Getting
tired of hearing about my trip yet? Only one more week to go. I'm
trying to condense Lisbon into one post except for two days. Those
days get their own.
The
apartment in Lisbon, or more properly Lisboa, was within walking
distance of the waterfront on the nearby main avenue, about a 30 –
45 minute walk depending on how fast you walked and how many times
you stopped, in a residential neighborhood on the fifth floor (yes,
with an elevator). After the long day of driving from the Villa to
the Lisbon airport, turning in the car, cab rides to the apartment,
and check-in, we were all ready for dinner.
view
of Lisboa from my bedroom window at the front
the
view from the back dining area
Jane
was leaving the next morning for home so we went out for a farewell
dinner at a seafood restaurant nearby where we learned the difference
between seafood and fish and also were introduced to the Portuguese
speciality that is only available at a certain time of the
year...snails. Not the escargot of France but small, like the ones in
your garden, snails.
Thursday,
I stayed in in the morning needing a bit of rest and solitude while
Denise went to the Marionette Museum (and I kick myself for not going
with her for I never made my way on my own) and Catharine and Vicki walked around the city and then
later I went out exploring the general neighborhood, getting some
soup for lunch at a pastelaria, and bought some strawberries and
apricots from a street vendor since the fragrance almost knocked me
down walking by. Friday was much the same with Denise staying in and
Catharine, Vicki, and I walking down to the waterfront and stopping
for lunch and then exploring some of the old town neighborhoods with
narrow cobblestone streets and pedestrian ways walking up and down
hill as Lisboa is built on 7 hills.
St.
George's castle in the distance which we did not visit
lots
of oblique streets and buildings with rounded corners
where
the ships set sail from during the exploration age
There
were a lot of performers of one kind or another on the large
pedestrian plaza that took up the last 6 blocks or so of the avenue
leading to the arch. These guys were great, playing and singing
with this one hitting the tambourines with high kicks.
Skipping
ahead two days we basically did the same thing on Monday only this time
Catharine and I visited 3 tile stores, two that sell high quality
reproductions and one that deals in antique tiles, while Vicki struck
out on her own. The prices dashed my hope of taking some home.
the
antique dealer's back room
like
small jewels
the
facade of one of the tile stores
Tuesday,
my last day in Portugal, we went to two markets...the 'thieves'
market or Fiera do Ladre, a giant flea market two days a week,
Saturdays and Tuesdays. Since our Saturday was otherwise occupied, we
went on Tuesday and from there to the Time Out market for lunch which
was an indoor fruit/vegetable/flower market and a mall of different
restaurants/eateries with common tables to sit at, kind of like a
food court on steroids only it was all really good food. Took a cab back to
the apartment, I packed while Catharine and Vicki provided me with
dinner and I left the next morning.
Lisboa,
like every part of Portugal I saw, was clean, some cigarette
butts in between cobblestones, that's the only trash I saw. What they
did have though was tagging, a lot of tagging. I was amazed how much there was.
Basically every street level facade was subject. And one place we
regularly passed in our outings was tagged during our visit. I
have pictures. I queried our guide on Saturday about the presence and
apparent toleration of such. He didn't seemed concerned as it wasn't
gang related.
I did see some interesting street art.
this
one in Oporto
not
exactly street art but she drew us into the shop
and
this tree
next:
Sintra and other points of interest
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