We headed to Baixa first thing today. It is the old central shopping district with long narrow cobbled streets of seemingly endless shops and café’s.
We have determined that just about everyone has a café or pastelaria of some sort on nearly every block in town. Makes it nice when it’s time to get something to eat.
We wakled up and down the area of Baixa taking pictures and enjoying the view. Out at the end of Rua Agusta, there is a big statue and building open to the waterfront and port. For 10 euro you could rent a Segway for 20 minutes. For 30 euro you could rent a "golf cart" for an hour to get you around the area.
We climbed on one of the cable cars to go to the Castle of St George, but ended up going in the wrong direction. Which is OK. We have discovered that getting lost, or going the wrong way often leads to things you would not have otherwise seen.
So we rode the cable car out past the Basilica Estrela, the Assembly House and to the Prazeres Cemetery. When we got to the end of the line, we had to get off and pay to get back on. The trolly then headed back where it came from and we finally got to the castle.
The castle is built up on a hill overlooking all of Lisboa. Even after riding the trolly up the hill, there was still a lot of walking to do to get up to the castle.
It was originally built in the 6th century and was used by the Moors. Near 1100 it was seized by the Portuguese and was used regularly until the 1700 when most of the area was destroyed by an earthquake.
It is really large and was very interesting to walk through and climb the towers.
The views were fantastic in all directions
We stopped at a small café and had some lunch then walked our way through Alfama. This is the oldest continuously inhabited area of Lisboa the is houses and buildings packed in next to each other with narrow winding alleys and streets, most of which are too narrow for a car.
Lots of steps and hills. Very interesting. It was built this way originally as a defense because it is much like a maze and very easy to get lost.
As we came out of Alfama to the waterfront it began to rain. Lightly at first, but soon we experienced a downpour and got a thorough soaking. We had two small umbrellas, but they only provided limited protection. We made a couple of stops at shops and then headed for the Metro back to our rooms for some much needed rest.
A trip back to the restaurant area of downtown for some gelato at FinziContini.
A small ice cream shop that Elyse and Paul had frequented when they were here a few weeks ago. She had taken a picture of the waiters and e-mailed it to me prior to our departure. I made copies and we took them to the shop and gave them to the waiters. They were very happy to see us and remembered Elyse and Paul and commented on how friendly and fun they were. We then walked along restaurant row and found a nice place to eat. Annette and Ty and I shared grilled salmon and grilled swordfish. Tyler was pretty excited to eat swordfish, and it was actually better than the salmon.
From there, Chris, Jena and Tyler headed back to the hotel and Chris and I headed for the Lisboa Marriott to attend the Benfica Rotary Club Meeting. We rode the Metro to a stop that, on the map, appeared to be quite close to the Marriott. By now it was about 8:30 and dark. When we got off the metro, we were in a quiet part of town with very little commercial business. But, as always, there was a small café nearby and one of the waiters walked us out and gave us directions to the Marriott. About 8 blocks away, across the main highway.
After heading up the wrong street, dark, narrow and a dead end, we finally found the right street and eventually the Marriott. The meeting was interesting. All in Portuguese, of course. I was given a few minutes to present them with one of our club flags and some Peach Days pins and to tell them a little about us, Brigham City and our trip. We had an enjoyable time. We were given a ride back to the hotel by one of the Rotarians and made it back about 10:30. It was interesting to have just about everyone we talked to suggest some place we "had to see" while we are here…. Luckily we have seen most or will see most of their suggested venues.
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