Saturday, September 5th - Back in Lisbon/Lisboa

We set our alarm for 07:30 and check out of our hotel so by 08:30 we are in our car with the address of our hotel in Lisbon. An overcast sky and very few cars on the road as we head west to the big city. It isn't until we get closer to Lisbon that we start to see any traffic and then it is a huge volume of traffic. An uneventful drive to our hotel and then to the rental car place. Yayyyyy!!!!

We have seen these huge nests throughout the Alentejo region. We believe they are Cattle 
Egret nests. These white birds are seen walking among the cattle and close to their mouths as they graze. We couldn't figure this out until I check online. These birds accompany cattle and other large mammals to catch insects and other prey disturbed by these large animals.

Huge Cattle Egret nests.

Cattle Egret. This one looks mean.

From the road you see many of these Cattle Egrets beside the cattle.

This is Lisbon's "Golden Gate Bridge" that we crossed on the way into Lisbon. The same designer that did San Francisco's bridge. It looks very similar!

We had reserved HF Fenix Urban through Booking.com as I got a great price and it was about 20 metres from our Europcar rental return. We have three very heavy suitcases (courtesy of our wine purchases) so the closer the better. Plan was to unload our suitcases at the hotel first before returning car prior to 11:00. We arrived at the hotel before 10:00.

This is where things did not go according to plan. The hotel desk clerk verified our reservation and we provided our passports. She then asked for my credit card. The credit card did not match the credit card number that I paid with online. I made the original booking back in April, but my Visa card was compromised in July so I received a new Visa card with a different number. Well, this contravenes their policy as they need to see the credit card that the booking was made with. She wanted to see our bank statement confirming the original credit card number. Grrrr, by this time I am trying to withhold my temper. I confirmed the story, our identity and the fact that absolutely no other hotels asked for this verification. No matter. In fact, they were talking about refunding the old number and using the new number. That wouldn't work as we wouldn't have been credited for a stale number. Lana had me pulled out my Macbook and eventually found the Visa transaction for April 26th on our online bank statement thus satisfying their dogmatic policy. We left our luggage as check in was not allowed until 14:00.

I had read about a great brunch place located not too far away so off we went with Lana plotting our route on the map. It was quite a walk and up some very steep streets and stairs. Welcome back to Lisbon! Sadly, Orpheu Cafe no longer exists. What was a disappointment turned into a great surprise. We were at Praça Principe Real park where there was a large market. Many goodies, crafts and vegetables like a farmer's market.

First stop was a Crepe place. Two crepes for 5.50Euros. Very sweet crepes which worked for my order of Nutella, but Lana put off by the difference with her order of ham and cheese (savoury filling) in a sweet tasting crepe.

One kiosk had a huge collection of tins of seafood - incredible variety. We bought two cans of Octopus in garlic and olive oil. Can't wait to eat these in Vancouver! Plus, the owners knew of Sol e Pesce Restaurant (we talked about this place in an earlier blog entry) that serves nothing but.

More cans...Lana loved these and thought they looked like art!!

We couldn't resist this pastry called Bola de Berlin Brigadier for 1.50Euro. Three flavours - all chocolate. Like a brioche bun with a chocolate creamy filling and a buttery sugar bottom. Great sugar hit and very unique.

Close up of our 'Berliner'.  :-)

Many many many spices at this kiosk. Lana had never seen an actual piri-piri pepper before but it's a critical ingredient to pier-piri sauce for chicken. 

More spices...

More spices....

We watched this couple for quite some time working with these doughy pancake/bready objects on the grill. Soft on the inside. We have no idea what they are and it looks like you could eat with savoury or sweet. If you know, please let us know por favor. We waited to see if someone would buy one so we could see how it was served but after 5 minutes, no takers. 

We believe this a Banyan tree. Our Airbnb host told us about this tree when we were staying at her place.

Its limbs reach far out and are stabilized artificially with the metal grid.  It was a huge tree.

We are not sure if this is a fruit or vegetable?

After the market visit we checked out a local street that had smaller independent retailers sharing bricks and mortar buildings. Cooperatives? Lana found their products interesting as she had a great opportunity to window shop. She did purchase a small ceramic St. Anthony figurine = represents the Saint of Marriages.

We decided to head back to our hotel to drop off my very heavy backpack at check-in and then head up the street to a department store called "El Cortes Inglés, Grand Amazons, S.A. Store". Yes, that is a mouthful! It was my goal to check out their collection of Haglöfs shirts. One of my friends swears by their shirts for hiking and the fact you can travel with them and they never wrinkle in your suitcase. Took us a while to figure out which floor, but alas they haven't carried their stuff in a couple of years and their other store didn't have any. Apparently they only carry them in their stores in Spain. Oh well, another trip to Europe as you can't buy these in Canada. 

We returned to the hotel at 14:00 which is when you can check in to your room. We asked for a room in the backside so we are away from the busy traffic on the main street in front of the hotel. No problem. We got Room 1107 which happens to be on the third floor. Hmmmm. Plus, we were advised to choose -1 in the elevator to take us to this floor. It was explained that this is in a building on the back side and different street levels than front side. Yes, we choose -1 and found our room.

Our room is decent size with a desk and a small fridge. Everything is clean and updated. Lana is happy that there is a bathtub! No password for the free wifi. Plus, we paid for breakfast in the morning. Very quiet on the backside.

Lana is reading a Lisbon Convida magazine which has an ad for Shoes You - a handmade leather shoe store located about a 30 minute walk away. The day is now sunny and blue skies. Brilliant! On the way, we stop at Starbucks for an ice chai latte. Trying to find this store not easy as Lisbon's streets can be so confusing. We do locate the shop and Lana is in shoe heaven. As luck would have it, they have her size in two pairs she tries on.  She can't decide so I tell her "why don't you just buy both pairs?" Hey, I've been well trained by now. So she buys the two pairs of Ladies Oxford brogues and is so happy. One pair is blue and brown, the other is patent red and white.  

We are walking up the main avenue and encounter this kiosk cafe that is making hot dogs. We had to take a pic!

Many choices but expensive hot dogs!

Dinner plans are next. In the book "Where Chefs Eat" Cervejaria Ramiro is listed. Plus, Anthony Bourdain ate here and featured it in one of his shows about Portugal. It is a 25 minute walk and we need to be there early to ensure we get seated. Very casual beer house with excellent seafood and steaks. 

We left in the sun and got lost about 3/4 of the way. There was the same name on two streets which intersected - kind of a problem. Along the way, we saw these three buildings with giant graffiti art on them.

Lana used her iPhone Google Maps to figure out our location relative to the restaurant. We found it no problem and there was a queue of at least 10 customers ahead of us at 19:45. We got a table within 20 minutes so that wasn't too bad. We are happy that we waited as it was a fantastic meal! If you are in Lisbon and want a great meal in a casual setting with fresh and tasty seafood this is it.

Inside the restaurant - definitely a nautical theme.

Our order of Garlic shrimp (Gambas a la Aguillo) arrived still sizzling! Lots of garlic, tender and juicy shrimp and even better for dipping your bread to soak up the juices! The Sagres beer was a good pairing.

Garlic Prego steak sandwich (Carne Lombo). Thick chunk of perfectly seasoned steak as a sandwich. Good feed right here.

Goose barnacles (Percebes) recommended by Bourdain. The server showed Lana the technique for twisting off and then out the long barnacle meat piece. Unfortunately for me, I didn't learn and my first attempt squirted a large amount of pink fluid onto my new white shirt. Of course this stuff stains. Used our carbonated water to dab and rub and got some off. Lana pulled out the remainder. Unique taste and you either like it or you don't. Lana didn't. 

Tank of many fresh and kicking lobsters. You can pick your own lobster and quickly it will arrive on your plate. We didn't order lobster--they were gigantic!

This lobster was just picked and our server just pulled it out of the tank. Huge or what?

Our order of two large Tiger Shrimp (Gamba Grelhada) recommended by our waiter. Wow, so delicious and the butter enhanced its natural flavours.  Plus, a hint of spice. This was probably our favourite dish here. That says a lot.

Almost all the seafood choices are priced by their weight so you won't know your total bill until you see it. Our total bill, inclusive of two Sagres beer and a bottle of carbonated water, came to 38.37Euro. Within five minutes of ordering your food it arrives at your table. The server was excellent; informative and personable. At the end of your meal, they bring you handy wipes. A great touch. Their washrooms are clean. One of our favourite meals in Lisbon.

Another beautiful night to stroll home. On our way we came across this small local restaurant that is making the traditional roast chicken on a spit:

A perfect conclusion to our last full day in Lisboa. Tomorrow we have reserved a taxi to pick us up at the hotel at 10:30 for our 12:50 flight to Toronto and then on to Vancouver YVR about two hours later. Breakfast is included in our room rate so we will fill up before departing in the taxi. Our total walking for today was 20.5 kms. This is the highest daily total for our trip. Lana is very happy with this.