Welcome to day two of Lisbon. I awoke at 7am after what I can only describe as the worst sleep I have ever experienced. During the night I had been joined in my hostel room of four beds by a lesser spotted Snore-a-saurus! In fact referring to my travel diary I made a short entry for the morning and I quote directly, ‘Woke at 7am. Felt awful’. Now as you will know from the previous day I had been feeling rather under the weather during this trip so far and sadly things did not improve the entire trip, added to that I was joined by the loudest snorer I have ever experienced. During the night I had popped out to get some water and could hear my new companion down the corridor with the door shut! Snore-a-saurus had other talents such as sleep walking and talking though these events happened the next evening so tune in to the final update sometime in the future.
Feeling rough I decided to solider on and headed out with a clear plan, get some coffee! I was under a time pressure as I planned to hop on the famous Tram28 at 8am as the tram is known to get very busy later in the day. So moving as swiftly as possible I found a coffee shop and in broken Portuguese I ordered a large coffee. Naturally, I received some sort of tiny espresso but beggars can’t be choosers. It awoke me enough to head over to the tram stop at Martim Moniz. To my surprise at 8am five trams all showed up at the same time! I decided to get on the second one as I figured it would be quieter as people joining would jump into the first tram. I was rewarded with my espresso filled thinking as many others did indeed jump on the first tram. Once again my Lisboa Card got me free access to the tram ride and excited to see the sights we set off into the mist. In fact it was so misty it was a struggle to see the buildings on the other side of the road!
The tram worked its way around the city, up to the castle which was shrouded in a misty layer giving it a slightly spooky vibe, on past the cathedral and back down to the commerce square. I hopped off the tram in the Baxia area of Lisbon and as the mist had started to lift I decided to walk back to the castle up on the hill. By this time I had just begun to feel more human. The castle had fantastic views over the city and Rio Tajo. Problem was the mist had not lifted as much as I had though and I could barely see a thing! I decided to wander around the castle grounds and back to the view point later to give it time to lift. Again I entered for a reduced price with my Lisboa card, seriously if you are going to Lisbon, get one! The Castelo de Sao Jorge was a joy to explore with evidence of a settlement there dating back to 1st Century BC. I was also treated to a group of Peacocks wandering around the grounds, and a few up the trees! Follow the link to find out more https://castelodesaojorge.pt/
After my fill of the castle I returned to the view point and was somewhat disappointed to see the mist had worsened again. I decided it was time for another coffee and some paracetamol to keep me going. Heading to the little hut I grabbed a coffee and some water along with a Pastéis de Bacalhau, or Cod fritter to you and me, which is one of Lisbon’s many famous food specialties and was a rather nice snack. The mist persisted and I decided it was time to move on as I still had far too much to do! Wandering off the hill I jumped in to a couple of shops to get gifts for the wife, the lucky blog reader and of course myself. On the way I stopped by the Cathedral which was about the same time the paracetamol has kicked in. A quick wander round and I was off again and in need of a phone charge and a lie down. Until this point though I has only eaten the Pastéis de Bacalhau and was informed by my stomach it wanted something a bit more substantial.
I was soon back at Martim Moniz square and found somewhere to grab some food. This time it was a Bifana, or Pork roll. Now this was living. If I could eat Bifana every day without the obvious health implications I really would, it was delightful. I got back to my hostel and without Snore-a-saurus I sat, charged the phone, relaxed and wrote my letter to the lucky competition winner! Soon I was off again heading to CTT, the Portuguese post office, to post the letter and some postcards I had purchased. This turned out to be harder than I thought as I tried to explain the letter was going to the UK and I clarified that I had purchased the right stamps with three people and which postbox I needed to place it into. Needless to say three months later, the letter has still not arrived, which has been very disappointing, they were nice postcards after all! After the 20 minute discussion regarding post that would never arrive I grabbed some more paracetamol as the stores were running low and walked to the Rua Augusta Arch at the commerce square.
Now I’m a pretty observant person though I could not for the life of me find the entrance to the arch. In the end I asked a friendly gentleman in a suit who looked somewhat important where the entrance was and he kindly directed me. It was in fact not that hard too find, therefore I blame my cold. With my trusty Lisboa card I headed up the arch for some great views over looking the Commerce Square and down the Rua Augusta. After getting my fill of the view I resolved to keep going through with all that I had planned for the day. I often do not plan my trips and see where I end up, though I had planned this trip and a cold wasn’t going to stop me! In hindsight I really should have planned less.
Leaving the arch I headed to the bus stop to catch the 728 to the Jerónimos Monastery. https://www.jeronimosmonastery.com/ Now the buses in Lisbon are like nothing I have ever experienced. Crammed in like sardines feels like an understatement and to those that I was stood next to, sniffling and looking like I was knocking on heavens door, I can only apologise. After the short ride we arrived and once again, I used my Lisboa Card to get free access to the Monastery. The church to the right was undergoing refurbishment which was a shame though I was able to still see the tomb of Vasco de Gama, a fellow wanderer one could say.
I proceeded to head round the cloisters of the monastery which was fantastic and my first experience of a two tiered cloister! Soon it was time to head off to the famous Belém Tower and I did exactly that. https://www.historyhit.com/locations/belem-tower/ I had not intended to go into the tower itself so I simply walked around it and took it all in with the many other people. On the way I had passed the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries) and returned to get some more pictures as the next destination was on the books. Yes I really did over fill my trip, yes I really did regret this considering I was so ill, no I did not pass anything I planned up, yes this was stupid.
I walked down to the MAAT (Museum of Art and Technology) as you can get onto the roof for free and from there have some fantastic views of the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge, Portugal’s answer to the Golden Gate Bridge. On the other side of the river was the Christ the King statue, Portugal’s answer to Rio’s Christ the Redeemer. It was at this point whilst taking in the fantastic view the MAAT had to offer I realised I forgot to get a Pastel de Nata, or Pastel de Belém to be precise, at the monstary, which was in fact its birth place! I resolved to head back the next day as I could not fathom walking back at this point and I was in desperate need for some more substantial food.
After many pictures I headed to the LX Factory, an area with many shops and restaurants that I had been interested to see. On my arrival I decided to eat there and settled down under the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge with a large beer and some food, which for the life of me I cannot remember what it was! After food I popped into a rather large book shop on the site and after a good look around I decided it was time to call it a day. Grabbing the 732 back to the city center I walked up to the hostel, and settled in for the evening. It was then that I met my two new room mates, Algeria and Costa Rica, I’d be lying if I said I could remember their names as at this point I was a shadow of my self barely conscious. I did however, warn them about Snore-a-saurus, which was a good idea as Costa Rica would find out that night. Once again though, that’s for next time. Até logo.
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