Portugal Trip - An Evening in Lisbon

At 3:00 we left our pool chairs in Cascais and headed back to the airport, dropped off our rental car and met up with Scott and Elisha. We headed into the city to find our apartment — which ended up being quite the process with all the one way streets all over the hillside. We found the rental office to get our keys, and then went in search of a parking garage where we could store the car for our duration in Lisbon. More driving in circles — but we found a good one and then pulled our luggage behind us on the cobbled stone as we made our way to our 2 bedroom apartment.

It was a nice apartment and very European — small bathroom, closed off kitchen, two bedrooms and then a large living room with windows looking onto the streets below.

(Right) Scott and Elisha on our street waiting for our Uber.

We got ready for the evening and took an Uber to the top of the Lisbon castle to walk around. We wandered through some streets and then decided to get dinner at a restaurant with tables out on the square. Scott, excited about ordering a traditional Portuguese dish, decide on cod, which came with white lentils and spinach on the side. He didn’t love it. Chris got turkey and fries, which he said was ok, but Elisha and I got chicken and potatoes and we both really liked it! Our drama with Portuguese food begins.

After dinner we walked to a viewpoint and then continued to walk through the Alfama area’s crooked and worn streets down the hillside — pictured in the shot below. Such an interesting area.

Alfma - the colorful sailor’s quarter that dates back to the age of Visigoth occupation. This was a bustling district during the Moorish period, and eventually became the home of Lisbon’s fishermen and mariners. Alfma’s urban-jungle roads are squeezed into confusing alleys - the labyrinthine street plan was designed to frustrate invaders. What was defensive then is atmospheric now. Bent houses comfort each other in their romantic shabbiness and the air drops with laundry and the smell of clams. Traditionally the neighborhood here was tightly knit, with families routinely sitting down to communal dinners in the streets. Feuds, friendships, and gossip were all intense. Alfama’s tangled street plan helps make the neighborhood a cobbled playground of Old World color. - Rick Steves

It was too dark to really take great pictures but it was such a fascinating area. Loved the homes build together in such disarray. It was fun to randomly decide which way to turn as we made our way to the bottom of the hill. One of the fun parts of this walk was hearing the loud traditional Portuguese music - called ‘FADO’ - coming out of some of the restaurants. Oh boy. Glad we were just walking by. Haha Exhausted we shared an Uber back home. It’s going to be a great week!