Recently, I had the pleasure of spending a day in Lisbon, the capital and largest city of Portugal. This was all thanks to TAP airlines who delayed my flight to Brazil by 24 hours. Although the delay was not initially well received, the opportunity to spend a day with the family in Lisbon was worthwhile as we found out…
As we had a limited amount of time, we spent most of it walking around the neighbourhoods of Bairro Alto, Alfama, Baixa and Chiado. We visited locations such as the Castelo de São Jorge, the Elevator of Santa Justa, the Cais do Sodré by the water and we took the electric tram around the center and also to ride to the top of Bairro Alto (such as in the picture above).
We reached Bairro Alto by taking the Glória Funicular, also known as the Elevador da Glória, a funicular railway line in the civil parish of Santo António. This neighbourhood literally translates as ‘the upper quarter’ and it is the capital’s nightlife, which I have experienced with friends in a previous trip to Lisbon.
We took time to walk around the waterside by Cais do Sodré and the Mercado da Ribeira Nova, including its impressive Time Out Market with quality drinks and foodstuff at affordable prices. The main challenge there was finding a seat!
The Arco da Rua Augusta, as the sign below states, was designed to celebrate the reconstruction of the city after the 1755 earthquake, even if it was only considered to be finished in 1873. Baixa is the heart of the city and its center. The Rua Augusta is the commercial zone of the Baixa neighbourhood. The Elevador de Santa Justa or Santa Justa Lift, connects the lower streets from Baixa with the higher Carmo Square in the Chiado neighbourhood and it was constructed in 1902. Both are touristic hotspots…
The Alfama neighbourhood provided some of the best views of the city and it is the oldest district of Lisbon. A real highlight was the Castelo de São Jorge, a hilltop Moorish castle overlooking the historical centre of Lisbon. The Lisbon Cathedral is also in this area, often called simply as the Sé. Once again we used the electric tram to move around this part of the city, which made it very convenient and easy to visit.
Needless to say, after this whirlwind visit to Lisbon, and the amount of walking involved, we deserved our break ahead of our flight to Brazil the following day. Personally I was happy to enjoy a beer (below) and watch the city and its visitors walk by for a while before departing it so soon after arriving here…
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