graffiti and wall art depicting Portuguese life. Once we reached the middle of the stairs, we stepped aside and admired the artwork.

Malta territory.

The walls were covered in brightly painted Fado scenes. It was a nice blend of culture and hood. We walked to a mirador. It was actually the same place we had coffee on one of our earlier days. On the way there, we stopped at a church. The interesting thing about this church is that it is really small and technically Malta territory. So, when stepping into the church, your actually moving from Portugal into Malta. Pretty cool, huh? A bunch of people were going in and out, and finally this nice man came outside to greet us, and by that I mean, this super mean-looking, angry guy came out and starred us down as if daring us to cross into his country. So we did. 

They also appoint lots cialis stores of medical representatives. Bread, pizza, toast, burger, potatoes and cookies are some food items that are high viagra prices in carbohydrates. Booster capsule: This generic viagra online capsule is specially made up for a specific disorder which is said to erectile dysfunction. How can you take canadian cialis mastercard ? The technique to look at cialis is normally oral, approximately 60 minutes before the interaction.

Graffiti parking lot.

At one point, we walked into a parking lot. Fun, huh? We were told that the destination was at the top of the structure, which opens up to a terrace restaurant and therefore, another nice mirador, but he had us exit the stairwell to have a look. Every floor of the parking lot is decorated. The city asked local people to come and put their art on the walls, so every floor has local art spray-painted everywhere. Definitely the coolest parking structure I’ve ever been in. And the real kicker…the whole place smells like cinnamon…on purpose. Good use of tax dollars if you ask me.

Lisbon

He showed us other artwork around the city and explained its significance. There were some tile pictures of Saint Anthony of Lisbon. He told us some stories about him, and since he was the Saint of ‘finding things’ whenever we found pictures of him (and he is everywhere) we could get a point towards a free beer. Let me explain. At the beginning, we saw wall art depicting two old ladies gossiping. Our guide explained to us that this was quintessential Portugal culture…two ladies with their heads bend toward each other, sitting and gossiping about everyone and anyone. He started a game where if we pointed out these gossiping little biddies, he would keep a tally, and whoever reached the magical number, I forget now what it was, would win a free drink. Once he added Saint Anthony to the mix, the points increased dramatically and a we had a winner in no time.

Ginjinha or simply Ginja, is a portuguese liqueur made by infusing ginja berries

We made two stops for alcohol. The first was just a generic stop to buy snacks, but most of our group, including our guide, ended up drinking beers. Our second alcohol stop was at the window of some woman’s home. At first the window was closed. Our guide started knocking on doors all around and calling her name. I kind of thought it was a joke. But then out of no where materializes this little woman who saunters into the building. She opened up her little window and was ready for business. We each had a small cup of ginginha, or ginja for short, for a mere euro. It was sweet. Too sweet for us to drink seriously. I ended up having this again in Sintra, but this time with a dark chocolate cup, which made all the difference…mmmmmm…

LIsbon. Elephant foot print.

On the way back to our starting point, the Parça do Comercio, we stopped by an elephant footprint. Now, neither Javier nor I can remember the exact story that goes with it, but something about the elephant being a gift to the king as a sign of his power in Africa. He tried to fight the elephant with another animal, maybe a rhino??? Okay, now I’m just making stuff up, but there was a fight, and the elephant became scared and started running and charging people. The little guy and his trampling debut is memorialized in the center monument in Parça do Comercio showing him trampling over bystanders. As the story goes, the king re-gifted the elephant to another lucky recipient, or maybe he went to live on a farm somewhere.

That night, we tried, and failed to go on a pub-crawl, but were able to trade up to another tour instead. Woo-hoo! We had delicious Indian food. Seems like a good alternative. 

custard delights.

Our pub-crawl failure won us tickets for a tour of Belém. Belém is the historic area of Lisbon. It is from here, many of the first Portuguese explorers, such as Vasco da Gama and Magellan, embarked on their journeys to new worlds. We started our tour with the best way one can start a tour… with a scrumptious snack! There is a famous custard place in Belém with a permanently long line. Our guide took orders, (and money) and walked right to the front. I guess tour guides get line-cutting privileges. Good for us! In no time we were sprinkling powdered sugar and cinnamon on our little bits of heaven and devouring them! I am so glad we didn’t discover these earlier.

We walked to the Jeronimos Monestary, a beautiful building built in the Manueline style, which to me, means it looks gothic, but a little more feminine. Afterward, we wandered through the town towards the Tower of Belém, which sits at the mouth of the Tagus River.

Belém Tower

On the way there, we stopped to take pictures of the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, or Monument to Discoveries, dedicated to all of the famous explorers. Near here, is a large map of the world, painted on the ground. Our guide gave us the history of Portuguese exploration by using all of the members of our tour as different explorers and even grabbing a nosey bystander to take part. He had us moving and standing over areas that were discovered by the Portuguese. I had no idea how much exploration was first done by the Portuguese and how little recognition they get. 

Padrão dos Descobrimentos

Our rail pass was due to expire, and we had an extra trip. We had talked about, and planned for, a day trip to Porto. Everything was looked up, set in place, and when the day came upon us…we didn’t really feel like it. So instead…we went to the mall. 🙂 Can you believe it? We traded Porto for the mall, and yet, as I sit here, I am quite happy with our decision. 

I have a confession to make. We went to Hard Rock Cafe…again. Sometimes, we just needed to eat some good ol’ ‘merican food. But! I assure you, it was our last. As of January, 2015, HRC increased their prices…the nerve. Don’t they know Portugal is in a recession!

We had been looking for chicken the entire time in Lisbon. We tried all of the local grocery stores, and only one had chicken. Well, let’s just say it claimed to be chicken, but we didn’t dare eat it. I had some spices that Brenda (the lovely woman we stayed with in Paris) had given me. We had dinner one night, and I enjoyed it so much, she told me how to make it and even bought me the spices the next time she was at the grocery store! Isn’t that great! So, I’d been carrying around the spice, and this was the first time I was able to try it out. But we couldn’t find any chicken!

Colombo mall

Finally, We found a big grocery store. It was in a large shopping mall, and a short metro ride away, so Javier and I decided to check it out. The place looked like Target, just not nearly as cool. We decided to eat first. They had burritos at the food court, so naturally we had to try it. While the burritos were not great, they were good enough to satisfy a burrito craving that Javier had been harboring for months. We walked around the mall and found, dun-dun-duuuuunnnnn…a movie theater. It was already afternoon, and Javier wanted to get back to watch the Barça game, so we took notes on the times, with the option to return the next day…just in case. We spent far too much time in the faux-Target, but finally found our chicken! Who knew it would be so hard to find chicken in a major city? 

By the time we arrived home, it was too late to cook. Hahaha! Instead we ran to the local bar to watch Barça spank Atletico, and ended up at a fancy restaurant to try the famous Portugese Cod…it was okay. We had good intentions of going to a bar and listening to Fado. However, as we were walking along the streets to find a good spot, we could hear the women singing, and well, we didn’t feel like being depressed that night. 

Cervejaria Trindade

Chicken for lunch!!! It wasn’t nearly as good as Brenda’s, and by not nearly, I mean, it tasted nothing like Brenda’s delicious meal, but I get a star for trying! After chicken lunch went back to the mall to watch a movie! Like there was any doubt we would. We saw Birdman and ate lots of popcorn. Good times. We were leaving the following day, and still had not found our patch/pin, so we went back to our neighborhood and went shopping. I had decided on a rooster pin, and Javier found his patch. Do you know the story of the magical rooster? This guy is EVERYWHERE in Lisbon. You can find him on dishes, as a stand-alone decoration, paintings, you name it, you can find a rooster version of it. So, I’m not sure of the specifics of the story, so I will tell it as it was explained to me. 

The 25 de Abril Bridge. Lisbon

There was a man accused of stealing. He claimed he was innocent, but was still convicted and sentenced to hang. He asked to see the judge responsible for convicting him. Once in front of the judge, he said that to prove his innocence, the roasted rooster the judge would be eating for dinner that night would stand up and crow at the same time the man was being hanged. Sure enough, at the time the man was hanged, the judge’s dinner stood up and crowed. The judge stopped the hanging, ordered the man to be released, and he was saved…The end.

To see more pictures Lisbon, Click HERE.