Day 10 — Lisbon, Portugal

When: Sunday, April 29, 2007
Where: Lisbon

No tours planned for today. Technically this is my second visit to Portugal (we stopped in the Azores when I worked for Disney Cruise Line) but this was my first trip to the mainland.

It took some time for Lisbon to grow on me. We started out around 10am, early for us, at the “bottom” of the city, near the water.

Brian, in a striped polo and sunglasses, stands on a steep stepped Lisbon street lined with pink and yellow buildings and café tables; the hilltop Castelo de São Jorge is visible across the city behind him. — Brian on a stepped Lisbon street, the hilltop Castelo de São Jorge behind.

The city was still sleepy and it was chilly. There wasn’t much going on at this hour except for a marathon. We did what we’d done in the other cities: walk around, take pictures, eat lunch, window shop.

A long vaulted stone arcade at Lisbon's Praça do Comércio, with repeating arches, hanging lanterns, and yellow buildings; a woman walks through the light on the right and a yellow tram passes beyond. — The arcades of Praça do Comércio, Lisbon.

It’s hillier in Lisbon than I expected, but also I’d done no research. There’s an elevator that will save you some uphill walking. We walked along what I perceived to be their Champs-Élysées.

Relaxed in a square for awhile.

Lisbon's Praça Luís de Camões, a plaza with the bronze statue of Luís de Camões atop a stone pedestal ringed by smaller figures, surrounded by yellow and white buildings; people cross the square in the sun. — Praça Luís de Camões, Lisbon.

Brian, in a striped polo and sunglasses, sits on the grass in Praça Luís de Camões with the Camões monument and pale apartment buildings rising behind him under a bright blue sky. — Brian in Praça Luís de Camões, Lisbon.

We finally found an Internet cafe (our first of the trip, not counting the $.65/min one on the ship) at a Western Union and got our Internet on.

Then finally stopped around 2pm for an excellent lunch at Locanda Italiana.

All in all it was a fun day and a neat city. BTW, Lisbon is the site of a sister bridge to the Golden Gate in SF, called the 25 de Abril Bridge:

Brian, in a striped polo, stands on a broad concrete waterfront with the red 25 de Abril suspension bridge and the hilltop Cristo Rei statue across the Tagus river behind him. — Brian on the Lisbon waterfront, the 25 de Abril Bridge and the Cristo Rei statue across the Tagus.

Yes, the ship does go under that bridge on the way out of Lisbon. Yes, it looks like a tight squeeze. No, I didn’t have the foresight to sprint up to the top deck to watch.

Brian, in a striped polo, stands on the quay in front of the docked Celebrity Millennium, whose blue-and-white hull and lifeboats tower behind him under a bright sky. — Brian on the dock beside the Celebrity Millennium, Lisbon.

Next stop: Gibraltar. Dizzying heights (for one of us), the World’s Most Narrow Roads, and those damn dirty apes.

European Vacation 2007 Day 10

Lisbon grows on me

Day 10 — Lisbon, Portugal