Lisboa aqui vou eu!

Sunday was my first full day here and the weather didn’t really want to play ball in the morning. I decided that I would hop on the metro and head to a place I had seen on the map where Tram 28 leaves from.

I showered in an awful push-button shower with water temperature that can only be described as the heat of Hades. It had two temperatures: no water and Hades heat.

I also went to put my contacts in but they were distorted as the solution I brought was cleaning and not saline. Was so annoyed with myself for not checking properly.

I got out and sat in the square for an hour or so enjoying the sun before the forecasted rain. I decided to pick up my souvenirs so I didn’t have to worry about it the rest of the trip. I was also on the look out for a watch charger as I stupidly left mine at home. So annoying that I had to spend money on something I already had but forgot to pack.

I walked around the neighbourhood by Martim Moniz and took some pics before the rain started. I didn’t get on the tram as the queue was massive. I found a shop to get the watch charger and impressed the shop assistant by paying with my watch. She had never seen it before.

I then wandered a bit more down the street to find some food. I saw there was a McDonald’s close by so went there – the rain had stopped at this point so I sat outside. A guy came up to me and tried to look in my bag and then tried to take my burger. I had to push him out the way.

Once I was done with my food, I went round the corner to the church to have a look in as mass was over.

The church was the Igreja de São Domingos and was almost destroyed by the earthquake in 1755 and was gutted inside by a fire in 1959. It destroyed all if the fresco’s, paintings and gold that was in there. The church was not refurbished after this and the church as you see it now is how it was left after the 1959 fire.

After I was done here, I then went up towards Baixa-Chiado and the Convento do Carmo and had a wander around here for an hour or so. I managed to get some good pictures from a lookout point and then also sat there listening to several buskers – who happened to be quite good.

After I was done here, I wandered around Bairro Alto and came across a walking tour that was about to start. I joined the group for about 2 hours and we went around several of the neighbourhoods of Lisbon.

We were taught a bit about Fado. It is a Portuguese form of music that is often characterised by mournful lyrics and tunes.

The guide was very knowledgable. It’s always nice to do a walking tour with a local because you get some good local insights.

We got down to Praça do Comércio and I left the tour here so I could head towards the hostel and to find some food. I was so tired and wanted some sleep ready to get up early and leave to get the sightseeing bus.

No step count today as my watch was on low power mode due to having nothing to charge it with overnight.

You can see some of my pictures from here below.

After I had checked the weather last night I decided that today would be a good day to do the sightseeing bus as there was a low chance of rain for about an hour – which means I could either sit downstairs or grab some food.

I cchecked the map for directions on the bus to where I needed to be to pick up the sightseeing bus. I got to where it was and couldn’t see the buses so I was a bit concerned I was in the wrong place. I walked around the square to see if I could see if there was something I was missing.

I couldn’t find anywhere to get food either. As I walked around more I saw a sightseeng bus from a different company and then knew where I had to be. As I got there, the bus was there but didn’t leave for another 30 minutes or so. I thought I would go to BK to get some breakfast but it didn’t open until 11. I would just have to make do with my croissant and water!

The buses were great as they were open top – meaning if someone was cold it was tough crap as nothing could be closed. It meant it was good for me as I could take pictures without bars or windows.

The company had 3 lines: Red, Blue and Purple. I decided that today I would concentrate on doing the red line only.

I did a full loop of it snapping away like there was no tomorrow. I decided I would go around again and get pictures from the other side of the bus. I got off at Basílica da Estrela and had a sit inside for about 30 minutes and then found somewhere to do my oblutions and get something to eat and drink before heading back to the bus.

Nearer the end of the route, it started to rain. I decided I would use my umbrella despite it saying not to use them upstairs. There was no room for me downstairs as we had just picked up at the cruise terminal.

The umbrella turned out to be a cheap piece of rubbish from QD. The slightest gust and it broke. I managed to get a seat downstairs and sat there until we got back to the starting point – by which time the rain had stopped.

I got on the purple route and sat upstairs and on the way it started to rain so I decided to get off at the next stop and go and get some food until it stopped raining. By the time I was done eating, it had stopped raining so I decided to head towards where the castle was. I got the lifts up and the views were pretty impressive. After I was done there, I hopped on a tram and went towards Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and take a few pictures before heading back towards the hostel for the night.

Steps walked today: 14,215

Below are some pictures from today.

Today was day two of my sightseeing ticket and the weather was forecast to be sun all day.

I did the blue and purple lines today and that is pretty much all I did. Part way through the blue line it started to rain and I didn’t bother with the umbrella as it was broken. I didn’t even bother sitting downstairs as I was soaked through anyway.

It only lasted 5 minutes but it was a heavy downpour. By the time the bus got back to the start, I had dried out.

Once I was done on the bus, I wanted to go on the funicular up to the top to get some good views over Lisbon at night.

Nothing really exciting happened aside from that downpour.

Total steps walked today: 9,744

Below are some pictures from today.

Today was the last full day I had here and I had a couple of places in mind that I wanted to go that I had seen whilst on the bus.

I headed down to Martim Moniz so I could pick up the tram and do a round on it before the queues got huge. There were 3 people ahead of me only, so my luck was in. As the tram turned up, a family ran towards it and tried to get on. One of my pet peeves is queue jumpers so I told them there was a queue and I got told off for it. Don’t even try and queue jump if I am in the queue. I will tell you off for it!

I went from start to end and then did the route back towards Martim Moniz. I got off the tram at Sé de Lisboa and decided to go in and have a look around and then walk down to the city centre from there. I took a nice slow walk down and enjoyed the views.

Here are some videos from the tram ride.

Once I got down, I headed to pick up another tram to head to get some food and to look around Cais do Sodré. I got some fries and then headed back towards the city centre. I picked up the metro and decided that I would head up to the top of the park to chill and get some good pics of the views.

Once I was done here, I then headed back to the hostel so I could pack and chill for the evening.

Total steps walked today: 13,113

Below are some pictures from today.