Monday October 6 -- Lisbon
The Tivoli Lisboa has a great breakfast buffet, which we all enjoyed to the fullest. We linked up with the Grants, who were the last to arrive last night. They'd enjoyed Barcelona, but like us, they vow never again to fly AC Rouge. Not an airline to spend time with. Our flights home appear not to be Rouge, so we're optimistic.
Our driver and guide picked us up at 9 for a half-day tour of the city. Our reaction: Lisboa e lina, Portugal e un pais lindo.
(I apologize for the missing accents, can't make this laptop do them.) We saw many parts of the city, and heard some of its colourful history, walked in the old area of Alfama,
visited the Belem Tower (a defensive and trade tower from centuries past on the waterfront),
as well as the Monument to the Discoveries. It was all a reminder of long-ago history classes when we heard the romantic stories of Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, Henry the Navigator and so many others with connections to Portugal.
A monument at one of the highest points in the city commemorates the end of Salazar's dictatorship and the return to democracy in Portugal.
We saw evidence of the reconstruction after the big earthquake of 1755 and admired beautiful tiles on many walls. The tour ended with the to-die-for custard tarts from Casa Pasteis de Belem.
Alexandra was one of the best tour guides we've met anywhere.
Larry and I decided to walk to the El Corte Ingles that we kept hearing about -- a super-department store the size of most shopping malls. It was a very long, uphill walk, back to the high point from which we'd viewed the city earlier, then a few more blocks.
Once there we found him some new shoes (desert boots, in fact -- talk about a throw-back) and a couple bottles of wine. The long downhill walk from the monument to the end of dictatorship, to the main roundabout featured some great views of the city, under lovely shady trees. The sidewalks and many of the streets are cobbled, with designs in darker cobbles, making for somewhat uneven walking, but oh so pretty.
Another lively "hall" party -- 15 chatting and laughing people in 1 hotel room, drinking wine and beer and nibbling on an array of snacks.
Dinner was at a local seafood place, where we really enjoyed the food, but felt we'd been "had" on the bill.
We had heard about the wonderful views from the roof of our hotel, so went there for drinks and to enjoy the lights and nearly-full moon. Four of us shared a large jug of sangria. When it started to rain, we called it a night. [ Click "Older Posts" below to continue ]
Link to All Photos for 6 October
The Tivoli Lisboa has a great breakfast buffet, which we all enjoyed to the fullest. We linked up with the Grants, who were the last to arrive last night. They'd enjoyed Barcelona, but like us, they vow never again to fly AC Rouge. Not an airline to spend time with. Our flights home appear not to be Rouge, so we're optimistic.
Our driver and guide picked us up at 9 for a half-day tour of the city. Our reaction: Lisboa e lina, Portugal e un pais lindo.
We saw evidence of the reconstruction after the big earthquake of 1755 and admired beautiful tiles on many walls. The tour ended with the to-die-for custard tarts from Casa Pasteis de Belem.
Larry and I decided to walk to the El Corte Ingles that we kept hearing about -- a super-department store the size of most shopping malls. It was a very long, uphill walk, back to the high point from which we'd viewed the city earlier, then a few more blocks.
Another lively "hall" party -- 15 chatting and laughing people in 1 hotel room, drinking wine and beer and nibbling on an array of snacks.
We had heard about the wonderful views from the roof of our hotel, so went there for drinks and to enjoy the lights and nearly-full moon. Four of us shared a large jug of sangria. When it started to rain, we called it a night. [ Click "Older Posts" below to continue ]
Link to All Photos for 6 October
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