Hello from Lisbon. I can't blame the internet for not posting the last couple of days. Instead, I'm blaming dinner. Yep. Portuguese - like the Spanish - do not even think about eating until 9:30pm. So we've been breakfasting about 10am, shopping, touring, wandering until about 2pm, napping until about 5pm, happy houring and tapas-ing until after 9pm, and then eating dinner...when am I supposed to post??? It may sound like a horrible schedule, but it's kind of growing on me.
So...after we disembarked in Barcelona, we flew back to Lisbon to enjoy four more days. When we were planning this trip, we knew we wanted to spend more time here. We'd never been to Portugal, but by all accounts, it sounded like a place we'd love...so we built in the extra time. And boy am I ever glad we did.
This city is so much fun. There are so many things to see and do. The people are so nice and helpful. They speak plenty of English (don't even try your Spanish), and that makes things pretty easy - cuz Portuguese is pretty hard...lots of zzzhhs and shays/zhays.
Our first day here, let me see...that would have been Friday, we got to our hotel about 4pm and immediately took a nap. We'd been up since before 6am to finish packing and get off the ship. Our flight was delayed a bit, and our bags had gotten extremely heavy; it was no fun at all lugging them through the airport...why they call it luggage, I suspect.
Our hotel is a little boutique smack dab between the old city, the biggest plaza I've ever seen, and the main shopping area. Frankly, it's just a little slice of heaven. After a bit of a rest and a little unpacking, we headed out to find a bar and some Portuguese craft beer - about a seven minute walk from the hotel. Heaven, I say. We returned to the hotel to get a couple of recommendations for dinner. We chatted up the friendly doorman, and he and the ladies behind the registration desk decided to send us to Taberna da Baixa, a cozy little restaurant with walls of wine and a delicious menu.
Nice little spread
On Saturday morning, we hit the streets. Since we'd been here on a cruise stop, we had a sense of the city, and we knew what we wanted to revisit. The Praça do Comércio - the largest square I'd ever seen. It's situated right on the river and at the end of one of the main shopping areas. Rua Augusta runs down the middle of a neighborhood filled with bars, restaurants (with outdoor cafes), and shops. And at the end of the street is the entrance to the plaza, and the Rua Augusta Arch.
Like the square, this thing is massive.
From underneath.
Back in 1755, there was a massive earthquake (8.5-9.0 on the scale) that lasted almost six minutes and destroyed 85% of Lisbon, and completely destroyed the main business square, including the palace. It was truly horrible. As the quake sent thousands running out into the streets, chaos ruled. Fissures up to 16 feet deep opened up, and of course people fell in. Then, a tsunami hit, swamping everyone. Meanwhile, since it was All Saints Day, people lit candles in their homes, and the quake knocked them over...and the city began burning - a firestorm that lasted for hours. Thousands upon thousands were killed.
So the king declared to his remaining subjects, "We will rebuild!" Rubble was cleared in less than a year and major reconstruction was underway. The arch commemorates the resilience of Lisbon.
The plaza is amazing.
It's hard to describe just how big this mother is. Okay, it's almost nine acres. Surrounded by admin buildings, bars, restaurants, tourist information centers, the port for river boat tours, and arcades filled with weekend artisan kiosks. There is a giant statue of King Jose I on his horse crushing anything in his path to rebuild.
I fear for this guy.
Here's a drone shot I found on Google. Yeah, it's big.
On the corner of the square, is the Museum of Beer. While there is a small museum, it's more about being a restaurant and a bar. But there is a shrine inside.
We shopped some more, wandered, and landed on lunch, a place called Dr. Wine in the shadow of the Santa Justa elevator. The line from last Sunday was still there.
We had a lovely lunch with a delicious wine suggested by our server. A big fruity, slightly dry vino tinto. Damn delicious.
After lunch (you know, about 3:30pm) we headed out of the hot sun and into our cool hotel room for a siesta. Touristing is hard work!
For our happy hour, we decided to check out a local brewery, Duque. We wound through narrow neighborhood streets to find the right one, turned the corner and were faced with this...
literally a street of stairs...so many stairs.
I was glad to have a beer outside at the top, sitting across from this lovely building.
Now it's all downhill to another bar and dinner.
When they rebuilt Lisbon, someone got the bright idea that the streets and sidewalks should be laid with polished limestone cobblestones. The designs are lovely, and the craftsmanship is superb, but can you see the sheen on that sidewalk above...it wasn't wet. They are so polished, they are slippery. I feel like a goat on ice walking on them...one false move and you're down. Even my sneakers slid a bit. I can't even imagine them when it IS raining.
On Sunday we decided to take a river boat sightseeing tour. We had an hour or so after we bought the tickets, so we walked into the old city.
Lots of tiny streets, lovely balconies and beautiful fountains.
We took the boat to Belem with the hope of getting into the famous bakery and sampling the custard tart they've been producing since 1837. The fortunes laughed at us...the line to get in was two blocks long. Sigh. We did get to see the Monument to the Discoveries once again, though.
Tonight we have reservations at another recommended restaurant - our hotel staff is soooo great!
