Leaving hot Sevilla behind, Friday morning saw us heading west into Portugal.
Not particularly a scenic route we arrived at Faro, Portugal, on the coast, at around lunchtime.
Lunch was OK, we heard our first spoken Portuguese and were surprised at how different to Spanish it was and we headed back onto the motorway for Lisbon. The Algarve coast is very picturesque and we were disappointed not to have had more time to explore it further but that will be for another time.
Trusty Yvonne had little trouble navigating Lisbon’s streets and without too much trouble we were unloading outside our apartment in Rua Garrett.
The view from the balconies was stunning and we had to tear ourselves away to find the local supermarket and stock up with provisions including pizzas for an easy first night meal.
The location was akin to staying in Rundle Street I guess – perfect during the day and challenging to say the least on a Friday night as we were to find out a few hours later! Double glazed windows and shutters could not drown out the piano accordion player who knew only one tune.
The next day however, all was forgiven as we explored gorgeous Lisbon (well almost all, we were a bit weary.)
We went to explore the square at the waterfront to find that it had been transformed for the Mega Pic Nic – what appeared to be an exposition on Portuguese produce and custom. There were black Iberian pigs, sunflowers, salted cod (lots of salted cod!) goats, honey etc etc.
My favorite of course was the group of six horses and riders who escorted a bull through the square with nothing but the horses and two big sticks for guidance.
Dragging ourselves away we eventually found the famous yellow Tram 28 which rattles its way around Lisbon along a perfect sight seeing route along impossibly narrow roads – the wood panelled interior exuding olde world charm and nostalgia.
These trams are amazing ,some of the steep streets they climb defy description!
Lisbon’s Castelo Sao Jorge (St. George Castle) provided a great viewpoint, we could even see our apartment from the mirador.
What also became obvious was that we had arrived in the middle of the sardine festival!
This is a two month festival where the sardine rules – grilled sardines available on almost every street corner and restaurant.
Riding the tram is the best way to see the city of ‘Seven Hills’ and provided many photo ops.
The other unique feature of Lisbon’s (or Portugals) architecture is the use of tiles. The facade of many buildings were covered in ceramic tiles, some bright and obviously restored, others dingy and ancient.
Even the pavements are interesting
Sight seeing in Lisbon kept us busy for many hours as we discovered Vasco da Gama’s resting place….
and the famous Santa Justa Elevator, an elevator that transports customers 45 metres ( seven stories) from one suburb to another in very hilly Lisbon. The architect was a colleague of Gustave Eiffel…
not bad value for a few euros said my aching knees and feet,
and great views from the top!
The venue for dinner on Tuesday night was important – Portugal were playing the Netherlands and we decided to head to a ‘happening bar’ to partake of the atmosphere…
Sam thought he had seen an Irish bar that would fit the bill and we wandered fruitlessly until we heard a loud cheer and found a small eatery in a less than obvious spot. Unsure, we looked in the door and were warmly welcomed by what appeared to be the manager of the restaurant eating with family and friends. A table was quickly set up for us, a round of drinks served (on the house we found after) and Russell and I were furnished with Portugal scarf and hat respectively to watch the game. It turned out to be very exciting (not for the Danish couple who came in later and needed Portugal and Germany to lose for Denmark to advance.)
So, Portugal won! With five minutes to go our hosts were uncorking the champers and pouring a glass for everyone and when time was called there was much celebrating!
A great way to end the day, we stumbled back to the apartment through celebrating locals and slept rather well!