Playing tour guide with friends
25 Sep Leisurely afternoon in Cascais: Day 1
We met our friends at the airport in the morning and took a Bolt rideshare to our apartment in Caxias. They took a couple of hours of rest to help with jetlag.
Since we live right along the Cascais train line, it’s an easy trip to that famous resort town from our neighborhood of Caxias. (People confuse the two, so I’m mentioning both towns together.) So we all went by train to Cascais and had lunch at the terrace above Praia de Rainha. After that we visited Cork4All, a handicraft store with elegant cork handbags and pillow covers. (We already have 4 pillow covers, and have given them as gifts.) Our friend got a handbag that she used throughout the trip.
We walked to the harbor, through the fort and the public park, which was populated by fancy chickens. We reached the scenic rocky shore on the west side of town. We walked back through town and had dinner at House of Wonders, a quirky vegetarian restaurant.
26 Sep Belém and Downtown Lisboa: Day 2
Morning
This morning was Belém – Belém tower and the Discoveries monument. We skipped the Jeronimos Monastery because the line was so long. We visited Pasteis de Belém to have pasteis de nata, the famous pastry. You can get the pastel everywhere in Portugal, but this is the original. ( Grammar note: pasteis is the plural of pastel.) There was a line to eat in at the cafe, as usual, so we got them in the takeout section and ate them in the park. Freshmade pasteis de nata are divine!
We took a city bus along the riverfront to Cais de Sodré, a central hub for train, metro, and ferries and the end of our suburban train line. Some of us wanted sweets and others savory, so the sweets-lovers got gelado at TimeOut Market across the street. Then we got a hummus-and-veggies plate across the plaza at Honest Greens. With all the snacking, no real lunch happened.
Then we walked along the shore of the Tejo river to Praça do Comércio. (In English, the river is called the Tagus, but I like to use the Portuguese name.) The walkway led past an artist and his gigantic sand sculptures. Another folk artist there makes statues of painted rocks, balancing them like cairns on a hiking trail.
The expansive Praça do Comércio beside the river is grand. It is a wide-open plaza facing the river. Big events happen there, like outdoor concerts and fireworks for New Year’s and Dia da Liberdade on April 25.
Overlooking the Praça is the Arco de Rua Augusta, an imposing gateway into the city center. It was built to celebrate the revival of Lisboa after the 1755 earthquake. You can climb stairs to the top for about 4 euros. We went up to see the great view and get up close to the huge statues of Glory, Valor, and Genius personified. From there, we walked inland to Rossio and Restauradores squares.
Gallery of pictures for this day
Walking tour at 4pm
Previously we had booked a free walking tour of the Lisboa city center. It met at the obelisk in Restauradores, but I got confused and thought it was at Rossio. We were almost late, so we hoofed it to the next square and found the large group. They divided the group by language and our tour ended up being about 30 people. Kate, the tour guide, was excellent and had great historical anecdotes and local lore. The “free” aspect means you give the guide an amount of your choosing at the end of the tour.
The tour covered:
- Restauradores square
- Rossio square and its train station, including the statue of the disappeared King Sebastian, lost in battle too young
- Igreja de São Domingos, site of a massacre in 1506 against Jews, damaged in earthquakes and gutted by fire, restored and reopened in 1994 but with some of its damage intentionally left unrepaired
- A look at the Santa Justa elevator, then we walked up the stairs beside it – better than waiting in the line of tourists
- City views from the platform at the top of Santa Justa near the ruins of the Carmo Convent and church
- Igreja de São Roque, which houses the 18th-century John the Baptist chapel, decorated with precious stones; it was built in Rome and shipped to Portugal
- Praça de Camões, with a statue of the famous 16th-century poet, Portugal’s analog to Shakespeare
- Narrow streets of Bairro Alto, which is the center of Lisboa nightlife
We had dinner at Bomjardim, near Praça dos Restauradores. They have a specialty of roasted chicken. It was hard to find. Google directions said to go into an uninviting alley, and we had doubts. However, at the end, around the corner, we found a lively enclave of restaurants.
Afterward, we passed booths selling Ginginha, a delicious cherry liqueur, sometimes served in chocolate cups. We sampled at a couple of shops. I think the lively night action was in Praça da Figueira, next to Rossio.