Our first day back in Lisbon featured beer, semi-aimless wandering that took us to some of the tourist must-see spots & a great dinner (every dinner has been great).
Just getting from the Metro station to the apartment we walked through a plaza full of restaurants where people sit outside to drink a café or ginginjha (I think I just spelled that 3 wrong ways).
Lisbon’s modern history starts with the big earthquake in 1755. The heart of the city was destroyed: earthquake, tsunami, fire. They probably tried prayer & fasting like Tennessee’s Governor just called for. Then they rebuilt with wide straight streets and lots of open plazas and parks.
I tried to get into the lager mindset & enjoyed the vinho verde & the house into, but it was great to find a craft brewery tasting room just around the corner. Jan was the most grateful of us
This elevator thing is visible a few blocks away when we step out the door of our lodgings. We might wish it was attached since it’s 5 flights up to the apartment.
The hilltop fortress area was less affected. Our place was in the rebuilt area, but only 2 blocks from the start of the winding narrow streets and stairs of the older part. Walking down by the waterfront we passed a big plaza where about the longest-running market in the western world is located. Nobody’s talking about the human beings sold here or elsewhere in Portugal’s empire.
Climbing toward the fortress we found an elevator that shortcut a couple streets. Turns out it is recommended in tourism guides. Walking what felt like an alley near a parking garage we saw we were actually beside an archaeological site, a Roman amphitheater.
There was a whole hippodrome here too, back in the day.
We didn’t pay admission to the fortress, cathedral, or anywhere else, just looked at the outside.
There are lots of historic trams and cable cars on the hills, and modern trams and buses elsewhere.
For video (reels) of trams & a market & other stuff, check my instagram @portwalktours (that’ll be on Facebook too). For more about beer & breweries, find me on Untappd.
Lisbon didn’t provide any respite from tramping up & down hills. At least we didn’t need our sand gaiters. The line for the historic elevator was long, so we walked up to the convent & its church. This church lost its roof in a more recent earthquake, I think. The banners seem to show it played a role in a revolution in the 1970s. I need to read more [1974 Carnation Revolution. Portugal’s colonies were in revolt. Army captains overthrew the government—fascistic derivative of Salazar’s half-century of dictatorship—& liberated the colonies. Only one person died in the Revolution (I listened to a podcast episode on the plane home that I should have on the way there, though Jan, Bruce, and Meg might’ve grown tired of my pedantic pronouncements if I had).]
Back downhill for a market,
uphill to a greenway with cool statuary,
downhill,
uphill, down to catch a tram to Belém
for the capstone experience, a sunset sail on the Tagus.
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