Lisbon – First Day

This was our chance to explore Lisbon a town we had heard much about, most excellent some critical. Firstly a lovely breakfast in our hotel. This was served in a delightful little courtyard that is just outside of our bedroom.

All the usual breakfast treats augmented by the ubiquitous custard tarts and anchovies, not together of course. As there is a bus route right outside of the hotel door we purchased a travel card and made use of the public transport system.

We started in the main square, but it took some time to get our bearings, once established typically we found a delightful coffee shop, and noticed a phenomenon, many of the hospitality workers here our British.

The girl who we spoke to said that it was just warmer and more pleasant than London. If today was any indication that was certainly true as it has been bright all throughout with temperatures pleasantly in the middle twenties.

Lisbon has many steep hills, but the locals solved the problem in the nineteenth century by building elevadores, basically street cars on a cable that climb the steepest hills. We took the oldest of these first built in 1886 and at the top enjoyed some wonderful views of the city from a small park. You will see from the picture of the streetcar one of Lisbon’s problems, there is graffiti on almost every available surface.

I had previously arranged to take a foodie tour of Lisbon on an eco tuk tuk. This was an electric vehicle that was essentially an oversized golf buggy. We were very lucky as we were the only people on the tour.

As well as sampling local delicacies including of course the ubiquitous custard tarts we toured most parts of the city including the steepest hills, which it would have been difficult to manage. The city is lovely; the summits of the hill present the most spectacular views, while the closeness to the River Tagus gives constant interest.

It is one of contrasts the old quarter near the river that has houses cheek by jowl, and the centre rebuilt on a grid system after the earthquake of 1755. Our guide was excellent and was a constant stream of facts; it was probably symptomatic of the local economy that he was a geography graduate. Perhaps the depressed state of the local economy mean that there is a lack of opportunities. We found out that the world oldest bookshop is in Lisbon for instance. We were awfully impressed with the city.

Marion did really well rattling up ten thousand steps as we clambered in and out of the buggy. Her walking was brilliant.

After a late afternoon rest in the hotel and the great interlude talking to Millie over Facetime, we had dinner with a difference. The old market has been converted into an up market foods court. We dinned at the booth run by the A Cevicheria restaurant of Chef Kiko. We later researched this and found that he is a notable fish chef who merges Portuguese food with Asian influences. It was a good tapas style meal. The beauty of the food court was that we could have gelato from another both. The lemon with chocolate threads was stunning.

We have had a great day exploring an interesting and beautiful city.