Monday 12 March 2012
We got up early at 7:30 to take full advantage of our second and last day in Lisbon. We had no idea the city was so hilly, and we figured the locals all must have buns of steel from walking them all the time.
We found free parking right near the water, and closer to most of the city's attractions. At a nearby cafe Charles and Dian had coffees and all three of us had the region's famous pastry, pastel de Belem. Although it came with a shaker of cinnamon, Dian asked to have them warmed up and with a shaker of powdered sugar, as per Rick Steves' recommendation. WOW.
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| A passage from Rick Steves' guidebook |
We happened upon a famous shop that sold nothing but canned seafood products in cool old tins. We got some as souvenirs and gifts for friends. From there we wound our way up the hills in search of the castle of St. George. It was so great to see local women hanging up their laundry right next to touristy shops, and it gave a good vibe of the city and its attitude. The people we encountered were a good mixture of the old and the new.
Although we did not enter the castle grounds we treated ourselves to a taste of a famous drink in Lisbon, a cherry liqueur they call ginginha served in a chocolate cup. WOW, said Charles.
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| Photo by Dian |
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| A woman doing her laundry right near the castle walls, who smiled for the camera |
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| Nicole under a grey cloud of scouring pads |
A traditional urinal?
On the way down the hill we stopped in a port shop and had a tasting with a very detailed explanation of the history and aspects of port by expert, Luis. We all learned a heck of a lot, including the fact that port matures excellently after being bottled, and for most varieties the longer you keep it, the better it will taste.
Nicole had to locate the large street art project she had glimpsed, which she recognized involved one of her favorite street artists, Blu (in collaboration with another artist, Os Gemeos). We found it again with her homing pigeon instinct, and she shot it at all angles while Charles searched in vain for a money exchange place to get rid of our Moroccan dirhams.
Dian took a walk around the art-laden building facades, and took a piece of cobblestone that had paint splatter on it from Blu. She gave it to Nicole as a memento, which Nicole loved.
We left Lisbon and navigated through towns like Elvas and, upon Grandmother's recommendation, Evora, a pretty little city with ancient aqueducts and castle walls around unexpected corners. All three of us made shadow puppets on the passing road due to the odd angle of the sun.
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| Blu |
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| Above where Dian took the rock |
Entering the outskirts of Badajos we pulled into a rather seedy looking gas station to see where we could stay, and parked under an awning. Nicole asked quietly, "Can we fit under this?" None of us had thought about the height of our car and the low awning until after we were almost through pulling in. Getting out, we saw we had but 2 INCHES to spare from hitting a metal pole. Yikes! We took this as an omen to leave, and finally decided upon a train station that had nice bathrooms and a cafe nearby.
Not wanting to call attention to ourselves, we pulled all the shades and made beans and eggs, which Nicole had been craving intensely. She dutifully mashed all the black beans into a smooth consistency. Charles walked around the town's main street, got some more credit on our Spanish phone, but reported that there was a strange, very long street with families about but really nothing open, not the kind of lively night life we'd gotten used to in Spain.
We happened upon a famous shop that sold nothing but canned seafood products in cool old tins. We got some as souvenirs and gifts for friends. From there we wound our way up the hills in search of the castle of St. George. It was so great to see local women hanging up their laundry right next to touristy shops, and it gave a good vibe of the city and its attitude. The people we encountered were a good mixture of the old and the new.
Although we did not enter the castle grounds we treated ourselves to a taste of a famous drink in Lisbon, a cherry liqueur they call ginginha served in a chocolate cup. WOW, said Charles.
On the way down the hill we stopped in a port shop and had a tasting with a very detailed explanation of the history and aspects of port by expert, Luis. We all learned a heck of a lot, including the fact that port matures excellently after being bottled, and for most varieties the longer you keep it, the better it will taste.
We got up early at 7:30 to take full advantage of our second and last day in Lisbon. We had no idea the city was so hilly, and we figured the locals all must have buns of steel from walking them all the time.
A traditional urinal?
Nicole had to locate the large street art project she had glimpsed, which she recognized involved one of her favorite street artists, Blu (in collaboration with another artist, Os Gemeos). We found it again with her homing pigeon instinct, and she shot it at all angles while Charles searched in vain for a money exchange place to get rid of our Moroccan dirhams.
Entering the outskirts of Badajos we pulled into a rather seedy looking gas station to see where we could stay, and parked under an awning. Nicole asked quietly, "Can we fit under this?" None of us had thought about the height of our car and the low awning until after we were almost through pulling in. Getting out, we saw we had but 2 INCHES to spare from hitting a metal pole. Yikes! We took this as an omen to leave, and finally decided upon a train station that had nice bathrooms and a cafe nearby.
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