Tag: Lisbon

We had a really busy day today. We started out with breakfast at a nearby cafe.

Then we took a bus to the Belén area of Lisbon.

The lines in front of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and the church next door were daunting. Instead we walked along the waterfront to check out the Monument to the Discoveries and the Torre de Belém.

A couple of hours later when we walked past the church and the monastery there was no line for the church so we went in.

Next we took a break and went to Pastéis de Belém the place the iconic original Pastéis de Nata were created in 1837.

From Belém we took the bus across town past our hotel to the Tile Museum. the museum is the Azulejo Musem. The word Azulejo comes from the Arabic word meaning small polished stone. It refers to the tiles Portugal is famous for. The museum about the development of Portuguese tile was fascinating. I especially enjoyed learning how the tiles evolved from 1500 to the present.

The distance back to our hotel was about two miles, so we walked. We did have a nice break for refreshments along the way.

Back at the hotel we played cards.

For dinner we took an Uber to a Brazilian all you can eat meat restaurant, Prazeres da Picanah, that Duke and I ate at on our first trip to Lisbon in 2016. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

This morning Duke and I took the metro to the airport and met Brian and Jo Ann who will be traveling with us for the next three weeks. It is great to have them here.

After a bit of a rest we went out exploring. We had lunch overlooking the Plaça do Comércio and then went on a tuk tuk tour of Lisbon. It was quite an adventure.

For dinner we went to Restaurante 1 de Maio. We each had fish and we enjoyed the Portuguese ambiance.

After dinner we walked back to the hotel. It was a great day and we had no rain and cool but very pleasant temperatures.

We are starting another travel adventure. Our first stop is Lisbon.

Sunday afternoon Allison drove Ray, Linda, Duke and I from her house in Walnut Creek to San Francisco airport for our flight to Lisbon. We waited in line for an hour and then when we finally got to the checkin counter the British Airlines agent said “Your flight is tomorrow”. Talk about disconcerting! Our reservation was definitely for Sunday but the flight from London to Lisbon had been cancelled and American Airlines (The trip was booked through them) had unilaterally rebooked us twenty four hours later.

Eventually British Airlines straightened things out and rebooked us to fly San Francisco to London to Porto to Lisbon. So then we all had to submit new Covid passenger locator forms. Eventually two hours after arriving at the airport we were checked in and ready to go through security.

The new itinerary meant we had to wait six hours in London for our connection. We were late into Porto and had a relatively short connection there. We arrived in Lisbon eight hours later than originally planned but we made it!! After more than 24 hours of travel!

Our hotel, Pousada Lisboa is right on the main square.