Lisbon, Portugal

Posted October 6, 2019, Day 12

• 

• 

City of Seven Hills

It’s been a little over a week since we left our home near Seattle, Washington.   Our first 4 days, 5 nights were spent in the Mouraria neighborhood in Lisbon, Portugal, in a small one-bedroom Airbnb.  Lisbon is known as the city of seven hills, so I knew we’d be climbing lots of hills, and boy, did we. It was a crash course in getting in shape.

Mouraria

• 

• 

• 

And (of course) our Airbnb was at the top of a huge, steep hill in the Mouraria neighborhood. Believe me, the pictures don’t do the hill justice. Nonetheless, we loved our neighborhood. It wasn’t in the most elegant or trendy part of town, but was a very authentic, ethnically diverse neighborhood full of real Portuguese folks living life, and delicious small restaurants.  We had amazing Indian dinners three times and one Chinese dinner, all in family run and very reasonably priced restaurants.

Lisbon Sights

In between yummy food we did squeeze in some sightseeing.  Our city walks (courtesy of Rick Steves, travel writer) included a walk to the top of yet another huge, steep hill to visit the São Jorge Castle.  Our ascent included not only walking, but two public elevators, about 100 meters apart, tucked into the city landscape, that made the walk from downtown up to the castle a little less tiring.

Starting our long descent down the hill, we first visited Largo Santa Luzia square to admire a panoramic view of Lisbon from a small terrace.  The red tile rooftops and Tagus river were breathtaking.

Then we went across the street from the Square where we took a trip back in time, touring a mansion turned museum that reflected how the “typical” aristocratic family lived in 15th century Lisbon.

Our walks also took us up the Elevador da Gloria, a Funicular installed in 1885 that takes (mostly) tourists up another very steep hill into the Bairro-Alto neighborhood, for more exploration. 

Belem

With only two more days in the Lisbon area we decided to head out on a day trip to the nearby city of Belem.  This excursion warranted it’s own post, so, if you’re interested, check out my post “Day Trip to Belem”.  

Gulbenkian Museum

• 

• 

• 

We dedicated our final day to a highly regarded museum, the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. The museum has a vast and varied collection of art spanning 5,000 years of history, including European, Asian, Egyptian, and Islamic art. I’ve been to more than my share of European museums, and I must say this one is really special.  The displays are laid out beautifully, the lighting is exquisite, and they had centuries old wool rugs that were astounding.   Spending our last day in Lisbon at the Gulbenkian Museum was the icing on the cake called Lisbon.

Tiles Are Everywhere!

• 

• 

• 

One final attribute of Lisbon that cannot be overlooked are the tiles (called azulejos). Tiles are everywhere in Portugal. They decorate everything from walls of churches and monasteries, to palaces, ordinary houses, park seats, fountains, shops, and train stations.

Tiled Sidewalks

• 

• 

• 

As we made our way through the city, each street seemed to have it’s own unique black and white tile patterned sidewalk. Above are just a few examples.

Tiled Praca’s

• 

• 

• 

Lisbon’s Praca’s (squares), which seemed to be around every corner, are full of their own unique black and white tiles, majestic statues, towering arches, and flowing fountains.

Wins & Losses

Wins

• Learned how to say: please, thank you, and how to order coffee correctly in Portuguese.
• Never twisted an ankle on the uneven tile streets
• Never got on the Metro going the wrong way
• Had gorgeous, sunny weather every day
• Figured out how to reload (“zap”) our metro card with $ after only five tries (instructions were in Portuguese)
• Loved exploring beautiful Lisbon!

Losses

• We had a nice dinner at a “cash-only” restaurant, but had no cash
• The bus stop outside our apartment was under construction, so we had to hoof it way down and way up an enormous, steep hill to go anywhere.
• We’d just arrived in town and were starving. We ordered from a menu in Portuguese. We thought we ordered a sandwich, but it turned out to be tiny chunks of cod on a rock hard piece of toast. And it cost over 10 euros.