Lisbon, Portugal Day 1 of 4

October 29  2926

My doctor says I’m shrinking. I used to be 5’6″ but now I am 5’5″. It seems to come with old age. Even so, airplane legroom feels like it, too, is shrinking. Is it old age for the airlines, too? Or, like us, they want more and more bang for their bucks. 🤷‍♀️

Yesterday, we flew from Jacksonville to Boston and then took an overnight flight to Lisbon, arriving this morning just before 9am

We deplaned the old fashioned way – walk down staircase onto the tarmac. Then, busses took us to the terminal.

Passport control is mostly automated. When we left Jax, TSA took our photo. I assume that is what was used the rest of the trip. In Boston, we had to have our picture taken and compared to something in order to be cleared to fly. At Passport control entering Portugal, we put our passport into a machine,  it scanned it, then took our photo and compared to something. 

Gregg and I both were directed to go to see a real person. Not sure what that was about.  We walked right up to a waiting agent, answered a few questions, and he let us through. 

Next was finding luggage, which we finally did. But this time, nature was calling so we took turns going to the toilets.

We left that area and anticipated feeling famous by seeing someone holding a piece of paper with our name on it. Gregg had arranged for a ride through Booking(.)com.

No name, no fanfare, once we found the driver hub, we had no driver.  Apparently he left after waiting 45 minutes.  🤷‍♀️ There is absolutely no way we could have gotten out in 45 minutes.

Thankfully, through Gregg texting Booking and a man at the booth, we got a ride. Whew! That was a bit of an adventure!

Our hotel is in the old part of Lisbon called Alfama. The streets are cobblestone in this VERY hilly area. The street we are on is one lane so it is one way.  The cars and the old street car share the road. The sidewalks on either side of the road are 18-36 inches wide. Sometimes free.

Note to self: NEVER try to drive in Lisbon. Besides, they say Uber is quick and easy and cheap.

Our room wasn’t ready at 11:00 when we arrived, so they stored our luggage and we took off, exploring on foot.

Sometimes we just stood and took in the steep, windy roads with cars and “tuck tucks” (large electric golf carts), pedestrians, street cars, and small busses all playing chicken below the plaster and/or decorative tiled buildings with clothes lines airing clean laundry from window to window.

Though many people are able to speak English, they speak Portuguese to each other and most posted menus are in Portuguese. And knowing a little Spanish doesn’t really help. They are two separate languages.

We found an overlook, with a view of rooftops, church sleepless, the river, and what we suspect is the cruise terminal. A man came up to Gregg selling jewelry.  They struck up a conversation about Senegal (he is from Dakar.) He “gave” us some bracelets, then “gave” me a bracelet and necklace with pretty, colorful,  ceramic beads. In the end, we “gave” him $30 USD. We can safely assume he is supporting family back home.

Then another man from Senegal came and talked to us.  He “gave” me a necklace. I ended up giving it back rather than giving him “coffee money.”

We walked into two old Roman Catholic churches, we walked to Castelo de Jorge but didn’t pay to go in, we walked around a few food markets, found a cute coffee shop we will remember at breakfast time, and got in our 10,000 steps.

While walking, we were trying to decide where to eat. There were many sidewalk cafes, but the menus were in Portuguese.  We couldn’t even tell what type of food they served (although it seemed almost everyone had rice and some type of potato on their plate).

We finally happed upon a corner restaurant with outdoor seating and their menu was in multiple languages! While trying to decide whether to stay,  a Brit and his 17 year old daughter came to check it out, too. We all decided to stay and we were seated next to each other.  They gave us some tips on food and we ate a delicious lunch with delightful conversation.

Gregg ordered a charcuterie tray with Portuguese cheeses and meats. I ordered a black pork sandwich-evidently you can only get black pork in Portugal.  It was wonderful!

We finally made it back to the hotel and checked into our room. We can hear the street car passing below our window. The desk clerk said it runs until around 1:00a.m. I’m thankful we have air conditioning!

Gregg took a short nap.  I dozed a few times typing this. Hopefully I deleted all the extraneous typing. 😂

Josh Ritchey, a friend from Jacksonville who is currently a digital nomad in Malta, is arriving Lisbon tonight to hang with us tomorrow and Saturday.

Tomorrow, the three of us have an all-day sight-seeing excursion. Our street is too narrow for the bus so we’re going to go find the meeting place so we don’t have to stress at 7am.

We are hoping to also find a Gelato shop. Surprised?!? I didn’t think so. 😂

Good night (4 hours ahead of Jax),

Kristin 🐾

PS – we found the meeting place for tomorrow. I think it is/was a monastery.  We saw many tuck-tucks there this morning. 

Then Google Maps sent us on a wild goose chase and we walked in a huge circle looking for Gelato Therapy.  We added another 5,000 steps to our day.

We needed Therapy and it hit the spot! Gregg had a milkshake made with banana and chocolate chip gelato. I had a dish of mango with a scoop of coconut gelato on top. The mango was especially refreshing!

Here are some pictures from the day.