Beautiful Lisbon

We finally went to Lisbon, we were really looking forward to it. We decided at short notice (1 day before...) to rent an apartment in Lisbon instead of going to a campsite outside the city. For once, we didn't have to have at least an hour's drive in the morning and evening, but could just go out the door and go. We found something nice in the old town, booked it right away, received confirmation, tip top. In the evening, I somehow thought I'd check my emails again... I must have had a hunch because suddenly the apartment was already fully booked... But we were offered a nice alternative, a few streets away but slightly bigger for the same price. So we set off for the city on Thursday morning. To get into Lisbon, you have to cross a bridge that requires tolls. We registered at the beginning, so no problem... Somehow you have to get in line, everything has to go quickly because it's so busy, the barrier was open, so we drove through, it will be automatically debited... we thought... Suddenly a loud alarm went off... we were supposed to pay somewhere, but we couldn't just stop, it was too busy 🙈 We'll definitely get mail about it at home.... 😬

We reluctantly left Miss Molly for 2 days in the harbor on a guarded parking lot, which was only 10 minutes away from the apartment and only cost 8€ per day. Bargain! The apartment was also great, beautifully furnished with a view of the harbor and the old town. A bit noisy for my taste, but okay for 2 days... 😉 We immediately walked into the city, we were really close to Graca and Alfama, we could walk easily. We let ourselves drift through the alleys, admired the beautiful facades of the houses and stopped at a café here and there. In between, we ended up in a somewhat dubious corner, a mix of China Town, Little India, and an Arabic bazaar with a few strange characters, but at some point we turned back... In the center, we immediately found the famous steel elevator, the Elevador de Santa Justa. We had seen in a travel documentary that it is better to go up from above, enjoy the panoramic view, and then take the elevator down from above, so you don't have to wait in line for long. And that's exactly how it was, there was a huge queue downstairs, nothing upstairs... Hehe 😜

In the early evening, we took a ride on the famous Line 28, an old tram. You have to wait for half an hour (if you're lucky), but it's worth it. You really travel across the city, sometimes very close to the houses, when the tram comes from the other side, you have to quickly pull your head inside. At one point, a car was in the way, the tram couldn't pass, after some honking, no one came, so they took matters into their own hands and made space. It has to keep going... 😉 It was definitely fun, and if you had previously bought a ticket for public transportation, it's almost free (6.20 € for 24 hours for everything, you can't even get a one-way ticket for that price in Frankfurt.....). We got off in the Bairro Alto neighborhood and walked around there. There is also an old cable car (now electric) that connects the lower with the upper part of the city because it is very steep there. People were standing everywhere, chatting and drinking beer in front of some small pubs - both tourists and locals, it was a really nice atmosphere. When the train rings, everyone makes way so it can go up or down the hill, then everyone stands in the middle of the tracks again. The train wasn't running that evening anyway because there was some technical problem. At some point, we moved on in search of food and ended up in an Irish pub for a burger. They also had live music later, but everything starts at least at 12, we were exhausted and took the metro back to the apartment. We're not getting any younger 😇

The next day, we had a relaxed breakfast, uploaded the pictures for the last blog post (you have to upload each picture individually, it takes forever 😳 and we always need Wi-Fi) and, when you also have a free washing machine, washed a load of laundry. Of course, like the locals, we hung it outside on the line. Despite the wind, everything was still there in the evening... 😉 Then we went back to the city, but this time we took the train and bus because we wanted to go to Belem, which is on the other side of the city. There we visited the city's landmark, the Torre de Belem, and of course, we couldn't miss the famous Pasteis de Belem. Oliver liked it, but it's not for me.... The store was packed, there was a line outside, inside you had to queue up to get one of the hundreds of seats. Unbelievable. After the touristy stuff, we wanted to go to LX Factory, an old factory site (I think it used to be a textile factory) where many artists, cafes, pubs, and small shops have settled. After getting off at the wrong station twice and driving back and forth, we finally found it 😬 First, we looked at everything, strolled through the shops. In a beer garden, two seats had just become available, so we sat down for a glass of wine at one of the tables and enjoyed the sun, meanwhile a band was playing oldies. It was again a good mix of tourists and locals who meet for a drink after work. We really liked it here. When it got dark, we had dinner there and spent the whole evening at LX Factory. Just before we left, we passed by a concert hall where something was going on and live music was playing. We were even able to go inside without paying, so we went in. It turned out to be a band contest, complete with judges and moderation. Each band was allowed to play 2 songs, and they commented on them. Of course, we didn't understand a word and we didn't know who was in the jury. But it was quite funny, we watched for a while before we went back to Bairro Alto, where the small bars along the cable car were, to end the evening. It was Friday evening, so it was quite crowded, some people were playing drums and singing a bit, the atmosphere was definitely good. But we took the tram back to the apartment quite early and fell into bed exhausted.

The next morning, it was time to say goodbye to the city and the 'luxury' of an apartment. It was time to return to Miss Molly and back to nature. Two days in the city and crowds are enough 😉