Tag: Portugal

Our last full day in Portugal. Off to Sintra and Cascais

On By Jim BellomoIn Photography9 Comments

Monday was our last full day in Portugal. I am writing this at 4:08 am on Wednesday, December 6 while sitting in the conference center of the Marriott Hotel in Prague. Yesterday was fly day (we flew TAPAir from Lisboa to Prague) and we are now in the snowy north. This means no report for yesterday unless you want to know about a fairly boring three hour flight.

I regret this is the only picture I took of Miguel. He is an outstanding guide and we highly recommend him.

But back to Monday when we got up early (we were meeting our guide for the day at 8:30 so no pre-dawn walk for me) had our breakfast and were driving away (another Miguel) by 8:20. We had found Miguel through what is becoming our go-to source for tour guides—Tours by Locals. He was wonderful. We jumped in his spacious Ford, and we headed for Sintra, the summer home of Portugal’s kings and queens. Sintra is located just north of Lisboa, about 40 minutes by car, in what passes for mountains in Portugal. But it was here that the kings built their summer palaces and that we would tour that day.

The drive out is a great time for us to get to know Miguel and for him to tell us about himself and Portuguese life in general. We love hearing about what is going on in a country now, as well as picking up the historical highlights. Unlike many of our previous guides in other countries, our Portuguese guides have been very open to discussing their political systems, their current problems with their government and many other topics that most guides won’t touch. We found it very open and refreshing.

Since it was rush hour in Lisboa, Miguel had all kinds of back roads he used to get us to Sintra. He is a Sintra native and has lived there all his life, so he knows all the shortcuts. He had us there and parked in no time. Once there, we got out and walked up a short hill, and he took us to a street that looked to be something only mountain goats would climb. Kathleen looked at it like Mt. Everest, but he said, “No, I just want to take you to the first shop up the hill for a little surprise.” Sure enough, we walked into a bakery that has been open under the same familial ownership since 1862. WHOA! That bakery opened in the middle of our civil war! Amazing. He insisted we try the specialty of the house—”the pillow.” So we couldn’t disappoint him (even though we had just had breakfast about two hours before) and he got us one each with a cappuccino. He described the “pillow” as a sweet roll full of the same egg cream filling as the Pastéis de Belém we had the day before but in the same form as a maple bar back home. And of course, covered in sugar. They were delicious but I could feel my teeth decaying as I took each bite.

After our brief stop at the bakery, we were off to walk around the village of Sintra and then tour the oldest palace in Portugal. This is true because the summer palaces had not been destroyed in the great earthquake/fire/tsunami of 1755. That had destroyed the palaces in Lisboa, and the royalty moved to their summer palaces in Sintra while things were being rebuilt in the city.

I have a lot of photos from this entire day, so I am going to break them up. This first group is from the village of Sintra and the palace itself. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

When we first got out of the car, we were parked next to this Moorish fountain that still works more than 300 years later.
The inlaid tiles are beautiful. Had to do a close up.
The magical village of Sintra.
Off in the distance, their city hall…
…that looks like a fairy tale castle.
The hill on the way to the bakery (which is actually the first shop on the left).
Inside a bakery opened in 1862!!!
The village center in Sintra.
The oldest palace in Portugal.
From the steps of the palace you could see this Moorish castle above.
Inside the castle we found it incredibly well preserved and restored.
This is a close up of the ceiling in the previous photo.
I loved this door.
A Moorish decoration above a door.
The two spires are chimneys for the palace kitchen.
I shot some shots as we walked through to give you a since of the palace.
There was an entire ceiling of magpies in one room.
This incredible bed in another.
And tile everywhere. Truly Portugal is a country of amazing tile work..
I just liked these two. Kind of a surf and turf.
One ceiling was all mermaids.
But most rooms had at least half a wall of tile.
This fountain outside in a garden area still works.
Just like we do at home, they had a collection of plates. Ours are more colorful 😜.
The doorways were decorated like this throughout the palace.
We finally enter what was the throne room and there are literally floor to ceiling tile works.
The ceiling as magnificent.
Miguel explained that the top of the dome represented the king. He was surrounded by his children.
A close up of one of the kids.
Below them were the coat of arms of the different cities in Portugal.
Below that were the different noble families of Portugal.
In a bedroom was this end post on a bed frame. The wood is not painted but is a black wood from Africa. The Portuguese were explorers and traders who found treasures from around the world.
They also did not destroy their past. This Christian crucifix was installed over a Muslim/Moorish scene from years earlier.
The tile patterns were truly unique. This is Escher years before Escher.
In the kitchen, this is the inside of the two spired chimneys.
A smoker
The stoves
More stoves and an oven. All wood burning and the smoke from the fires just went up the funnel spires.
Another elaborate doorway.
Not sure what this sculpture was about.
This was an outdoor shower in the garden. On hot days you could walk into it.
Then water would spray out of the walls…
…through the tiny holes you can see if you look close.
Another view of city hall from the palace.
Of course the palace has its own Christmas Market.
What you see that is blue here is all tile.

I need to mention here that my amazing bride climbed so many stairs to get through that palace. It seemed like they never ended, and like steps built more than 200 years ago, they were all of differing heights and widths. She did it all. I tell you this because when we were through touring this palace, our choice was to go to another palace (The Pena Palace) where there would be even more walking and climbing or heading back to Lisboa via the coast. Miguel did promise me a chance to take photos of the Pena Palace (which he assured me was much more impressive outside than inside) before we headed out of Sintra. For the sake of Kathleen’s knees (that she strained two days before getting into and out of the TukTuk), we chose the coast. But here’s the Pena Palace from the outside. Pretty impressive.

On to Cascais

After seeing the outside of Pena Palace, we headed on some beautiful backroads (where we were pretty much the only car going in any direction) to the coast. As soon as we arrived, we were blown away by the ocean. Yes, I have seen an ocean before, but where the Atlantic meets the European continent with amazing green water waves coming to the shore in one successive wave after another was somehow just mesmerizing. Check out my photos. And do yourself a favor; see them as big as you can. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

Amazing wave sets, coming one after the other.
I have to admit I took more than 100 shots of these waves.
The water was so beautiful.
The ruins of an old fort on the shore only made it more photogenic.
This point in the distance is the furthest western point in continental Europe.
So much beautiful greenish blue water.
Rocks below created…
…an amazing natural water show.
No surfers today.
About an. hour north is Nazare. More about that in the text.
Beautiful beaches.
But empty on a Monday.
We stopped at Boca do Inferno
The mouth of hell—a waterspout where I took about 300 photos waiting for just the right wave.

I knew going in that Portugal had some beautiful coastline but I had no idea it would be this amazing. A little further north is the city of Nazare, where the monster waves (they say they are the largest in the world) are. Check out this video to see what I mean. It is truly both scary and amazing.

After I had worn out my camera battery and filled my camera’s memory card, we hopped back into the car to head for the city of Cascais, which we thought looked a lot like the city of La Jolla in Southern California, just more charming. Here are the shots I took there.

The harbor of Cascais. I love colorful boats.
And colorful flowers. They go all out with the poinsettias for Christmas.
Miguel pointed out the beautiful tile on the city hall but it was mostly covered with Christmas decorations.
But the pavement in the square was a tile pattern made to look like waves.
Which floated right up to this civic building.

Back to Belem

After we had lunch and walked around in Cascais, it was time to head back to Lisboa and our hotel. Our tour had taken most of the day, and we were ready to take a nap. But I still had one set of photos I wanted to take. Granted, it was not the time of day I preferred to take them, but I wanted to try it. And those were in Belem, where we had gone the day before on the HoHo bus. But it was so cold and the sky so flat when we were there I didn’t have the motivation to walk to get the shots. Today, though, was beautiful, so my plan was to get Kathleen back to the hotel to take a nap and then for me to get on the HoHo bus (our passes were still good) and go all the way back to Belem. This would have taken me more than an hour to get out there from the hotel. When I was telling Miguel what I had planned, he said he could easily drop me in Belem, and then I could take the shots I wanted and take the bus back to the city center. This was a marvelous solution, and he was so great to make the offer.

So he dropped me in Belem and took Kathleen back to the hotel so I could shoot photos of two of Lisboa’s most iconic monuments—Padrão dos Descobrimentos and the Belem Tower. The first of these is a monument and tribute to Portuguese explorers over the years. There are a lot of them, and they truly opened up the world. The monument is amazing. It stands almost at the mouth of the Tagus River, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. You will have to see the photos. I did close-ups and overviews. It is a joy to shoot. Then, I moved on to Belem Tower, a monument to Portuguese culture that sits on the river even closer to the Atlantic. Again, you will have to see the photo (that’s all it takes is one) to appreciate why I wanted to go back and shoot it in good weather. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

Padrão dos Descobrimentos
With people for scale.
And now a few closeups from both sides (which are different).
This sculpture is amazing.
And finally, the Belem Tower. Just beautiful and worth the trip.

That about does if for Lisboa and Portugal. We had a really incredible visit and can’t wait to go back…in October. This is definitely one of my favorite cities we have been to. Every part of this stop on our journey worked great. The hotel was wonderful, the people we met were awesome, food was delicious—as always, we ate too much of it. If you get the chance—visit this place. You won’t be sorry.

I like to dream about Portugal, and it’s less easy when you are there.  —Maria de Medeiros

Day 2—HoHo, HoHo, rain, a little fog and Fado

On By Jim BellomoIn Food Experiences, Photography4 Comments

You might notice there are four Hos up in the headline. That’s because today was all about the HoHo (HopOn, HopOff) bus. And there is a lesson to be learned…but we will get to that. Come on along as I tell the story and give you some visual fun as well.

Hop-on, Hop Off

Originally, we had been scheduled to do our food tour on the second day of our trip, but the company called and asked us if we could swap from Sunday to Saturday. We were OK with that, but I think in the end, it wound up costing us some money. Don’t get me wrong, I think it was the right thing to do, but this is where the lesson comes in.

Our original plan on our first full day was to take the HoHo bus around the city. This is something we like to do because it provides an overview of the area, and we learn where we might want to go back and see later. Usually, in cities the size of Lisboa, there are at least two, if not three, routes, and they include some additional stuff with your ticket (discount admission at museums, boat rides, etc.), and in this case, that was true as well. We never had time to use any of that “extra stuff” and we only ended up using the bus for three rides.

I had pre-purchased a 72-hour pass about six months ago based on recommendations from people I trusted. The plan was to use it daily to get around the city. Since we didn’t start using it until the second day, we really lost a day right off the bat. Then, on top of that, we ran into what I am now calling the “running race jinx.” You may recall that when we were in Québec City last October, our day was shaken up by the Québec Marathon being run throughout the city on the only day we were there. We have run into the same thing in at least four other cities, and it happened again. Sunday was the Lisboa Marathon. And even though I considered skipping the touring and doing the race myself 😜, it meant that the HoHo bus could not do one of their two biggest routes…the one we wanted to take first. The one that would take us to the area known as Belem.

Not only that, but the bus company neglected to post a sign at their base/first stop (a block from our hotel) that told us that the stop would not be used until after 1:00 pm. So we stood around waiting for a bus until one of their workers came by and told us to walk to the next stop up a hill.

I have to take part of the blame for not realizing the stop was closed. There was a small sign taped to the bus waiting area that said, “Stop will be closed on 3/12/2023 due to the Lisboa Marathon.” And being a typical American (shame on me), I thought it was an old sign saying the stop had been closed on March 12. But in Europe (and most of the rest of the world), they list the day first when writing a date; the sign actually said it would be closed on the third of December. It dawned on me right about when the worker showed up to tell us to walk to the next stop.

I should also mention that the weather had turned bad for us. Some rain, but it turned a lot colder. So that meant that I felt like I was freezing for most of the day. We hadn’t broken out the heavy sweaters and coats we are saving for Prague and beyond because we thought it would be much more temperate in Lisboa. (Apparently, it is because we found the hotel has no heating system for their rooms. To get heat, you just shut off the air conditioner. The buildings are well-insulated, and they don’t have enough cold days to warrant having heaters.)

When we finally hiked to the other stop, we were informed that the Belem route would not be available until 1:30 pm, so we did what they call the “Modern Lisboa” route. It was very nice, and we learned a lot, but for me there were not a lot of photo opportunities. And because it was so cold, we didn’t go up to the open-air top to sit on the wet seats that had been out in the rain. So, no photos except through windows. I don’t suppose Kathleen was as disappointed as I was, but we both would have liked a warmer bus (on the bottom deck) and a softer seat. Old butts don’t do well with rock-hard seats. That route took almost two hours, so after we got back to the first stop, we walked around the Christmas Markets and we just enjoyed each other’s company. We also stopped back at the hotel because we had been told the stop near the hotel would reopen in the afternoon.

We set out again at 1:30, and sure enough, the stop a block from the hotel was open, and so was the Belem route. We jumped on that bus and did a tour that was more interesting but still not as pretty as the city had been the day before because of the blanket of clouds it was shrouded in. Let me drop in some photos here so you can get an idea of what I am talking about. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

This was the first photo I took from the bus. It is looking down the city to the Taurus River. Flat and boring.
In Belem you find the beautiful monastery of St. Jerome.
Please note how the building looks under cloudy skies.
The façade is amazing.
Very intricate.
Thought I would give you some closeups.
The place to buy the ultimate in Portuguese Custard Tarts.
Heading back to the HoHo stop I had to take a couple more.
Like this one from the other end of the monastery.
But then the sun came out.
And made the MOST amazing difference in the photos.
Back on the HoHo I took these from the upper deck as we drove by.
The same with this one. I will tell you more about this in my next post.
Me being artsy with some black and white.

Pastéis de Belém

Before we go any further, I have to tell you about the BIGGEST reason we came to Belem—Pastéis de Belém. I am pretty sure I mentioned in writing about the food tour that the tiny custard tarts we had eaten to end the tour were from what Fred had told us was “the second best place in Portugal to get them.” Well, Belem is where you find the best. How do I know? A whole lot of people have told me, and the fact that the Pastéis de Belém has been baking them since 1837 in the same exact place.

We had been warned there would be a line for their takeaway window, but if we went to the other side of the building to the sit-down cafe, we could get right in. Even Rick Steves has this in his books. Well, so many people have read his books and seen his videos that now you can get them as takeaways in about 1 minute, but the line for the sit-down cafe was at least a half-hour long. Being late in the day and totally worn out, we decided to skip the sit-down and get them takeaway.  As you can see from Kathleen’s photo, we got them, but we had a REALLY long day getting them. I also might add that we bought two of them. One each. They were truly delicious and were absolutely better than any of the other eight or so we had eaten before this…but be warned. They are 10 euros each for about three bites. Worth it? Not really, except to say that you have eaten a Pastéis de Belém.

After our Pastéis de Belém we were back to the bus stop for a very long wait (it was so long that we considered doing an Uber back to the hotel) the bus showed up, and we headed back. One of the things we didn’t like about the tour to Belem is that you go back on the same route you went out on—nothing new to see here.

So, what’s the moral of the HoHo bus story? Don’t pre-buy 72 hours of touring. You never know what you will have time for. We could have saved some money and lessened our expectations if we had only purchased one day. And there was no discount for purchasing them early, just a warning that you might have to stand in line and wait to buy them. Nothing could have been further from the truth because we were able to get on and off with no line at every stop. It would have taken us about two minutes to buy our passes from the bus driver or one of the workers at the stops. Warning: This may not be true in the high season (March to October) when the crowds are heavier.

Fado Dinner

On the evening of our second full day, we booked a Fado dinner. Fado is the national music of Portugal. It is a sad, mournful music. We had heard so much about it that we decided to make reservations to see the show while we had dinner. The restaurant opened at 7:30, and of course, we were first in line. We were seated immediately and they brought bread, took our orders for soup, dinner and wine.

I need to note here (and Paul and Gail our British friends are laughing right now) that we are typical Americans and usually eat dinner at 5:30. So waiting to eat until 7:30 is really different for us. And it got worse. The wine, bread and soup showed up by 8:00, but then the Fado show started. Other Fado shows we had seen on YouTube had shown the servers continuing to bring food while the singing was going on but this Fado place (Club de Fado) did not allow that. They wanted total silence during the performance (and to be honest, that really made it better), but that also meant we didn’t see our entrées until sometime after 9:00.

To make matters worse, we saw others that had ordered after us served way before we had ours. In fact, the only way we finally got ours was by telling our waiter to go ahead and tally a bill with just the wine, soup, and bread, and we would be leaving. Guess how fast the entrées showed up? Almost instantly. We ate them and then headed back to the hotel before the second half of the show. By the time we were done eating, it was after 10:00, and we had to be up at 6:00 am for our tour of Sintra.

To top it off, the food just wasn’t that great. I guess when you are there for the show, the food doesn’t have to be that good. I took a few photos with my iPhone (I didn’t want to carry the big Nikon to dinner), and you can see them below. Since I took them with a phone, feel free to look a them on your phone.

The entrance to the restaurant.
Corn soup with kale and sausage.
The highlight of the meal, the cheese they served with the bread. We will be getting more of this.
The show. Make sure to go to their website to hear what Fado sounds like.
My octopus. The worst of my four feedings on this trip.
Kathleen’s lamb. Nothing special.

Pre-dawn Photo Walk

Editor’s note: When I went to grab the photos from the bus ride, I discovered I had not shown you the results of my pre-dawn photo walk on Day 2, so please see below for those. They are much better than what I took during the day because it wasn’t really raining, and I could walk further because we weren’t getting on the HoHo bus until 9:30. Again, don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

Of course I have another photo of the Santa Justa elevator. It’s so photogenic.Especially in the dark with no people around.
This building was all wrapped up in lights. Pretty much all the other Christmas lights had been turned off.
The palace I took with the lights on the night before looked very different without them.
Thought I would have another go at Trolley 28. This is the street she comes up.
After a long wait, there she is.
And of course another one comes from the other direction at the same time.
So I get them coming and going.
And I go by a beautiful church.
On my way up the hill to the tight turn.
Found some viewpoints over the waterfront.
And this man who was taking time-lapse photos of himself with a camera on an out-of-this-photo tripod.
The fog rolled in over the river.
So the photos have an early morning hazy look.
But I did see this guy out for his morning walk. Have to get in at least one dog pic per trip.
The views were still beautiful
Around the city there are small squares like this that are centers of the local community.
This is what is known as the “tight turn” where the #28 has to get around a very tight space. I wasn’t that impressed.
Heading back down I saw some interesting streets.
And buildings.
Like the back of this church that I took while Siri tried to get me lost.
And the sun was finally rising.
This is said to be the oldest tree in Lisboa.
These are the roots. It is from South America.
And of course, one last trolley photo.

That was our complete second day in incredible Lisboa. Even with the clouds, rain and the late dinner, we had a great day. I think if we do it again, we would find a different Fado show. Off to bed late because tomorrow is our tour of the amazing Sintra. Come back for that.

Frankly, I’d rather go by bus.  —Prince Charles

Lisboa—more day 1

On By Jim BellomoIn Food Experiences, Photography5 Comments

Yesterday, I got you through to a great breakfast at the beautiful  Hotel Portugal.  Our day only got better food-wise as we had planned a food tour with Eating Europe. We had previously done a food tour with them in Amsterdam a few years ago (they have tours in many European cities), and it was wonderful, so we thought we would try them again because the one in Amsterdam was so great. And this one was, as well.

We met our guide, Fred (his actual name is Frederico, but he says Fred is easier) at 10:00 am, and we’re off on a four-hour tour. Three hours were superb food samples around the city with Fred, and one hour was a Tuk-Tuk tour with Miguel (who really loves speed) as well. Tell me the truth. Does Fred not look like Linn-Manuel Miranda? And he has a lot of mannerisms that kept me thinking we were on our tour with Hamilton himself—one of the funniest and most fun guides we have had in all our time touring. We hope to see him again when we return to Lisbon next fall.

Our tour consisted of four stops for food and a one-hour Tuk-Tuk ride. We first stopped for an amazing pork sandwich with a glass of the local white wine, Vino Verde. Both were delicious. As we walked from there to where we would meet Miguel, Fred told us a lot about the history of Lisboa as well as the traditions about food. He was a totally knowledgeable guide who was also a great entertainer and as you will see in my photos, really up for anything.

Once we reached the plaza where the Tuk-Tuks were, we met Miguel, jumped (more like crawled) into his Tuk-Tuk, and off we went for a very crazy and bumpy ride up into the city’s hills. We stopped at a Roman ruin, an amazing overlook of the entire city and found that Miguel was almost as good a guide as Fred—just not as funny.

Our Tuk-Tuk ride took around an hour, and we finished at a restaurant that was high on one of those hills. This was one of the reasons we had decided on this particular tour. The other tours they offered didn’t have the Tuk-Tuk ride and warned of a lot of walking uphill and downhill. With Miguel and his Tuk-Tuk, we only had the downhill. Our second food stop featured two other Portuguese specialties. One was a coated and fried ball with tomato and basil filling; one was veal. Both were delicious and came with a special may0-mustard sauce. We also tried green beans with a tempura-style coating and we learned that the Portuguese had not only invented this type of coating but taken it to the Orient in the 1500s. Who knew?

After this lovely tidbit (nice word, unh?) served with sparkling wine, we started our trek downhill to our next restaurant, which was owned by a former Michelin-starred chef.  There, we tried an octopus salad (even better than the one I had the night before) and a codfish dish. Codfish is a staple in Portuguese cuisine. Fred told us that Portuguese chefs brag that there are 365 different codfish recipes that they can make, so you never have to have the same one twice in one year. Kathleen had skipped the octopus so the chef roasted her some veggies and they too were outstanding. She wasn’t really thrilled with the codfish dish (it wasn’t my favorite either) but by then we were getting full so it didn’t really matter.

While at this very cool restaurant, we saw a hilarious collection of art that is very famous in Portugal. It seems that more than a hundred years ago, after Portugal threw out Spanish rule, the king of Portugal sent a gift to the king of Spain. Of course, once you see the gift, you understand its significance. The king of Spain sent him back an even bigger one, and they continued for some time. Fred was happy to show us these “gifts,” and I have other photos showing the other sizes in my gallery below. The “gifts” are hollow and full of the “best wine of that country.” Often, they had a spigot (as this one does) to dispense the wine. This one that Fred is holding is the largest in the collection. And they had a special surprise on the bottom to make everyone happy. You will have to look at the other pics to find out what it was. And by the way, did I mention that Fred was a total ham?

After our entrée and art show, we were off to dessert back in the old city at the bottom of the hill. It was the Portuguese egg tart known as a pastéis. These tarts are everywhere in Lisboa. By the time we got to this one, we had consumed at least six of them in the hotel at breakfast. On our Sunday tour, we would travel all the way to the suburb of Belem to get one of the originals (and yes, it is worth the trip, and the one you get there IS better than any other). Fred told us the place he took us had the “second-best pastéis in Lisboa, and we agree.

Here are the rest of the photos from the food tour with captions to explain their significance. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

Our tour begins. It was just us and this nice couple from New Mexico.
Our first stop was the largest cathedral in Lisboa.
During the earthquake that shaped the city, the roof had fallen in.
The restoration job was amazing.
Miguel took us on a tour of the…
…ruins of a Roman theater.
The excavation work is ongoing.
A large mural of the Romans above the theater.
As we were driving I saw this statue and just liked the way it looked against the blue sky.
Miguel took us to “the best view in Lisboa.”
We think he was right.
The city was gorgeous…
the weather was perfect…
as you can see.
A landscape photographer’s dream.
Our second restaurant…
And a close up of the door.
A mural above a booth inside.
My octopus salad—delicious.
Everywhere we have eaten in Lisboa has featured some of the best bread I have ever had.
I stole some of Kathleen’s wonderful roasted veggies to go along with my salad.
The codfish dish that was not my favorite and Kathleen found “fishy.”
The collection.
And keeps grabbing larger examples.
Until he gets the biggest of all.
This is what is on the bottom. Something for the gentlemen.
Everywhere you go in Lisboa there is tile.
Incredibly beautiful and ornate tiles.
You can see where they perfectly replaced broken ones with new. The older ones are more than a hundred years old.
Artwork and graffiti are fairly prevalent.
But there is still squalor.
Fred showed up this building which if fixed…
could house five families but because of bureaucracy, nothing gets fixed.
But it gave Fred someplace to climb.
There are tavernas like this all over the city.
The palace above the square nearest our hotel.
The Santa Justa Elevator.

After the tour (and still suffering from jet lag), we went back to the hotel for a short nap. Kathleen extended her nap into the evening and stayed in to surf the web and keep track of what was happening in the world. I, on the other hand, went out to take photos of the amazing Christmas decorations all over the city. I took a ton of photos, so I will let Lisboa speak for itself. I will just say that this city LOVES Christmas, and when they decorate, they DECORATE! And we didn’t think we would see Christmas Markets until we got to Prague. Were we ever wrong? Here, there seems to be one in every square, and there are big squares everywhere. Here are my photos with very few captions because they’re just the WOW decorations. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

Most these photos were taken within 10 blocks of our hotel.
Some streets were empty and others packed.
More lights.
Their trees were very cool.
Interesting crowds
Street peddlers.
More lights.
And peace on the next street over.
More lights.
You can never take too many trolley photos.
More lights.
And just one high above a square…
That looked like this…
Totally lit up.
And across from this corridor…
Was Lisboa’s largest square. The one that faces the river.
All lit up at night.
With restaurants on the sides.
And angels on the street behind it.
Another shot of the Santa Justa elevator, this time at night.
More lights.
Lights of a different kind.
More lights.
More lights.
And of course, Santa.
Who was more about the adults than the kids.

That about does it for Day 1. As you can tell, we were BUSY! Back with Day 2 soon.

Christmas isn’t a season. It’s a feeling.  —Edna Ferber

Lisboa Day 1–Almost too good to be true

On By Jim BellomoIn Photography7 Comments

When we last met, Kathleen and I were sitting in the airport in Paris, waiting to board our flight to Lisboa (The Portuguese spelling–trying to be authentic). We were exhausted, tired, beat, worn out, and did I mention…exhausted. I wish I could tell you how we liked the flight from Paris to Lisboa, but I don’t have a clue. From the moment we got on the plane until five minutes before we got off, I was sound asleep. Well, as asleep as one can be in the seats that pass for Business Class on intra-Europe flights.

I am pretty sure I have mentioned it before, but intra-Europe flights don’t have Business or First Class seats. What they do have is a regular coach seat (these on Air France had the worst legroom I have ever experienced), three on each side of the aisle, with the middle seat left empty. That’s Business class. I only want a US domestic FC seat for my money, but I have never seen one. But in this case, it only meant I woke up enough to shift my legs to the other side of the seat in front of me before I went back to sleep again.

We got to Lisboa expecting to have to clear passport control, mainly because we had been told by our original Delta pilot that if we were just transiting between two flights, we would not go through passport control and customs and would do that at our final destination. It turns out he was WRONG! All that time spent waiting in line in Paris paid off. We got off the plane and kept walking, expecting to run into someone who would ask for our passports. But we never found them. We did find our luggage, and then our driver (who I had booked before we left home) from Welcome Pickups. They are all over Europe, and if the service we got here is any indication, I will be booking them a lot in the future. The cost was slightly more than a taxi or Uber, but it was so nice to be met by a friendly man with a sign that had your name, who helped you to the car, got you to the hotel and then walked you right to the front desk.

We are staying at the Hotel Portugal. They call themselves a “boutique hotel in the center of old Lisboa.” We learned about them from our good friend Mike Priesman, who stayed here a few years back when traveling with his son. If you want some great recommendations on anything travel-wise, go over to Mike’s website (click here) and find your destination. If Mike has been there and has stayed at a hotel, you can stay there and know it will be exactly as he has described it. This one certainly was—as were any of the ones he has recommended in the past.

The best part about this hotel is the location. Walking distance to just about any place you want to go. And if we can’t walk, it is within walking distance of almost every mode of transport we know of. A huge taxi line is a block away, and a big hop-on, hop-off bus stop, a trolley line, and a metro stop. All within 10 minutes of walking time. But there are lots of other reasons to stay here as well. They pass what I call the Big Three Hotel Test—lots of hot water, great water pressure and the included breakfast has superb coffee. I can put up with everything else, and this place has those and more—including a big shower, comfortable bed and the aforementioned breakfast. Our only quibble is intermittently poor WiFi. I’m working on this at 3:30 am today in the lobby, where the WiFi is awesome.

One of the things we loved when checking in was that the young lady at the front desk was beyond helpful in showing us directions to just about everything we wanted to see. She had maps for us with food recommendations and lots of great tips about where to go and what to see. She gave us a dinner recommendation that was only a few blocks away and told us the food would be great and the prices would not be “tourist prices.” She was right. Most of the people eating there were locals (the servers greeted many by name and knew their regular orders), and the food was wonderful. I had a superb octopus salad (regular readers aren’t surprised) and a dish called, “Portuguese fish and rice. So much great fish, so little time. This came in its own pot and was amazing. No way one person could eat it all, and I can’t begin to tell you how good it was. This restaurant easily passed the “Steve Test.” (If you eat in a restaurant while traveling, and that restaurant were near you once you got home, would you go there again?) If it were in Redmond, we would eat there weekly.

After a short walk back to the hotel, it was off to bed. The first night was not great (our only minor setback so far) as I had committed a big travel no-no and had not hydrated enough on our flights. This meant that I woke up in the middle of the night with a SPLITTING headache. Worst I have had in years. But after some Tylenol and lots of water, by the time I got up for my pre-dawn photo walk, I was feeling great. Crisis averted. Let this be a lesson to me—and to everyone who reads this—when you fly, drink a lot of water. One of my hardest conundrums when flying overnight is to balance the water intake with the number of times I have to use the facilities on the plane, interrupting my sleep. I went for sleep this time and paid for it later on. BTW: I also tried something different on this flight to help me sleep. It did get me a few hours of shut-eye (that would have been more if some tech-types sitting next to me hadn’t talked throughout the entire flight). I purposely did not have any alcohol, didn’t turn on the in-flight entertainment system, took my Kindle, and just read a book. I have to say it worked pretty well. May try it again in the future.

After that fun night, I was up for my usual pre-dawn photo walk. The photos I took on the walk are below. If it looks like the streets are wet, they are, and it’s from rain. But we never saw the rain. It rained again during breakfast, and we never saw them either. The weather here has been close to perfect since we got here. The highs are in the 60s and sunny, with the lows in the high 40s when I go out to walk just before sunup. I will take it. Speaking of pre-dawn photo walks, here are the pics I got yesterday morning (and a few from the night before). Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…

When Lisboa decorates for Christmas…
…they go all out. Wait until you see my stuff from last night.
I took these from just outside the front door of where we ate dinner.
One of the many Christmas Markets around the old city.
Pre-dawn streets
The Santa Justa elevator.
Waiting for the trolley.
Here it comes!
Never had to stand and wait for a photo before.
This incredible monument (Arco Da Rua Augusta–R. Augusta 2) sits in front of a huge square that faces the river.
It is beautifully lit at night.
And if you were on this P&O cruise ship and awake that early, you could have seen it outside your window.
The waterfront is beautiful during the golden hour.
Even for this lonely gull.
Looking back at the square from the seawall.
Looking down to the sea.The bridge you see is likened to the Golden Gate.
Ah sunrise!
The big reason I get out of bed on vacation.
And it did not disappoint
A statue to echo the Christ statue in South America.
More of the bridge.
More of the square.
With some incredible skies.
And the famous Trolley 28 on my way back to the hotel.

I was originally going to give you our first full day in Lisbon, but I have only gotten to breakfast (which, as you can see from Kathleen’s smiling face), which was awesome. And there is so much more to tell about the food tour we did and the incredible Christmas decorations and Christmas markets that I need to make that an entirely different post. This trip is going to be tough blogging. Just too much to cover (on the first day) and no time to do it. It is a good thing I am back on my regular schedule of rising at 3:30 am (local time). But still, between processing photos and writing, this will take a while. So be prepared for me to be writing about Lisboa when we are actually in Prague (on Tuesday), writing about Prague when we are in Vienna, and finishing the entire trip sometime after we are home on the 18th. I hope you like it so far (the trip and the post) because there is much more to come.

I’ve got two places I like to be—Portugal is one. —Cliff Richard