The start of our walking tour is at Praça Luis de Camöes and it is only about a five minute walk from our apartment. Huge bonus. Before the tour started we purchased six Pastéis de Nata (Portugese egg tarts dusted with cinnamon) at a local bakery Manteigaria recommended by our host. These tarts are famous in Lisbon. They are a "sugary sweet egg custard in a buttery flaky cup crust" per Lana. We bought six tarts for 6Euro. We chose to sample our first two about 1/2 way through the tour. What self control! ;-)
Incredibly tasty and awesome sugar hit delivered by these tarts.
Rolling out the buttery flaky pastry part of the tarts.
Putting pastry disks into each cup by hand.
Oh yeah, back to the tour. Of course this being Portugal, the tour did not start at 10:00. Basically, more people kept showing up and the guide Jose started his spiel around 10:15. He confirmed that nothing in Lisbon starts on time. By the time we left, at least 40 persons were in the english-speaking tour which is at least twice their average. That was the only negative aspect of this excellent 3 1/2 hour tour led by a guide who was at least five generations living in Lisboa. Jose was very passionate, articulate, funny, interesting, knowledgeable and enthusiastic during the entire tour. He asks questions of the tourists. Everyone needed to introduce themselves at the beginning of the tour and their country of origin. There was another Canadian couple, but the group was from all over the world.
I was the only person taking notes. This helps my memory and improves my retention. As well, it helps with my blogging. Before we started walking the guide provided a 5,000 year history lesson which we thought was pretty cool and set up the historical aspects. Portugal is the oldest country in Europe given it was formed in 1256 and their sailor Vasco de Gama actually sailed to India rather than Columbus who ended up in the West Indies. Portugal used its maritime abilities to take over India, Brazil, African and South Asian countries. At one time Portugal was one of the richest countries in the entire world. Now this country is one of the poorest in Europe and may be in the same financial situation as Greece.
Our guide Jose explaining about Bairra Alto neighbourhood. This area is 500 years old and very high in elevation. Over 400 bars squeezed into a very tiny neighbourhood. One of the group had been partying to 3 am earlier that morning on this street. :-)
Festive narrow street of Bairro Alto - an area beside where we are staying that is the late night/early morning party central for adults of all ages. While we were walking in the area many empty beer bottles, glasses and other drinking apparatus.
City hall of Lisbon. Another huge plaza. This is many of our group listening to our guide Jose. As you will note as many as people as possible are in the shade. It was quite hot in the direct sun.
Al Fama neighbourhood. This is one of the oldest areas in Lisbon and was created by the conquering Moors from Africa/Middle East. After the Moors were defeated the Jews moved in as well as non-practising Catholics. Very narrow streets winding all over the place. You can get lost in less than 3 minutes. Very quiet, few cars and our guide talked about enjoying Al Fama using your senses. The local people are welcoming and friendly. Watch out for the dog poop though! St. Anthony is their patron saint as is celebrated for six consecutive weeks each year. No Tuks Tuks allowed! Sardines are very popular here.
This is a huge plaza. This statue dominates the middle of the square and borders on the official entrance to the city of Lisbon. Statue is of the King, but the artist provided many criticisms of the patriarch.
Garbags proprietor Tania located in Al Fama area. She takes used plastic packaging and creates practical items such as bags, mobile phone covers, wallets etc. Everything in her shop is recycled materials.
Our guide covered a lot of history and one important event was the incredible earthquake/tsunami that occurred in 1755. This tragedy killed 60% of the population and 80% of the buildings were destroyed. The earthquake itself lasted for nine minutes at nine on the Richter scale which has never been seen since. Apparently, countries as far away as Finland felt the tremors. Given this occurred on November 1st there was more damage as this is an important day of the year for Christians so the fires due to candles burned most of the city. After that occurrence, science was used to create seismology and buildings designed to withhold this type of natural disaster. Wood inside of buildings and interlocking bricks on weird angles.
Conclusion of tour at top of the second tallest hill in Lisbon. Great views towards the harbour and their famous bridge built by the same engineers for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. We finished at 13:30 and we paid our guide a 10Euro tip each. Seems about average compared to other tippers. We covered about 7 kms in distance and a number of areas of central Lisbon. Highly recommend this tour. Be prepared for lots of walking. The final destination was a long walk straight up hill.
What a view!
Incredibly small commuter car used by tourists in Lisboa. The passenger sits in a seat behind the driver. Smaller than a Smart Car.
After the tour we were hungry and found a restaurant A Nossa Churrasqueira located in the steep Al Fama area. Sitting outside under the shade of a huge tree in the warmth of the mid day. Our server spoke decent English although our meals took a bit too long to arrive. We offered part of our table to two Irish young women who were in Lisbon for a couple of days. They were on the Walking Tour with us. Their meals took a long time to arrive and the one girl had a mixed seafood platter that was gigantic. Portion sizes are big here.
A half-bottle of Vinho Verde. Vinho Verde is a effervescent white wine produced in the northwest area of Portugal. Popular wine with locals as well.
Enjoying eating outside and the company of two Irish tourists.
Lunch salad was peaches, cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, oregano sprinkled and fresh cheese. Decent, but some strange combinations. I had grilled swordfish which was OK, but too many bones.
Given we were close to the top of the hill, we decided after lunch to catch the famous Tram 28 at the Praça do Martin Moniz station. We decided to pass on the first tram as it was pretty full and no outside seats available. Cost is 2.85Euro each. What a fantastic ride down hill and through the centre of Lisbon. More exciting and much longer than the San Francisco cable cars. Another must for any tourist and a great way to see areas such as Baixa, Graça, Al Fama and Estrela. We finished at the Basilica de Estrela around 16:10. There was a wedding in the church that we could observe from the back.
Back end of the tram.
Views from Tram 28 in the narrow windy and steep streets of Lisbon.
Another view from Tram 28.
Typical view of Lisbon and the different coloured apartments. This is a very wide street for the area.
We knew that if we followed the tram tracks it would take us back to our apartment. Otherwise, navigating by walking in Lisbon is pretty much impossible without a detailed map of the streets. There is nothing of a grid system and all the streets are winding and disappear eventually. Oh well, more of an adventure! Another steep climb up the last hill back to the apartment. We turned on the air conditioner immediately as it was warm. Lana fell asleep for about an hour while I updated our travel day blog entry.
We wanted to enjoy another nice dinner and decided to find our way to an area very east of where we were staying and close to the beach. Lana figured out using the subway was the quickest and cheapest option. We walked to the subway station Baixa-Chiado and then caught the blue subway line to its last stop at Santa Apalonia. Our destination restaurant was Maça Verde, but when we found it near the train station it was closed! Later on checking their website they were only open 12 - 4 today. Very disappointed given the long distance.
We found Restaurant Farol located beside the train station so we gave it a shot. Most of the fellow customers eating outside were drinking rather than eating. Another fantastic night to be eating outside. Our server was from Bangladesh and hoping to emigrate to Toronto or Montreal. We were hungry. I ordered a half bottle of their "Mateus Rose" from the white wines selection. It was a sparkling red wine that Lana described as a "weak Lambrusco". It comes with a bucket of ice and cold water to keep it chilled. The bread was a Portugese bun style with soft insides.
Randy's order of Pork Portugese style. This means cubed pork with fries and olives. The meat was tender and juicy. Lana ate the olives. The fries weren't very good.
Lana's order of Octopus Rice. It was delicious. Tasty and filling.
We decided to get in more walking rather than take the subway back home. Lana was confident she could find the right streets even though it was dark. Another excellent job of navigating the confusing narrow streets of Lisbon as we made it home safely. For the entire day Lana recorded 12 kms of walking.
On the way home we walked past this interesting wine bar comprising a ceiling of empty wine bottles. Interesting concept and the place was filled with people enjoying wine and smaller plates.
An excellent first day in Lisbon. Lots of sights, meeting interesting people, walking and learning more about the city and country. It is getting late 23:25 and I should be getting my beauty rest. Lana is already fast asleep.
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