Elly and Anne in Lisbon

Arrival, Oct 2

Rick Steves and others claim that the cost of a cab from the Lisbon airport to any hotel should cost around €15, but that the airport cabbies will try to gouge arriving travellers. You need to ask the driver to use the meter, then you’ll get a fair price. My driver was having none of it. He claimed the charge was regulated, and the cost is €35. He said I was welcome to try another cab if I wanted, but I figure all these guys are in cahoots, and all I wanted after long hours of travel was to get to the hotel. It’s possible he felt bad about the overcharge, since I was obviously on to him; while he’d said he probably couldn’t get me right to the door of the Alfama Lisbon Lounge Suites, being that it’s on a narrow street on a tram route, he in fact did get me right to the door. Good driver. Maybe even worth the €35.

I had tried to get an Uber, but it required my flight number, and then didn’t recognise my flight number, so I was stuck with taking a cab. Turned out the “regulated rate” for Elly was €38, so I got a good deal, right!?

Elly was at the hotel already, as expected. Great joy and relief to see her. May the adventures begin!

The Alfama area, where we’re located, is a medieval labyrinth of cobbled lanes, with tiny plazas at practically every intersection. In each plaza is a restaurant or three. We wandered about the neighbourhood, looking for the several eateries recommended by the woman at our hotel desk. It was just before 6 pm, and we were hungry, but restaurants here, we discovered, don’t open until 7. We finally found a tapas place, where we got a beautiful salad and some sardine bruschetta, sardines being typical local fare. It was the perfect light meal, after which we had a gelato, of course, then made our way home where we both managed a good night’s sleep.

Bougainvillea and tiled building

One of many narrow lanes

 

Exploring, Oct 3

But first, a mega-breakfast

How did I ever get around without Google Maps?? Today, we needed a proper ATM in a bank, not trusting the independent ATMs situated everywhere, and Google got us there. We wanted to follow a particular self-guided walking route, and Google got us to the start of it and kept us on track. We wanted to get to a little recommended Fado place, preparing for a night out, and Google found it. We then wanted to go back to our hotel, and Google got us home. 

In the past, a paper map, some guesswork, and a lot of backtracking would have been the norm. Now, it’s easier, but I have to wonder if I don’t spend more time looking at the phone than at the surroundings I’m here to explore. I’m not alone; the only tourist I saw who wasn’t using one was asking directions from people who were.

Anyhow, today we saw the castle, but didn’t go inside (apparently an overpriced ruin with a good view, in a city full of good views). We did pay €5 to go up a bell tower for a view, oh, but we got a free bottle of fizzy water to go with it. (Or was it a free view for the price of a fizzy water?) We followed the walking tour, learned a bit of history, wandered narrow lanes, saw tourist upon tourist and tourist shop upon tourist shop. Didn't matter; it's beyond picturesque here, with many signs of local people living their lives.

Castelo de São Jorge on the hill, 25 de Abril Suspension Bridge in the dim background, a view for free

Happy tourists

Elly communing with Brugmansia, the Angel's Trumpet

Tourist and laundry

The €5 view

The narrow lanes...

... don't deter traffic

Alfama with cruise ship

It is!

The most famous trolley, that goes right under our window

Our yellow hotel: clean, simple, and right in the thick of things

 

Temperatures are in the high 20s here, blazing in the sun, but pleasant in the shade. We stopped for a non-alcoholic beer in a café in one of the many small plazas (Delicious! What’s the matter at home, that we can’t make a good non-alcoholic beer?), then a seafood salad lunch in another, serenaded by a guy playing old American pop songs.

We’re resting now, before venturing out for a better-planned meal, and maybe some Fado.