Lisbon - Saturday 24th March

We booked this weekend trip away a long long time ago and as we have been so busy shifting house and doing all that, the weekend kind of snuck up on us. We hadn't done a lot of research into what Lisbon was like, or what to do so we didn't really have massive expectations.

We flew out after work from Heathrow on TAP Air, the most random airline ever. We had a first on this flight –an on air fight! It seems some guy took objection to the guy in front of him putting his seat back, and then asked the hostess to tell him to put his seat up. And then the guy in front jumped up and grabbed him and was yelling at him and was going to punch him, and then he spat on his face!!! It was so dramatic.

And then when we landed we had to stay in our seats while the police came on board to have a chat to the both of them.

We caught a cab to our hotel which was right in the middle of town. We were both tired and the taxi driver kept telling us to go out to the clubs. Our hotel was an old apartment type building with not a lot of soundproofing! We went straight to bed as it was past midnight but soon learned that we had our window opened to the party street and there are a lot of drunk people in Lisbon.

Saturday

Now Lou always checks the forecast before we go away on holiday. And this time was no difference, except that the forecast was completely wrong. It was meant to be sunny and warm and it was raining and cold. So dressed in our shorts and jandals we ventured out. 

Some crazy building

But I forgot to mention breakfast. This was included with our room and was almost the worst breakfast we have had on our travels. 3 different types of rolls, plastic cheese and jam. Oh and budget cornflakes. But the worst part was the coffee, Lou can drink most types of instant, but this tasted like wet wool. Gross.

Anyway, we started our sightseeing with the Praça do Comércio - the square is still commonly known as Terreiro do Paço because it was the location of the Paços da Ribeira until it was destroyed by the great 1755 Lisbon Earthquake. After the earthquake, the square was completely remodelled as part of the rebuilding of the city. We wandered up through the windy streets up to the Thieves Market, which was just a whole bunch of people selling their second hand (and really crappy) stuff which was interesting (including family photos?). 

 

We eventually found Castle of São Jorge - the Moorish castle conquered by Afonso Henriques and Crusader forces, was once a home of the Portuguese royal family, with a complex of buildings within its walls. Since the Portuguese revolution, the abandoned castle decayed into ruin, and many of the buildings were destroyed. We just liked it for the views really, and as it was spring there were orange blossom trees everywhere which meant that the air smelled amazing! 

From the top of the castle

Me and my mate the peacock

A little about Lisbon as a whole - Lisbon is the westernmost capital city in Europe, & one of the oldest cities in the world, predating other modern European capitals by hundreds of years. Julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia. Unlike most capital cities, Lisbon's status as the capital of Portugal has never been granted or confirmed officially – by statute or in written form.

One of the most noteworthy events in Lisbon's history was the 1755 earthquake. The city was destroyed and an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people died. The architecture of the city reflects this too, the low lying coastal areas are all built up in a formal grid pattern (where everything had to be rebuilt) and the hilly areas are all still narrow windy lanes.

Our next stop was the little town of Belem which is about 6km west of the city so we took the bus. Belém is famous as the place from which many of the great Portuguese explorers set off on their voyages of discovery, for example Vasco da Gama departed for India from there in 1497. 

We had lunch in a little taverna which was great. All Portugese restaurant meals start with a whole basket of bread, a plate of cheese and usually some sardine paste. You have to pay for these but there are really yum. Lou was adventurous and ordered the seafood dish (that was the description in English on the menu) and Hamish had a sausage type stew. Great food, and it was nice to have a big hot meal after trekking round in the rain and cold.

We then stumbled across the most famous pastry shop in Portugal, the Casa Pastéis de Belém. It is believed that pastéis de nata (basically egg custard tarts) were created before the 18th century by Catholic monks at the Jerónimos Monastery. We found the place by just wandering along the road and coming across a huge bunch of people queueing up outside, so we did what any other tourist does, we joined the queue too and got ourselves a wee egg custard tart.

It was yum though, for custard. 

Next was the Jeronimos Monatery, we had a look in the church bit which had a really cool roof, but we didn't pay to go inside the rest of the monastery. We crossed the park to see the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries), which is a really awesome sculpture which shows all the important Portuguese explorers. Further down the coast was the Torre de Belém. The tower was built as a fortified lighthouse late in the reign of Dom Manuel (1515–1520) to guard the entrance to the port. It stood on a little island in right side of the Tagus, surrounded by water, but now it is joined up to the mainland so you can walk to it at low tide. It looks like a little lighthouse so we had a nosey round, in between rain showers. 

We made our way back to Lisbon city and wandered around a bit more, until we came across the Santa Justa Lift which is an old lift that connects the lower streets of the Baixa with the higher Carmo Square. Raul Ponsard built the lift in 1896 (he was an apprentice of Gustave Eiffel, who built the Eiffel Tower). It again, had some pretty nice views from the top. 

We dragged ourselves back to the hotel for a welcome hot shower, and a change of clothes before we went out for dinner. We decided to go with the first decent place we came across which we did, and it was a good choice! Hamish had the local beer – Star Bock, and we shared a bottle of local red wine which was really great. Hamish had the steak and chips (so Portugese) and Lou had the salted codfish which is a traditional Portugese meal. We were really impressed by the food, considering how cheap it was! We stopped in a couple of the main squares to get some sweet night shots, and then treated ourselves to gelato and the closest thing we have seen to a caramel apple puff outside of Lou & Tracy's kitchens. It was a whole apple baked in pastry with a cinnamon stick poking out the top. Really yum. 

Highlight: We really liked Belem and the sights there, and the dinner we had that night was a really great way to cap off our day.

Lowlight: Weather sucked, and getting around was a little confusing using a 15 year old guide book!

Interesting Fact #1: Belem is the Portuguese word for Bethlehem.

Interesting Fact #2: Hamish got offered hash and cocaine 5 times on Saturday. So bizarre.