In my experience, there are two types of travelers:
The good ones study their guidebook like it’s the Bible, outline all of the sites and museums they want to see and plot a route to cover them all in the time available.
When folks back home ask if they saw such-and-such, they can truthfully say yes, they did.
That, of course, is not my style. I’m a person who may glance at the guidebook to get a general idea of what’s available, then pretty much ignore it on site.
Instead of rushing off to hit all the tourist targets, I prefer to just wander around and get an intuitive feel for a place. That’s what we did in Lisbon.
We landed on Friday and did little more than walk around the hotel area. After dining at a sidewalk café (happy hour mojitos for 5€ each), we fought jet lag with a long night’s sleep.
I had prebooked four-day tickets for one of Lisbon’s hop-on, hop-off bus tours. The busses follow a fixed route with a number of predetermined stops where passengers can hop off, explore an area and then hop back on a follow-up bus.
There were several companies offering this service, and after careful consideration, I chose the Yellow Bus company, which offers two routes with a collective total of 25 stops.
Saturday was bus riding day. We would ride both routes, looking for neighborhoods we would explore over the following days. Riders are given earbuds, which we can plug in and get a narration about sights along the way delivered in a language of our choice. Not being fascinated by the names of the architects who designed various buildings, I found the audio somewhat boring.
Sunday would be a walk-around day. Our bus tickets also covered a ride up the Santa Justa lift, an outdoor elevator that opened in 1901. Located near our hotel, we decided to ride it up and explore the Carmo Square neighborhood above.
Up there, we went past the Carmo Convent…
…and wandered around a terraced park with sculptured busts missing from posts and walls sprayed with graffiti.
Graffiti, or tagging, is rampant in Lisbon. Abandoned buildings and walls sport ample amounts of paint, effectively ruining photo ops for those of us who want to capture clean views of historic structures. Even passenger trains have become the canvases for the graffiti “artists.”
Since Dianne’s new knee doesn’t like downhill walking, we left our lofty location on the Gloria Funicular (also included in our bus package)…
…back down to hotel level off Rossio Square. This open area features the usual European standbys such as statues and fountains…
…construction cranes…
…and locals out walking their dogs.
The cobblestones in Praça do Rossio are laid in a wave pattern that made it seem like we were walking on a rolling surface.
The day was young, so we decided to take a walk up Avenida da Liberdade, a broad, shady, park-like median between two streets we had traveled on our bus route. The route was packed with vendors peddling everything from footwear…
…to beer.
The avenue led to Edward VII Park, a long stretch of grass and hedges that led up a hillside flanked by cobblestone walkways. We headed up.
Near the top, we stopped at the Carlos Lopes pavilion, a building decorated in Portuguese tiles that was originally built for the International Exhibition of Rio de Janeiro in 1922. It was dismantled and brought to Lisbon ten years later.
The park ends at a spectacular overlook flanked by a pair of towering obelisks. This was stop number 5 on one of our bus routes. We waited for the next bus, got onboard and headed back down to a public square near our hotel.
That evening, we walked down to the waterfront where we caught a boat tour, which was also included in our package.
The boat ride give us a different view of some of the things we had seen from land, such as the Tower of Belem, a 16th century fortification…
…and the Monument of the Discoveries, a sculpture honoring the Portuguese sailors who forged new routes to Asia, the Americas and around the world.
We passed under the April 25 suspension bridge, its name commemorating the Carnation Revolution which overthrew the authoritarian government on that day in 1974.
Atop a hill on the far side of the bridge stands the Cristo Rei, Christ the King. The statue, looks quite similar to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Back on land, our evening walk back to the hotel was interrupted by guitar music coming from an al fresco restaurant on a side street. We found an empty table, ordered dinner and wine, and enjoyed a pleasant night dining with pleasant background music.
Sidewalk dining was one of the treats of Lisbon. It seemed like every street in the more touristy areas of Lisbon was lined with restaurants offering al fresco dining. We had three such eateries located in front of our hotel. Almost everywhere, the wait staff spoke English and offered menus with English translations.
On Monday, we took a tram car tour through the narrow, winding streets of the Alfama neighborhood of Lisbon. Although the tram was flaming red, it also was included in our Yellow Bus package.
After that, we got on the double-deck Yellow Bus and headed out to the Park of Nations neighborhood, which our audio guide referred to as the modern area of Lisbon.
It was here that Lisbon hosted Expo ’98.
We walked a cobblestone walkway along the waterfront…
…beautiful sculptures…
…and fountains…
…that sometime got overexcited…
We spotted a happy snorkeler in a pool outside the aquarium…
…and tried not to stare as we strode past the local nude beach.
Honoring Portugal’s seafaring past, a pair of tall buildings sported sails…
…and there was the Vasco da Gama tower, Lisbon’s tallest building.
We bought tickets, rode the elevator up and admired the view through some rather dirty windows.
For dinner that night, we headed for the Cervejaria Antartida, Portuguese for Antarctic Brewery. I couldn’t pass up a place with a name like that. They advertised tapas, steaks and seafood, and I was ready for a chunk of dead cow.
Instead of a Texas-style T-bone, I ended up with sirloin topped with mushrooms and smothered in a delicious sauce with fries on the side.
On the way back, we passed some local wildlife in the square…
…and lights illuminating some of the local monuments.
On Tuesday, we set out to explore another area of Lisbon we found inviting on our bus trip. This was the Belem area, home of the Tower of Belem and the Monument of the Discoveries.
Belem is known for its Pastel de Nata pastries, which originated at a shop here. We would have sampled the delicacies, but the line out front stretched for more than a block.
The line at the Museum of Archeology was longer, providing another good reason not to do museums.
Instead of standing in lines, we booked a hop-on, stay-on ride in a one-horse carriage.
Ride completed, we set out on foot, following a cobblestone walkway along the waterfront. We passed fountains that attracted birds in need of a shower.
We listened to a street musician playing an electric violin.
We checked out food trucks along the walkway, many offering a taste of international cuisine, including (to my wife’s delight) Mexican…
We stopped for some not too tasty margaritas.
As our friends all know, Dianne and I crave fine Canadian cuisine…
…so imagine how excited we were to find poutine available on this side of the Atlantic!
We continued past Portugal’s Monument to the Overseas Combatants…
…where a sailor posted guard.
[And yes, I did ask permission to take his photo. My rule is to never shoot anyone carrying a firearm without asking first.]
Catching a Yellow Bus, we returned to our hotel, showered up and headed down for dinner at Café Nicola, located just outside our hotel.
The restaurant began in 1787, and has long been a hangout for writers, artists and politicians. USA Today claims it’s one of the best restaurants in Lisbon, and the seafood we ordered was great.
Wednesday morning, we packed our bags, ate another delicious Portuguese breakfast…
…and arranged to meet the driver transporting us to the railroad depot. We would be taking the high-speed train to Porto, a 209 mile journey that will take less than three hours and cost about $27 in U.S. dollars for first-class seats.
The train offered comfortable seating…
…but traveling at 135 miles per hour, the views out the window could sometimes appear a bit blurry.
