A Girls' Break in Lisbon 13th - 16th March 2024

 The rain (not in Spain)...

We awoke to heavy grey skies and rain this morning, which was definitely not what we wanted in Lisbon, as we were sick of the rain in the UK!

After showering and dressing, we made our way to the lift and took it with a German? Dutch? family of three. Mum reminded me of the actress Hermione Norris when she was in Luther and had a face like a slapped bum. Dad and son looked a bit friendlier, but we rode the lift down to the breakfast room in awkward silence!

After another delicious and filling breakfast, we went back up to our room and talked about what we were going to do. A museum or art gallery were the obvious choices, and there was a museum nearby, but now the rain was really coming down, and neither of us had thought to bring an umbrella...

In the end, after a lot of bickering, we decided to go to the Museum of Ancient Art. We decided to take an Uber and Sophie ordered one, but she put the wrong destination in, bless her. Our driver arrived in a beautifully smart Jaguar and whisked us off... to the wrong place! 

He dropped us off and again, we had a bickering session about what we were going to do, in the end calling up another Uber to take us to the correct museum! It cost us 12 euros each to get in and to see a temporary exhibition of religious art. If I'm honest, I didn't enjoy the museum at all. We had to give up our bottle of water in the cloakroom and get a ticket for it (in case we threw it at a painting?) and the museum was full of steps. After our mammoth walk yesterday, I was still a little tired, and the grey weather had affected us.

Sophie and Turkish tiled arch

We wandered about, but I could tell that we weren't really interested in the exhibits, which consisted of silverware, ceramics, paintings, jewellery and ancient wooden furniture. From the windows, we could see glimpses of the river below and heavy industry.

Beer in the rain

After about an hour and a half, we'd had enough and went back to retrieve our water bottle and give the ticket back. Annoyingly, the man who was now on the desk in the cloakroom had thrown our water away! Sophie was irate!

We went outside and considered our options. I wanted to go to the district of Alfama, one of the oldest parts of the city and famous for its Fado bars. This is the music of melancholic, sad longing, and Lisbon is renowned for the genre.

We called up another Uber as it was still raining and we hadn't a clue where the nearest Metro station was. Uber in Lisbon is exceedingly cheap and so efficient! A tiny car arrived and whisked us off along the riverfront where people were wandering about in the rain, and long lines of Tuktuks were waiting for people to take them on a tour of the city.

Our driver dropped us off outside the Museum de Fado but we'd had enough of museums for one day, so we made for a bar and sat down under an umbrella. We ordered two beers and sat and watched people slosh by, sensibly dressed in anoraks and holding umbrellas. We had neither! A couple of times we had to move further under the umbrella because of the rain, and this was definitely the low point of our little break!

Personal artwork

We sat and had a good chat for over an hour, ordering another beer each and waiting for the rain to stop. Which it did. Once we realised it had stopped, we paid the bill and decided to explore Alfama's steep and winding cobbled streets.

The area, which we certainly didn't do justice to, is quirky and interesting with narrow paths disappearing up steep hills, dark bars and tiny shops.

Above us, washing hung from railings and a woman sat at her door offering tiny shot glasses of the local cherry liqueur, Ginginha. We declined, but both of us were determined to try it at some point. There was mention of Fado everywhere, and I wondered what it would be like at night, in the summer with the sounds of the music drifting along the narrow streets.

We went into another tourist shop, lured by the beautiful tiles and Sophie bought a set of four for the house - our number, a cat and a border to go around them. We also bought cork bookmarks for Keith and Vikesh.

As we made our way upwards, we came to an artist's gallery and Sophie was drawn in by pictures of black cats. All the artwork was original and the artist himself was there. We browsed through the pictures and picked out two of black cats sitting in a tree. When we went up to pay, he drew two more pictures for us, at lightning speed with marker pens!

Because we love cats!

Woman singing Fado

Cat pictures, ready to be framed

Wine? Wine not!

By now we were a little hungry, so we walked up a steep hill and caught a tram at the top, a busier area with numerous shops and restaurants. We wanted to get off at a certain stop, but the tram kept on going, so we jumped off at the next one and retraced our steps up another steep hill.

Luckily, we stumbled upon a wine bar and restaurant called Wine Not? They were offering tapas and it looked like a wine-lover's dream place, so we went in. We were given menus and spiral cards to choose the wine.

We chose bread, olives and cheese, Padron peppers, corn chips served with guacamole, and beef croquettes.

Our wine, recommended by staff

We picked out a wine, but again, the waiter suggested something else! He gave us a tasting of both, the Pinot Noir and the Trincadeira, but we preferred the latter. We ordered a glass each but bought a bottle to take home.

The food was very good and it was lovely to sit and relax and rest our tired legs. The restaurant was quiet but the street outside was busy with people passing by in search of something to eat or to shop. After the tapas, we shared a slice of cake with a sweet white wine.

It was now late afternoon, so we paid the bill and went outside to call up an Uber. We didn't fancy trying to get back onto a tram and then finding a Metro station! Our driver arrived and she was the grumpiest we'd ever had on the trip! She didn't say a word!

She took us on a route near Baixa-Chiado, which was thronged with shops, bars and restaurants. There were hundreds of tourists mingling about, and we also saw a little homeless encampment. 

Scenes from an Uber, Lisbon-style

I earmarked this area as one to return to, hopefully, tomorrow before our flight in the early evening. The journey took a while because of the heavy traffic, but we were back in our room in time for a nap and a freshen-up before dinner.

Eating Thai

Before dinner tonight, we enjoyed two glasses of fizz in the Sports Bar. We sat in the courtyard and chatted and the German/Dutch family came in and sat down at a nearby table. We had gone to the bar to order our drinks but they sat and waited... and nobody came. In the end, Dad and son got up to order, leaving slapped-bum Mum at the table. She looked as fed up as she had this morning! We now knew they were German! It was a shame they weren't friendly, as we could have chatted and expressed our love for Berlin (if they spoke English, of course!).

The pretty courtyard of the hotel

After our drinks, we walked a short distance to Siam Square, a Thai restaurant opposite the hotel. We were taken to a table upstairs and had a look at the comprehensive menu, choosing assorted appetisers to start followed by a Massaman curry for Sophie and a Thai green curry for me with rice. A bottle of Vinho Verde was enjoyed with the food. 

It was a very pleasant restaurant and busy with local diners enjoying a Friday evening out. We lingered over our meal and took time to finish our wine. The food was excellent and the staff were lovely and friendly.

Once we'd paid the bill, we strolled back to the hotel - after our busy day it was definitely time for bed!