It is 7.30am and we just finished breakfast at the Lisbon international airport. That is amazing, considering that our alarm went off at 5.30am. Shower, packing, Uber, luggage check-in, security, and a bathroom break – all this in 1.5 hours; then breakfast! Amazing, everything went as smooth as can be!
Next stop: Miami, Florida
9am: Breakfast at Benard, founded in 1868
10.30am: Haircut at Lisbeata – best head massage ever, great hair stylist (from Brasil)
12pm: Bertrand bookstore, but not any bookstore: the oldest operating bookstore according to the Guiness book of world records
2pm: Museum of Contemporary Art
4pm: Soap bubbles, shoes, and views
4.30pm: Food Tour
7.30pm: Church
If you want to condition for a hike, Lisbon is the perfect playground! If you want to recover from a meniscus surgery, skip physical therapy and visit Lisbon! And if you want to visit an interesting city with lots of history, culture and beautiful architecture, with good restaurants and interesting stores, you definitely have to travel to Lisbon!
On our first day we walked 6.6 miles, yesterday it was 7.7 miles and today… it should be 8.8 miles?!? I wish I had brought better shoes, but Ted and I share one suitcase, so space was very limited 😬
What I do enjoy while walking is the variety of cobblestone street patterns. Beautiful!
Another interesting detail is the use of tiles on house facades. I’m not sure if this has a functional reason (insulation?) or if it’s pure aesthetics, it is definitely beautiful! Below are my favorite blue tiles (of course)
Aqueduto das Aguas Livres was a recommendation of Armando, my airplane neighbor / teddy bear pilot. It is an aqueduct built in the 18th century, just before the big, devastating earthquake in 1755, that it withstood without bigger damage! When we were in Morocco, that earthquake in Lisbon was mentioned many times to explain destroyed landmarks, mosques, and even whole cities!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81guas_Livres_Aqueduct
Walking down towards the water was long and tiresome, but we were rewarded with a gorgeous sunset – perfect timing
Leaving Germany is always hard, saying good-bye to family and friends, not knowing when we’ll see each other next…..
Landing in Lisboa / Lisbon / Lissabon on the other side is a happy arrival with lots of sun, warm weather and incredible views. My seat neighbor on the flight was an air force pilot with his travel companion teddy bear, who had lots of interesting stories to tell from his job, his own travels and hikes. He gave us lots of interesting recommendations what to do in Lisbon and where to go. Thank you Armando!
This time we stay in a nice small hotel in the old town of Lisboa, with lots of interesting things to do in walking distant. One of which was dinner at a restaurant with Fado music.
We went to Cafe Luso, a “timeless restaurant in cellar & stables of 17th-century palace with local dishes & live fado music.” The food was just food, the music on the other side was very good! A whole evening in a packed full place with music from 8pm until ??? (We left at 11pm, after listening to 5 different singers and they were still going on when we left)
So, what is Fado music? “Fado is the folk music of Lisbon’s rustic neighborhoods. Since the mid-1800s, it’s been the Lisbon blues — mournfully beautiful and haunting ballads about lost sailors, broken hearts, and bittersweet romance. Fado means “fate” — how fate deals with Portugal’s adventurers…and the families they leave behind.”
We don’t understand the texts, but the melodies, the emotions and the beautiful voices of the singers (3 women and 2 men) translated all the unknown words and made this evening very special!