I was up about 5:30, sitting in the room typing at 7:00 when I heard a car outside our balcony go fast, around the corner, stop, and then some loud shouting.
I jumped up and looked up towards the Ambassador’s Residence.
A police car was surrounded by guys with guns, shouting. Wanting to know what it was doing there?
A police car.
I guess you need an advance invitation to zoom up the street.
The Danish Embassy is right across the street, several others are further on. I wonder how they manage to get in and out?
Later, I watch a policeman materialize out of a doorway and push on a slow group of tourists.
Any time a car enters the street you can see a slight shifting of the shadows around each doorway, for when you look the street appears empty, but people materialize instantly.
At 8:00 the cathedral up the hill from us starts to ring the bells, and wakes Gail. As she showers, I go down to drink coffee in the garden.
We had a really nice, customized breakfast, and I even got muesli and yogurt. And, bonus! The coffee is great.
While I am not happy about the guesthouse screw up, I have to say we were placed in a great B&B. You can read the reviews here, and I would say that I could stay here the entire time.
But it is time to move to the other guesthouse, The House.
So we slowly repack our stuff, drop the key, and they call a cab to take us over. We aren’t paying for this cab, they are trying to be accommodating, but honestly I have a chip on my shoulder about this that weighs ten tons.
The House is in a nondescript building over a few blocks, right by the base of the cathedral that we walked past yesterday. We are greeted by Pedro, he pays the cab and carries Gail’s suitcase in.
“Is that all?” he asks, then, “Where are the rest of your things?”
He is the third host in a row who has been very impressed by, and commented on how light we are traveling, especially for such an extended period of time. The guesthouse is empty, it is being cleaned, our room will be ready in a couple hours. Do we need anything?
“No, thanks.” We got a good idea of the city yesterday, I already know just from looking around exactly where we are, and so we set out again to walk the streets.
We take the familiar route up to Rato, but then as soon as we branch off onto one new street, we are into a totally different area of town, seeing new things.
Lisbon is pretty big, especially in comparison to Porto. It is not as steep, but there are funiculars everywhere, and these big elevators that take you straight up, in the center of the city, to an elevated walkway that connects across rooftops and over to the edge of the upper part of town. These things cost about €3 or €4 to ride, which is a waste considering that you can take a taxi and just ride up and be deposited right where you want for about €4 to €8
So, when we decide to head out of town to Belém, instead of taking the tram or train, we grab a taxi. In less than ten euro we are there, no waiting.
Belém is at the mouth of the River Tejo where it empties into the Atlantic, so it is the last spot the Portuguese sailors saw as they left, the first sight of land when they returned. They have built a fancy “tower” or little fortress there, along with the old lighthouse and a cool monument dedicated to the discoverers and adventurers who brought so many riches back in the old days. Vasco da Gama, Magellan, Gil Eanes (who made it first around the Western Sahara)… they are all here, along with representations of the people who built the ships, backed them and helped. Unfortunately, the monument is shrouded in scaffolds and canvas as it is refurbished. See my photo, and one I googled of how it looks, below.
There were gross looking jellyfish floating in the harbor, and schools of what look like trout feeding, with smaller, silver masses of minnows swirling like a storm around them.
Across the point where the river mouth narrows, before it widens out into a bay, is their version of the Golden Gate Bridge. At the far end of the span, up on a hill, Jesus has landed and stands with his arms open wide, just like in Rio.
If you don't look too hard, Lisboa can remind you of San Francisco in the bridge, the trolleys, and some of the buildings.
There is also a huge monastery and church in Belém, and we went in to see the rather plain and stark church, and the tomb of Vasco da Gama. He is the real big shot around here.
We had planned to walk back along the river into Lisbon, but I am not feeling the greatest today, so we catch another taxi and after being dropped off in the maze, find our way up to a roof top terrace for a wine and water break. Perhaps it is the sitting, or perhaps it is the wine, but soon my stomach is settled, and so we head back out into the streets.
The Lisboa airport is not far out of town, and I hate that. All day long, at the oddest times, a jet will fly overhead, and it reminds me that time is passing, that our days here are limited.
I love flying away to places, but right now it is a sad sound.
Eventually we find our way back to The House, and Pedro takes up up to our room. It is a big room, we have a private terrace with fantastic view over the city, and the rooftop terrace (the stairs are just outside our door) is even better. The private bathroom is a separate room, and it is all OK, but honestly, after the modern and classy place we just came from, it seems shabby in comparison. Just old and tired. Plus there is that chip on my shoulder.
See, had we not stayed somewhere else, we’d probably be just fine here, happy with the view and all. But now that we have a comparison…
So, we are thinking, how to make the best of this? And it seems that the real "high point" of the place is, in fact, the high point… the terrace. So we decide to have an early dinner, buy a bottle of wine, and bring it back to drink here on the rooftop, watching the moon rise over the river, and the lights come on in the city below.
We end up eating at El Tomate, a new, kind of modern little restaurant/bar where we have an unusual hamburger, and the amazing homemade, hand cut perfectly crispy and not burned potato chips (How did the cook cut those by hand?). It was so good I ended up getting another little roast beef and sausage and cheese sandwich with tomato sauce, and Gail got a cheese and tomato sandwich as well.
On our way out we walked through the park, where a big Jazz Festival was going on. We stood and listened to the music a while.
At the corner market we picked up a bottle of wine, went up on the terrace, and did, in fact watch the full moon rise and the lights come on below.