Touring Lisbon, Portugal

A Day in Lisbon

Lisbon in a Day (because everyone was ill for the other days!)
Everyone was better, so we caught a metro into the city. We walked through the old part of the city, saw some squares, found the castle. J couldn’t find a fridge magnet that matched his set. I couldn’t find a cork cushion cover. We did however, find a queue. We weren’t sure what the queue was for, but we’re British, we joined it. Turned out it was for the castle (8 euros) so all good.
The castle had great views of the city and very long lines for the washrooms.
We walked back along shiny cobbled streets, trying to not slip. Flat summer shoes are bit of a problem in Portugal, as they tend to have slippery soles, and most of the streets are shiny cobbles. Heels would be worse. I think the best footwear would be wellies really.
We ate lunch at Comidas de Santigo. When we sat down, they brought us bread, olives and fishcakes. Luckily, we noticed on the menu that each item, including the butter pats, were charged for. I am used to paying a cover charge when abroad, but an extra €20 seemed a little steep. We asked for them to be removed.
While waiting for our order to arrive, Factoid Boy explained that food cravings are actually due to the bacteria in the gut. So if, for example, you stop eating a food type (sugar) for 3 months, that bacteria (the sugar-eating bacteria) dies, and you don’t crave it anymore. This information enhanced our meal no end.
We went back to the hotel. The family swam in the pool, I did a quick Google search for postboxes in Porto. I can happily report that the sculpture where we posted our cards is also a real postbox.
R remarked that there are not many people in Lisbon. We caught the metro back to the city for dinner during rush-hour, and found them all. Lisbon has interesting metro stations, with sayings and gargoyles on the ceilings and walls. You can recharge tickets when they have expired, which is cheaper than buying new ones.
We walked through Arco da Rua Augusta (a big archway) to Praça do Commercio (big square). Saw a little beach.
Walked to a very nice Italian restaurant—La Vita e Bella, on Rua da Prata. The Portuguese waiter said he preferred us to speak English rather than bad Portuguese, as it was easier to understand! We ordered a starter platter, which filled us up so we could hardly eat our main courses, and sangria (and then picked out all the ice because everyone is being very sensitive about tummy health!)
I got a migraine, due to eating meals at weird times. We went back on the metro, and a blind man got into our carriage, begging for money. He had this weird metallic stick and instrument, and walked up and down the carriage making loud metallic tapping noises to attract attention. Was possibly the worst noise for a migraine ever.
Thank you for reading. Tomorrow we plan to visit the palaces at Sintra. I will tell you about it in another post.
Thank you for reading
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