We had selected Hotel Britania for our hotel. It was located on a side street just off the main boulevard. We picked this hotel because it was small (only 33 rooms), had been given very good reviews, had a lot of history, wasn’t the usual American style hotel, and it was in a great location. Arriving at the hotel we knew we were too early to check into our room, but we wanted to leave our bags at the hotel so we could go sightsee. The process was simple - we had our passports copied (standard in Europe), filled out the registration form and got a claim check for the bags. The front desk/bell staff was very nice. The hotel is a boutique hotel and had a living room with fireplace, a bar and a breakfast room. The only meal they served was breakfast. All the floors were marble and the wood was dark - very lovely.
With map of Lisbon in hand, we headed to the Metro stop about 2 b locks from the hotel. We happened to be at the ticket machine just as the man from the information booth was coming out so he showed us how to insert our money and get a 24 hour pass for each us. The pass is good not only on the metro, but also the public buses and public trams. For 4 Euros each, it’s a great deal. The Metro is so easy to use!!! It reminded me of the Metro in D.C. It was clean, well lit and because we had arrived on a Sunday, very empty. We took the Metro down several stops and headed to Praca de Comercio where a company named Lisbon Walks meets daily and provides tours. The English tour was scheduled to leave at 10:00 a.m.; we made it by 5 minutes - woohoo. There were only 8 people in our group which was nice so for the next 3 hours we all walked Lisbon and listened to the guide as she pointed out the sights and talked about the history of the city. Now we’re in Lisboa as the locals call it.
The walk took us through the Barrio Alto, Baixa and to Alfama. All of these are different neighborhoods within the city. The first thing we noticed was the amount of graffiti in this city. I mean everything is tagged! It’s really a shame as you can tell the city doesn’t do anything about it and even some of the old historic sites have been heavily marked with it. The second thing you notice is the cobblestone streets. Unlike some cities in Europe where only certain streets are made of cobblestone, every single street and sidewalk in Lisboa is cobblestone. In the winter it is very slick when it gets wet and women have learned they carry their heels to work instead of wearing them.
The neighborhoods have very narrow streets. Several of them are one-way as the streets are just wide enough for 1 car to drive. The houses are really all apartments. As you walk down the street on the super narrow sidewalks you can hear the noises of a neighborhood. People talking, dogs barking off the balconies and looking up you see the washed laundry hanging out. The apartments are very small the guide said and even some of the entry doors don’t appear very high or wide. Because of the Moorish influence, a lot of the building’s exteriors have tile on them and the buildings are largely painted yellow. Between the tiles, the color and the laundry the streets are all very colorful!
The day was beautiful for sightseeing. The weather was hot (but not as hot as Phoenix) and we could feel the humidity. Hank and I both got sunburned.
We saw several beautiful churches such as Church of St. Nicola, the Cathedral and the guide talked of the history of the town and actually how young an independent Portugal really is in age. Its government only rid itself of the dictatorship in the mid-1970’s. We walked, we walked and we walked. We also had the chance to ride the outdoor elevator from one level of the town to another. The entire town is built on hills and there is really only one area that is flat. She talked about the earthquake of 1755 that destroyed a big part of the town so a lot of it was rebuilt. At the end of about 3 hours we were in the Alfama area. By now it was about 1:30 p.m. so after the tour Hank and I opted to take a break after so much walking and we sat at a small café in the square and under an umbrella had something to drink and split a cheese sandwich. We were on overload from looking at the sites and walking on those cobblestones!
After our break, we decided to catch the tram over to Belem, another neighborhood much further out. We wanted to see the Monastery of Jeronimos which wouldn’t be open on Monday. So we caught Tram 28 in Alfama to the Praca de Comercio. As Hank was getting on the tram, a man came up behind him and tried to pick his pocket! Lisboa is notorious for pickpockets. The man had gotten really close to him, but I was behind him too and I saw what was happening so I knocked the man’s hand away and Hank felt it and he had grabbed his pocket too. The guy acted like nothing had happened and moved on! Like they say - Lisboa is full of pickpockets. From Praca de Comercio we caught Tram 15E to Belem with no problem. The Monastery was beautiful. It was built in 1495 and contains the tomb of Vasco de Gama. We really enjoyed the time we spent looking at it. We then saw the famous Casa Pateis de Belem which is the birthplace of the custard tart in Portugal. The line was long and we opted not to stand in line because by now it is almost 4:00 p.m. and we were tired.
We caught the tram back to the Praca de Comercio and then took the Metro back to the stop by our hotel and dragged ourselves to the hotel. The remainder of check in consisted of just picking up our key and heading to our room. The room was a terrace room so it was very nice. It had a small patio off the room itself with some pretty plants. We had a king size bed so it was large by European standards. The elevator (lift) was big enough for 4 people and had the old fashioned wait for the exterior door to be closed on the elevator before the interior door would close. Our luggage was brought up and we collapsed in the chairs.
At 6:00 p.m. we met Linda and Larry Cochran at the bar for drinks. They live in Florida. I “met” Linda through one of the Cruise Critic (“CC”) forums and they were also staying at our hotel. They had been to Normandy, France prior to coming to Lisboa and had already been in Lisboa for several days. It was fun to sit and chat for a few minutes. We all went our separate ways for dinner though as Hank and I wanted something quick so we could just come back and go to bed! We ate at a seafood restaurant right around the corner and while the meal wasn’t great, service was quick. Even though it was a seafood restaurant, I had black pork (a dish made from black pigs) and Hank had clams and diced pork. The side dish was frites. Back to our room we were ready to unwind and crash! The hotel sent up some complimentary port which was very good and of course another thing Portugal is known for making. Now it’s lights out!
No comments:
Post a Comment