Exploring Lisboa

 Conferencing took up most of the day today, but the sun doesn't set until almost 5:30 (!) so we still had plenty of time to get out on the streets. We meandered on foot south toward the Tagus River to the Alfama neighborhood- the oldest part of the city and location of many of the most well known landmarks. The visitor info warned that Lisbon is a hilly place, and many of the steepest areas are in the Alfama! 

One of the funiculars; didn't ride today.

The streets were full of people and busy sidewalk restaurants and cafes. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the amazing weather! There's so much to look at here. Rows of apartment buildings with all sorts of facades (including many that are fully tiled). Streetcars and trams winding through super narrow streets that are shared with cars, bikes, scooters, and pedestrians. Lots of energy! 
 

 
 
Our first stop was  the Teatro Romano de Lisboa, the remains of a First Century Roman theater located below the remains of a 17th century house and a second house built in the 19th century. An archaeologist's dream!
Jen trying hard not to geek out over Roman stuff.    

We continued on (uphill) to the Castelo de Sāo Jorge, a Portuguese National Monument and one of the highest points in Lisbon. The castle is surrounded by open plazas with amazing views where you can sit and have a beer, sangria, or crepe from food carts. 

The castle has eleven towers, most of which you can climb (up very steep, very uneven, very narrow, very old stone steps). The earliest part of the site dates to the Bronze Age, and the fortifications were first built by the Phoenicians, then occupied and added to by the Romans and the Moors before it was taken by the Portuguese in 1147. You can see evidence of all of them as you walk the grounds!

Peacocks! Lots of them!

From the top of the towers, it seems like you can see the entire city.

After walking what my phone said was the equivalent of 36 flights of stairs, we took a breather with a bowl of olives and the biggest pitcher of sangria two people have ever shared and enjoyed a postcard view of Alfama's red terracotta roofs.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Another Adventure Comes to an End

Image
Delayed post because there was no wifi on the ferry. Yesterday was our last day in Newfoundland, but we packed a lot in! It was a beautiful day- bright sun and upper 70s- probably the best weather we’ve had since arriving here. A few days ago we read about several geological sites in the Port aux Port area, and since it was on our route south back to the ferry we decided to stop there. We’d driven the coastal route around this peninsula two weeks ago on the morning we got off the ferry, but it was overcast and rainy so we figured it would be fun to see the views in the bright sunshine. It was totally worth the side trip! We wanted to see a coastal feature known as the “folded rocks.” Online sources said to stop at the nearby convenience store to ask for specific directions to the site, which we did, and were given parking directions a short distance down the road and told to just walk down the beach til we got there. I think I talked about this last time, but Newfoundlanders are not ...
Read more

"The West Coast is the Best Coast"

Image
Today we travelled back across the province from the east coast to the west, which is a seven hour drive along the Trans-Canada Highway. There really aren’t any alternate routes- the majority of central Newfoundland is uninhabited by humans and unimproved except for snowmobile/ATV trails. We broke this drive up on the first part of the trip- staying one night in Corner Brook, then two nights in Twillingate, then one night in Trinity/Port Rexton before landing in St. John’s. It was a long drive to come back to Corner Brook in one shot, but we decided we wanted to spread out our driving days and we’ll be able to stay on the west coast for two nights and just about two full days before we head for the ferry back to Nova Scotia.   We left St. John’s under cloudy, damps skies but it didn’t take long for the sun to come out and the temperature to go up, up, up as we moved west. Finally! By the time we arrived in Corner Brook it was in the low 80s with bright sun in a cloudless blue sky...
Read more

No Sleep 'til Sydney- Cape Breton Part I

Image
I had a feeling the overnight ferry ride from Newfoundland was going to be rough without a cabin, but it ended up being worse than I thought. While we were able to buy reserved reclining seats in a semi-darkened room, giant TV screens all over the place ran silent news and weather the whole time and there were at least five different people snoring (loudly!) at any given time. There was just no way to get comfortable and even with my earphones in the snorers won out. Also, note to self: don't eat fried chicken wings with hot, hot sauce right before you try to go to sleep in a ferry chair. Jen enjoying a deep and restful sleep The giant ferries take about 1.5 hours to load/unload the passenger cars- semis take even longer- and when we pulled on last night we were directed down a ramp into the lowest parking level. After that deck was full, the big metal plate closed and sealed us in, and more cars and trucks pulled in on the deck above us.  We knew that meant we'd be the last to...
Read more