The View From My Beer
A pewter tankard of Super Bock. The venue was awesome. The view not that great. But I really wanted a beer from a pewter mug to provide today’s view.
Lisbon
This is likely to be a monumental post for two reasons… First, I spent two days here instead of the usual one. Second, this place was incredibly photogenic. Not necessarily the prettiest place I have been, but it was filled with all sorts of interesting stuff.
With a history dating back to 1,200 BCE , Lisbon is one of Europe’s oldest capital cities, second only to Athens in Greece. Following its destruction by an earthquake n 1755 it was rebuilt.
Lisbon consists of seven hills –
Portugal is famed for its ceramic tiles. Catherine de Bragança, the widow of Charles II of England, is buried here. She is said to have introduced tea-time to the British.
My Walk
Finding My Hotel
The hotel I was staying at was called Hotel 3K – Barcelona. It was an unusual name for a hotel located in Lisbon. It had me confused a few times during my planning for this part of my journey, double checking to make sure I was staying in the right country! Before arriving, I had established I could take a train from the airport and then make a short (<1km) walk to my hotel. It wasn’t quite as easy as I had hoped. The train stations did not have escalators or elevators, and the footpaths were all made of cobblestones. Eventually I arrived only to be told they did not have a reservation for me. Unfortunately, when I had put directions into my phone I had not noticed there were more than one Hotel 3ks. I had arrived at Hotel 3K – Madrid. In my defense it was also a Lisbon hotel named after a Spanish city! I ended up having to take an Uber to the other hotel, not wanting to go through the ordeal of doing the walking/public transport thing again.
Centro Comercial de Campo Pequeno
First, I headed to a nearby shopping centre (Centro Comercial de Campo Pequeno) where they had a KFC. The building in which the shopping centre was located was pretty epic, a preview of what was to come… It was so nice to get some familiar food in my belly. It was also nice to be finally able to walk the streets without having to lug my suitcase. I was pretty tired after my meal and decided retire early for the day, determined to get in a big day of walking day tomorrow.
Walking Lisbon
Lisbon is built on seven hills São Roque, São Jorge, São Vicente, Santo André, Santa Catarina, Chagas and Sant’Ana. This meant there were only two types of streets. There were those that went uphill and then there were those going downhill. For some reason there seemed to be an 80% I needed to head. Every footpath was made of mosaic stones. And when I say ‘every’, I mean ‘EVERY’. When wet they became very slippery.
Sao Vicente
I had identified quite a few places that looked interesting and worked out a route that would take me past many of them. My initial goals included finding the oldest street sign in the world, requiring me to climb my first hill, Sao Vicente.
San Jorge
Rua Augusta Arch
My next stop was Rua Augusta Arch, one of Lisbon’s netter known landmarks. The memorial arch was built to celebrate the city’s reconstructioin following the 1755 earthquake. The figurines at the top represent Glory rewarding Valor and Genius.
Ribeira das Naus
Bairo Alto
My next target was Pink Street.
Sao Bento
LX Factory
If you ever find yourself in Lisbon, I would definitely recommend visiting an area known as LX Factory. It is filled with all sorts of unusal stores and restaurants. The area was once a mid-nineteenth-centrury textile factory that was recentlt transformed into one of the coolest places I have visited. I had seen photos of a book store online that I wanted to visit, not realizing that there was so much more to be discovered and enjoyed.
Bordola II Art
Another thing that had attracted me to LX Factory, was a street sculptures by local artist Balboa II, called ‘Bumblebee’. His works were made from recycled products, and typically featured animals. While his work is now found around the world, a lot of it is here in his home city of Lisbon. If I ever returned to Lisbon I would be tempted to track down more of his art, having found a few on this visit.
Lisbon Buses
I used public transport (trains, trams, and buses) quite a bit while I was in Lisbon. It was a large city and I found it easier to break my day up into segments using public transport between each segment. Trains were often the fastest, but buses allowed me to find things I might have otherwise missed. It was not unusual for me to break my journey so I could get off the bus and take a closer look at something we had just passed. This included an amazing Roman aquaduct – Aqueduto das Águas Livres – that I just happened to notice out the corner of my eye as we went past.
Targus River
My final destination for my first full-day in Lisbon was a walk along the Targus River, where several well-known attractions were located. Unlike many other parts of Lisbon, this area was very modern, with several museums, and modern sculptures along the side of the river. My amazing run with good weather deserted me as a steady rain set in for the evening. But even then, I got lucky and bursts of sunshine broke through to light up the Monument of Discoveries at just the right time. This was accompanies by several rainbows to close out my day in enchanting style.
Elevador de Sanda Justa
The next morning I decided to spend 2-3 hours walking the streets of Lisbon. I could not board my Azamara cruise ship until 12:30, and this would be my last day in Europe for a while. One of the attractions I had missed the previous day was the Lisbon Elevators, so I boarded a train to Rossio.
Carmo Convent
Sao Jorge
Time was running low, but there was time to cross off one more item on my list, the view the History of Lisbon Mural. This required me to climb back up the St George hill (Sao Jorge) one more time. It took me a little while to find it. When I did, I realized I had been here the day before standing directly above it looking at at the amazing view of Lisbon. Down below my viewpoint I could see my cruise ship – Azamara Pursuit – was docked and ready. It was time for me to bid farewell to Lisbon, head back to my hotel, and check in for my next exciting adventure.
