Off to Lisbon today! We took out time getting ready in the morning and then went off to the bus station and four hours later we were in the capital of Portugal. Fernando was kind enough to pick us up at the bus station and took us back to his place. In the drive he gave us a mini tour of the city as we passed by! Once we got to his apartment we dropped off our things and went to his favourite restaurant for lunch. Now since we are outside of the city, we are able to see Lisbon as a true local. That was defiantly the case with the restaurant. Apparently people tend to view lunch as the biggest mea, of the day and as a time to socialize. So there were tables with families and friends that were enjoying one another’s company with lots of food. Andrea and I opted for Pregos, for the perfect lunch. We went traditional and had a Prego consisting of grilled steak, garlic seasoning in a freshly baked Portuguese bun.
Afterwards we got a full tour of the neighbourhood and of the place. Andrea and I then made our way to the centre. We walked conveniently by many shoe stores and did only window shopping, I promise! We then made our way to walking tour. It was the smallest that we have done yet, just five of us in total. We began the tour going around then main square and getting acquainted with the history of Lisbon. Something I never knew beforehand was that there was a massive earthquake followed by a tsunami and the fires in 1755 that not only killed a third of the population but also destroyed the majority of infrastructure in all of Lisbon. However although they were beaten down the people they resilient and rebuilt the city. Something that I found very interesting it that on the ground of main plaza the floor in comprised of tiles which form a wave pattern, this is to remembered the tsunami and destructive nature disasters that occurred. We then walked past what looked like an ordinary building, but it was actually a castle, but today is a restaurant. When we went inside and the details were absolutely stunning. It was very much Morrish inspired with all the intricate patterns. We then went walks to the area where Fado began. The most basic description in that Fado is very passionate and emotional singing and usually occurs in restaurants, but to the people it means so much more. Now was the difficult part of the tour, walking up the HUGE and STEEP hill. Now I was pleased to see that the tour guide struggled as well,as least it just wasn’t me!l From the top we towered above the Sao Jorge Castle, see the river, out to the ocean, the 25 of April Bridge and the entire city. Well worth the climb!
After the tour we made our way back to Fernando’s but not before stopping off at Columbo Mall. It was huge and super modern, similar to the mall in Kraków. By the time we finished wandering around we grabbed a bite to eat and continued on the rest of the way back to the comfort of our beds,