Lisbon: Fado with a Friend and Failing to be an Adult
After experiencing some biting cold winds in France I was excited to warm up a bit in Lisbon. The sun was out as I wandered over to my hostel to reunite with another travelling friend, Adrienne. I hadn’t seen Adrienne since we were both at Oktoberfest two months earlier so once we were checked in we went to the Timeout Mercado da Ribeira for a quick bite. The Market is full of gourmet food options which made choosing dinner almost as difficult as picking a film on Netflix. After dinner we wandered down to the water to find a patio, cheaper wine and to catch up.
Our next three days were spent exploring, going on pub crawls and sleeping in. Each night our hostel, Yes Lisbon, offered a paid dinner that included unlimited drinks, traditional Portuguese food and dessert. It was a great way to fuel up before heading out with everyone for the pub crawl and it was nice to have large family dinners with the other guests. While overall we had excellent food in Lisbon, we encountered one major disappointment when we tried to buy hot-dogs. One day we found we were craving street meat hot-dogs like the ones you find on practically every corner back home. We found a cafe which had an excellent photo of a hot-dog on their menu and waited excitedly. When the hot-dogs came to the table they were the smallest hot-dogs possible in the largest buns topped with carrot shavings and little sticks that reminded me of hickory sticks. It was a weird dinner to say the least.
During our few days in Lisbon we explored the city, and of course went on a free walking tour. During the walking tour our guide repeatedly referenced the earth quake and tsunami of 1755, so much so, that I didn’t need look back at my little notebook to recall the date. The earthquake occurred on the 1st of November which is a holy day, All Saint’s day. This meant that when the earthquake hit many residents were in church and were injured or killed by the falling buildings. The earth quake lasted less than ten minutes but the extensive damaged caused by the quake and following tsunami made “The great Lisbon earthquake” one of the deadliest quakes in history.
We continued winding through Lisbon’s streets learning that the famous white and black tiled pavement called calçada portuguesa or Portuguese pavement is common throughout the country. Unfortunately, despite it’s beauty, the calçada portuguesa it is both time consuming and costly to construct and the tiles get quite slippery and dangerous when wet so tread carefully.
We also got to enjoy a taste of cherry liquor or Ginginha (Ginja for short) while on the tour. You can choose to have your Ginginha served to you in a plastic cup, or in a chocolate one. We took the chocolate option. I don’t have a picture of the liqueur or chocolate cup as neither lasted long enough to be photographed.
Later in the day we took a tram east to find iced coffee and to look around the São Jorge Castle. The São Jorge Castle has a long history due to it’s strategic placement atop its high hill. Over the years, Celtics, Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Suevians, Visigoths, and Moorish settlements were made a top the hill. Now, excavations are still going on within the castle to find out more about the history of the area.
If you are going to visit the castle I recommend going later in the day when there are less people around and when you can see the sunset over the city. I found a scenic place to park the TARDIS, and Adrienne took a picture of a statue’s butt. After enjoying a beautiful view of the city as the sun sank lower in the sky we headed back to our hostel for dinner and to start pub crawl number three.
After our third consecutive pub crawl (and a shameful crushing beer-pong defeat) we realized we may be bad influences on each other. On a quiet side street we found a small cafe with outdoor seating and blankets where we watched a funny slanted tram ferry people up and down a steep hill. Sipping coffee and listening to a relentlessly meowing cat we made a list of all the things we want to learn before we can consider ourselves adults. It’s a comprehensive list divided into categories such as car maintenance, cooking/baking, outdoor survival etc. We haven’t made much headway as of yet but we do have a lifetime to work away at it. I’m not going to post the list, however I recommend making a life-long learning list if you think there are some gaping holes in your basic knowledge. I, for example, am completely useless when it comes to tying knots. I know maybe two or three, and most days I can tie my shoes successfully, but there is definite room for improvement.
On the topic of not being adults, on our last day in Lisbon Adrienne and I slept through our alarms. I missed my bus to Coimbra and Adrienne very nearly missed her flight home. Thankfully I was able to switch to the next bus for no additional cost, and Adrienne did manage to make her flight. I’m sure we’ll learn to be responsible adults one day… Anyway, on to the next city!
More to read
- Coimbra & Porto: Cloaks, Bats and Delicious Food
- Madrid: the City Built on Water, Surrounded by Walls of Fire
- Madrid: the City Built on Water, Surrounded by Walls of Fire
- Tilloy-Les-Cambrai Canadian Cemetery
- Paris: The Louvre, the Tower and Cafés galore
- Cork: Kissing the Blarney Stone and Visiting an Art Gallery with Lord Voldemort
- Dublin: Guinness, Fake Tim Hortons and Guinness
- Barcelona: A magic fountain, bubbly and a lost credit card
- Belfast: the Giant’s Causeway, the Titanic and the Troubles
