Day 2 in Lisbon

Monday 26 January 

A leisurely morning at home sipping coffee and have a light breakfast of bread and cheese. We eventually roused ourselves and made our way the three blocks or so to the Praça Comercio and around the Lisbon waterfront. 

From there we walked under the Arch up rua do Augusta to rua do Santa Justa then past the non-functioning elevator to the Nespresso store to stock up on some pods for our morning coffee. We headed down to the Baixa-Chiado Metro stop to get our 24-hour Metro tickets and then home to collect our wits.

It's great that our AirBnB is very centrally located so its easy to be in and out as needed, particularly with the uncertain weather patterns.

rua do Augusta

Metro entrance off our street

We soon headed back out to explore more of our neighborhood, walking the 2 minutes back to the Metro, taking the Blue Line to Restaurdores. We had hoped to take the funicular up to the Bairro Alto but it was temporarily closed. So we strolled down to the Rossio train station (local lines to Sintra, etc.) and soaked in the various wonders of local architecture. 

example of a mural of tiles typically found in Metro stations

praça dos Restauradores

Rossio train station

And where else but in Lisbon can you find a shop dedicated to selling just tinned Sardines!

Along the way we stopped in at a lovely shop selling all sorts of sweets and snacks and picked up some caramelized pistachios, a bag of Marcona almonds, a few chocolates, and jellied fruits (think Chuckles candy but way better). 

lovely selection of caramelized nuts and various sweet treats

caramelization process

We then made our way to the Nat'elier de Nata to savor their Pastes de Nata, the local favorite sweet treat - basically a puff pastry custard filled tart. Susie had a traditional while I thoroughly enjoyed a Pistachio and Dubai chocolate version; all washed down with coffee for me and hot chocolate for the Tarte herself. 

Susie plans to return to this very same location Wednesday for her class in making these lovely bits of Portuguese cuisine while I hope to make my way out to the Prazeres cemetery.

Leaving the pastry shop we walked a block over to get on the no. 12 trolley, hoping to ride it around the city to do some simple sightseeing. We waited and waited - no No. 12 - and eventually found ourselves getting aboard the no. 15 tram for reasons that continue to confound both of us. We rode the tram for a short ways before alighting at the Praça Comércio and walked back to our apartment. 

But aha! Just short of our building we noted a trolley stop for both the no. 28 and 12 so we thought what the heck we'll wait for the 12 here. The no. 28 came, stopped and moved on, soon followed by the no. 12 which just whizzed right on by leaving several of us (clearly) tourists dumbfounded. We threw in the towel for the day and went home.

We relaxed at home before heading out for dinner at our pre-arranged Air BnB experience. 

About 6:30 pm we left the apartment and walked up to the Metro. We took the Green Line to Anjos and walked a block-and-a-half to our venue for dinner, the Ambiente Hostel at Avenida Almirante Reis 86. The elevator wasn't cooperating so we hiked up three flights to the Hostel spaces where we were met by our host Mateus. 

The eight other guests were already seated and we were soon in the thick of everyone sharing their travel experiences so far -- the woman sitting next to Susan was heading back home to Houston, having delayed her return a day or two due to the weather. The woman across from her was Australian, traveling solo, and the couple across from Susan and myself were from Seattle --  we soon learned this was a special trip for the two of them. They wanted a bit of an adventure before she delivers her first child in a couple of months.  

The dinner went well.  The food was lovely, portions perfect and the wines (a red and white) very nice.  But it was the round of conversations that truly made it special: shared concerns of course, but jokes too, all within an atmosphere of total strangers getting to know one another in a mere two-and-a-half hours! It was a wonderful evening. Period.

homemade corn bread with infused butter and Portuguese cheese for starter

roasted chestnut cream soup

codfish and potatoes

marinated pork tenderloin on a bed of puréed corn

rice pudding

A little before 10 pm we all said adeus and each headed off their own separate ways. One of the other guests, the woman from Australia, joined us on our rainy walk to the Metro. Upon reaching the entrance to the Green Line we discovered it had closed at 9:30 pm! A quick question for folks walking by us confirmed that the next entrance a block or so away was open. And so it was. The three us rode until our stop when we said goodbye to a new friend.  

Our Air BnB experiences have all been very positive and this trip was no exception. Tomorrow it's supposed to continue to rain, and we have timed tickets for the cloister at the Jeronimos Monastery.