Lisbon - Monday and Tuesday

We're loving Lisbon. After two days in the excessive high-90s to 100 degree heat in Madrid and a long overnight train ride that felt like a trans-continental fight through continuous turbulence in an old prop-driven DC-6 with at least one stop in every state along the way, the cooler weather and laid-back atmosphere of Lisbon feels like a slice of heaven. What a wonderful city!

We arrived Sunday morning -- too early to check into our hotel, but they let us store our backpacks while we went out to do an initial exploration of the nearby neighborhood. We're staying in a studio apartment/hostel in the Baixa (pronounced "Bye-sha") area of Lisbon, a great location within easy walking distance of many of the popular attractions.

We spent Monday on a tram tour so Jeanette was able to limit walking. After a complete circuit on the hop-on/hop-off trolley, our first stop was at the Porto del Sol, a plaza on the back side of one of the city's major hills which overlooks the Rio Teja. After lunch at the plaza, it was a short walk down through the narrow streets to the Cathedral. The first yellow arrow for those starting the Camino Portugues from Lisbon is painted on the corner of this ancient and historic church.


View from the Puerto do Sol.

We then hopped back on the tram for a quick ride back across town to the Igreja de Estella, another historic church atop one of the many hills of Lisbon. We climbed 112 steps up a winding spiral stair to the roof of the church for a spectacular view of the city stretching in all directions below.

Leaving the church, we crossed the street and strolled through a beautiful park that felt almost like a botanical garden. Afterward, a short tram ride bought us back to the Baixa neighborhood, where we stopped for gelato before returning to our apartment for a shower and nap before dinner.


City view from roof of Igreja de Estrella.

This morning we were up early and made our way up to the castle of St George, an imposing medieval stone fortress that overlooks the city from the steep eastern hill. To reach the castle, we wandered through the narrow streets and a couple of public elevators. After a couple of hours of exploring the castle ramparts and photographing the cityscape in the morning light, we made our way down to the dock on the Rio Teja for a river tour that took us down the river to the Belem district, where we spent the better part of the afternoon wandering around the Monesterio Sao Jeronimo. All that made for a long and tiring day, so we decided to pick up a pizza and dine in tonight.


Castle of St George.

Tomorrow is our last day in Portugal, and we'll spend it in the nearby town of Sintra, a "must see" on everyone's list of things to do while here.