Lisboa

After staying overnight in Lagos last Friday, Annie and I rode another bus to Lisbon, Portugal’s capital city. We were only able to spend two nights and one day there because our bus ride back to Sevilla was approximately seven and a half hours long, using up most of our Monday holiday (Día de Andalucía). We were champs, though, and packed as much as we could into what time we had.

Not long after we arrived to Lisbon Saturday night we went on a pub crawl with our hostel. This turned out to be a really good idea because we went to Bairro Alto, one of the districts well-known for its nightlife, and it was absolute insanity. People literally packed the streets all night, but it was definitely a fun atmosphere. We had to call it quits before it got too late, though, because we wanted to spend the one full day we had exploring the city, not sleeping in.

When we woke up on Saturday, we loaded up on a big breakfast of toast, apple-cinnamon pancakes, juice, and coffee at the hostel. Those pancakes were honestly one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever eaten, so I need to try to replicate them when I get home. After breakfast we hopped on a bus to Belém, another part of Lisbon, which is Portuguese for “Bethlehem”. After about 30 minutes on the bus we got off in front of the Jerónimos Monastery, a Manueline (Portuguese late-Gothic, named after the king of the time) monument that survived the Great Lisbon Earthquake.

To provide a little historical background for you, most of Lisbon was destroyed during an earthquake on November 1, 1755.  If building weren’t destroyed by the quake itself, chances are that they caught fire. (You can imagine all of the candles that were burning in churches on All Saints’ Day.) And if neither the earthquake itself nor the fire had affected parts of the city, then the enormous tsunami that hit about forty minutes later followed by two more waves left its mark. Talk about a catastrophe. 

So, although Lisbon is a very old city, most of its current architecture is actually post-1755. The monastery is one of the surviving pre-1755 structures. Since many museums and attractions in Lisbon provide free or discounted admission before 2:00 p.m. on Sundays, Annie and I checked it out before walking along the riverfront. Once we had built up an appetite, we stopped in at Pastéis de Belém, a famous pastry shop, as evidenced by the constant line of people waiting to get in. It is actually bigger than most restaurants I’ve ever been in, but there is good reason. These people know what they are doing. Their famed product is the Pastel de Belém, is a little circular pastry filled with cream, yet it is so much more than that. Only three people know the recipe, so I couldn’t tell you what was in it, but it definitely agreed with me! Annie and I split a lunch of café, two little ham and cheese sandwiches (on the flakiest bread ever), one duck empanada (never had duck before, but I liked it), and a Pastel de Belém each for less than 8 euro. It was worth the 30-minute bus ride.

Outside of Jerónimos Monastery

Inside the monastery

San Francisco and Rio over the Tagus?

Line outside the famed Pastéis de Belem

Sustenance for the second half of our day

We boarded a train after lunch back to the downtown area. From there we trekked up a hill to our destination of the Castelo de São Jorge (St. George’s Castle, but you probably figured that one out on your own). This castle is another survivor of the earthquake and dates back to Medieval times. We were there on a gorgeous, clear day, so the views over the terracotta rooftops and Tagus River were spectacular. We thoroughly explored the fortress until the last lookout point, where we encountered a couple exhibiting some exceptional PDA. I’m sure they wouldn’t have minded us coming down to the platform, or even noticed us really, but as we already had about 50 photos each of the city view from the castle, we left the enamored couple to their business and descended the hill back to the downtown area.

And once we had descended, we started ascending another hill! Lisbon is sometimes called the City of Seven Hills, so if you want to multitask by combining tourism with toning your lower half, I highly recommend visiting this city. Its hilly nature, trolley cars, and twin of the Golden Gate Bridge contribute to comparisons often drawn between San Francisco and Lisbon. I can’t really provide consensus or disagreement with that because I would need to visit San Francisco first.

So, up on another hill, we found ourselves in Bairro Alto again. After a long day of almost non-stop walking, we had earned a relaxing night. We started it off watching the sun set over the city and Tagus River from a rooftop bar, at which I enjoyed my first glass of port (another one of my drink cliches fulfilled—you have to have port in Portugal!). After dark, Annie and I had hoped to find a good place to eat where we could also enjoy some fado, a traditional Portuguese music genre. Unfortunately, the affordable place we knew of at which anyone will strike up a tune was closed for remodeling, and we only encountered the expensive tourist-directed dinner-and-a-show establishments. I wasn’t about to drop $50+ on that (I’m thinking of saving it for something more along the lines of a Messi jersey), so we found a quiet little restaurant instead. I tried lamb for the first time there, and though it’s not my favorite, I’d certainly eat it again. After dinner we headed back to the hostel and crashed because we had to catch an early bus the next morning. 

The perfect way to end a long, eventful day

Although the bus trip was long, it was a great way to see the Portuguese and Spanish countryside. Parts of Portugal actually remind me of some hills just outside of Dodgeville, Wisconsin, dotted with oak-like trees and streams running through the valleys. Who knew?

After the constant traveling, catching up with homework, and applying for summer jobs, I was kind of burnt out. Thus, the week-late blog finally arrives. I just passed a relaxing weekend in Sevilla, though, so I should be back on my writing game soon enough.