A multi-pronged Aug-Sep 2018 trip to Boston to visit Allie, then to Lisbon via Dublin to spend time in Portugal with Laurie, culminating in a return to Boston to meet Barb for a long weekend.
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Tuesday, Sep. 4: Cascais – Lisbon
We rose at a reasonable hour, finished packing, and headed downstairs to the cafe we found for breakfast. I wish I had discovered the toasted ham and cheese sandwiches, tosta misto, earlier. Breakfast done, we loaded the car, found a nearby gas station (Eu40 for ½ tank), and returned the car in town before 11am. We bid Cascais “tchau” (goodbye, like ciao in Italian) and caught the train to Lisbon’s Sodre station.
After arriving at the station, our thought was to store our luggage and get some lunch before sending Laurie on her way to the airport, while I would stay in Lisbon for the day before catching a flight that evening. We’d heard of a business, Luggage Storage Lisbon, that seemed like a good spot, on the cusp of a new trend of luggage storage options for those not staying in hotels (thanks, AirBnB). But once at the station we realized the storage location was several blocks away, uphill, and Laurie in particular didn’t want to schlep our way there. So instead I stored my luggage in a couple of lockers at the train station and Laurie rolled hers to our lunch location which turned out to be across the street from the station. I mention all this mainly to point out this relatively new phenomenon of what to do with luggage if you can’t readily store it at a hotel. A new business opportunity for some…but it still needs to be convenient to the traveler.
We had lunch in the Time Out Market across the street from the station. This market also reflects a relatively new trend (starting in Lisbon in 2014) of collecting a number of higher-end dining choices in one location, linked to an actual working market. Sort of a high-end food court with a market attached. It was featured as one of the first stops in Lisbon for the “Somebody Feed Phil” TV show about Lisbon. It’s a good idea in principle, and one that is spreading around the globe. There were lots of appealing choices, but when you come down to it, I found it hard to actually make a choice, and then there are different lines to stand in if you want things from different vendors. We decided to share noodles with shrimp from one place and a spicy beef salad from another. The noodles were decent, the salad less so (why lychees?). The overall dining experience of finding a shared table among a bunch of other tourists and some local business lunchers was less than wonderful. It maybe would be better if you have multiple trips to gain experience with more of the choices (and an expense account) and have less of a crowd.
After lunch, Laurie and I said our goodbyes and she caught a taxi to the airport to wend her way back to Madrid and Segovia. I was on my own in Lisbon with 10 hours until my flight.
I decided to start with a ride on the #28 tram, described as an essential Lisbon tourist experience. These are old wooden street cars reminiscent of San Francisco’s cable cars. The #28 tram travels through a number of neighborhoods including the Alfalma with its tight, winding streets. I catch the tram at about the midpoint of its eastbound route, where it dips close to the river near Sao Nicolao.
The tram was crowded, with no seats available. After going just a few yards, we stopped because a small truck was doubleparked, blocking the tracks. This is evidently a fairly common issue. The tram conductor rang his bell a few times and tried to figure out where the driver of the van was, but ultimately there’s nothing to do but wait about 5 minutes until the driver finally emerged from the building across the street. With a small cheer from the passengers on the tram, we were finally off. I stood mid-car, zealously guarding against pickpockets. Every guidebook and multiple signs on the tram warn against pickpockets. The comment I loved the most: “The pickpockets are never Portuguese, but are gangs flown in from eastern Europe.” Nasty eastern Europeans. I was vigilant and I don’t think anyone on our tram was victimized, least of all me.
Going through the Alfalma district was indeed very tight and hilly, with some roads narrowing down to a single lane. We came around one corner and encountered a car coming the other direction on a one-lane road. The tram wins under these circumstances: it can’t go backwards. Instead, the car’s driver had to back uphill about 50 yards on the crowded, narrow street. Not an easy task. The tram riders gave that driver a louder and more sincere cheer when we finally got past.
The tram ride eventually terminated in a square and at first I was very disoriented, but then I noticed a fountain and some steps which I recognized seeing from the Castle on our first day. Looking up, I found the crenelated walls and it became clear that the tram route was basically a long loop around the Castle. This was Martim Moniz square. I thought about riding the tram back in the other direction toward Campo Ourique but after standing in the long line for a few minutes I realized it would be easier to walk back toward the river through the Baixa district, with the benefit of staying mostly on one level and not climbing any hills.
I walked barely two blocks before I was in Figueira square where I saw a large tent with food stalls. This was the Baixa Mercado with many stalls featuring pork products including sausages and cured cuts. I couldn’t resist, even though I was still full from lunch. I selected a small plate of several kinds of sausage with bread and cheese. They were delicious. I realized then that I should have kept my eye out for other Portuguese sausages and cured meats during the trip but I’d avoided them because they’re not Laurie’s favorites. Note to self on future journeys: don’t forego sausage and ham just because your travel partner may not like them. Grilled meats and cheese are hard to beat.
More than well fortified, I go one block further and find myself in Rossio square which is “the heart and soul of Lisbon.” Both these squares were featured on Laurie’s walking tour of Lisbon which she’d done the day before I’d arrived. She described them to me and pointed them out from the Castle, but now I had stumbled my way onto them and can say I saw them up close and took pictures (and had ham!). The distinctive wave tiles in Rossio square started a trend of decorative pavement tiles in Lisbon and were copied around the Portuguese world, from Rio to Macau.
From Rossio square, I headed down the central pedestrian street, Rua Augusta, toward the riverside. Rua Augusta is lively, lined with higher-end shops and restaurants that spill onto the street’s decorative tiles. It makes for a pleasant walk. A few blocks down, a side street leads to the Santa Justa elevator, the city’s landmark tourist viewpoint and functioning elevator to avoid walking up the hill to Santa Justa.
It’s about a half-mile from Rossio to Commerce Square on the river. This large square is the site of a former royal palace before the 1755 earthquake. The square became a centerpiece of Pombal’s redesign of Lisbon and is still a dramatic, intimidating space. I headed through the square to the Tagus riverside and sat for a while, contemplating boats, birds and tourists. It was getting close to 3pm; I still had at least 3-4 hours to kill before heading to the airport. I decided to take a ferry to the other side of the river, the Cacilhas neighborhood, a trip which had been suggested by Laurie and a number of the guide books.
The main ferry terminal was conveniently next to the Sodre train station where my luggage was, so I walked the short distance down the riverbank promenade. Upon entering the ferry terminal, I popped in the first waiting area and was soon on board the large, modern ferryboat. The boat revved up and started heading upstream, not straight across to Cacilhas, at which point I realized I’d chosen the wrong ferry. I didn’t really mind, as I had time to kill and the river afforded a good view of central Lisbon. The ferry ended up going about 30 minutes across the wide Tagus estuary to the town of Montijo. The dock, however, looked to be a long way from the town, so I decided to just stay on the ferry for the return trip to the Sodre terminal, dozing a bit along the way.
Back at the terminal, still having some time and having figured out the system, I got on the proper ferry toward Cacilhas and was there within just a few minutes. We had a nice view of the 25th of April bridge, though it would have been even more lovely on a sunny day.
Finally in Cacilhas, I walked around the immediate area of the ferry terminal. There was a small maritime museum with a decrepit looking drydocked submarine and a somewhat more impressive frigate, the Dom Fernando II e Gloria. There was an entrance fee for the frigate; I thought the whole thing was closed until I saw one elderly couple go aboard. I considered the option but decided to keep walking.
Laurie mentioned that Cacilhas had restaurants that grilled fish on the street like the Foz neighborhood we enjoyed so much in Porto. After a not-very-thorough look, I only saw one scraggly example and I wasn’t really ready for food, anyway. I found a cafe and had a Coke on the terrace before deciding that I was pretty much done for the day. I’d enjoyed my wanderings around Lisbon, but I was tired and starting to worry about the long flight back through Dublin. I caught the ferry back to Sodre, recovered my luggage and caught a cab to the airport.
My taxi driver was evidently a former Grand Prix racer and had me to the airport in about 25 harrowing minutes. It took me a while to realize he’d dropped me off at the wrong terminal and I finally found the Aer Lingus counter at about 6:20pm for a 10:30 flight. I didn’t see any seats nearby and figured the counter would open soon, so I became first in line. Other passengers slowly started lining up behind me. When they didn’t open the counter at 6:30, I thought maybe they would do so at 7:00, and then maybe 7:30. By then a formidable line had formed. The attendants finally showed up at 8:00pm and started inviting families with small children to check in first. They eventually checked me in after a very tedious standing wait. I’m not eager to fly on Aer Lingus again.
Google put together a movie of my day.
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