Hiking - One Day in Lisbon
18th - 20th August 2006
by Pam Harvey
 We checked in at the hotel and decided to have a siesta before setting off to explore, and explore we did. I had read that the best way to see Lisbon was on foot. By the time we got back to the hotel I was limping with a blister on my heel. All the hikes we have done and I have never suffered, but we had walked for miles and miles today. But this is a l-o-n-g story.
I had seen the station from the hotel window so we first went there to see about getting a train to Sintra in the morning. We discovered that the train and the metro met, so we were able to walk through the train station to the metro, however, this was quite a long walk through a subway. There were several coffee shops along the way, so we decided to have lunch, as by this time it was a long time since we’d had breakfast (05:30 on the plane and it was now 14:30, but actually 15:30 because we had put our clocks back on arrival in Lisbon).
Brian worked out where we needed to go on the metro and we were soon at Baixa. The streets close to the metro station are pedestrian zones and paved in mosaics. The streets were lined with bars, cafes and restaurants and were very crowded. We had a good view of the Triumphal Arch, which was erected during the reconstruction of Lisbon following a devastating earthquake. We headed towards Alfama where we intended to take the No. 28 tram, which we had read did a circular route of this historical area.
 We first walked rather than get the tram. The streets were all cobbled and extremely steep, so the walk was tiring in the heat. The sights were wonderful of very narrow streets with ancient leaning houses, decorated with colourful tiles. There are no gardens and no pavements and I had to laugh at a little dog who had its head out of a window and barked at passersby. Just like a dog barks at the gate at home.
On our way to Castela Sao Jorge, which is at the top of the highest hill in Lisbon, we stopped half way to visit Se Patriarcal, the oldest church in the city built in 1150. The castle is a maze of ruins and we walked up and down worn stone steps. From the castle ramparts and towers we had a panoramic view of the city and Brian took hundreds of photos in all directions.
Feeling tired we decided now was the time to take the tram ride. We waited at the stop and an old man started talking to us. He gave us a history lesson on the Portuguese invasion of seven countries, including Mozambique. Twice a tram arrived, but he advised us not to take it, as it was only a short ride of seven minutes. We took the third tram, which he promised was a “good” ride. Yes, it was and we went a long way through the old and new parts of Lisbon. When the tram stopped and the driver told us to get off, as this was the end of the line, we just sat there reluctant to move. We thought “where the hell are we?”
 We started walking back in the direction we had come. We stopped at a beautiful church, but a service was being held so we only stayed a few minutes. We reached the gardens we had passed on the tram and stopped to have a drink at a little café by the lake. This gave Brian the opportunity to study the map and he suggested we try to find our way to Alta, which we had read was the centre of the Fado district (folk music).
We walked up and down the narrow alleys paved with slippery pebbles. Some of the alley ways had hundreds of steps and some were so narrow that the roofs of the houses almost touched. We passed arches and courtyards, and the whole scene was very quaint and colourful, especially the laundry hanging from windows and balconies. However, by now the quaint little streets had lost their fascination as I was so tired and the area was beginning to look seedy. Not frightening though as we never felt threatened. In fact everyone was so helpful, especially in the tiny shops where we stopped to buy water. I just wanted to reach “somewhere”. We never did find any restaurants with Fado music.
On we went and decided to find our way back to the metro station in Baixa, where we had seen a number of street cafes. When Brian said he was sure it was just the other side of the hill I thought “this is worse than hiking”! I never expected Lisbon to be so hilly. By the time we reached there we were hungry and tired and I was thinking “Did we really want to go so far on the tram in the first place?” We sat down at a little street café and asked for the menu. The man shrugged his shoulders and said “Não, Não”. We weren’t sure whether we were too early or too late to eat. We made our way back to the metro and thought we would eat at the hotel. By this time we didn’t care what it would cost.
 Once we were on the metro we decided to get off at an earlier station, which we had been told was very close to our hotel. We came out of the underground on to Avenue du Republica. So far so good. Alas we walked in the wrong direction. By this time it was too dark to read the fine print on the map, so we stopped a couple of times and asked directions to the Holiday Inn. People confirmed we were going the right way, even a policeman.
We saw the sign for the Holiday Inn and there was a huge statue outside and we thought it was strange that we hadn’t noticed it before. We went inside and went straight to the restaurant and found we were just in time before it closed at 22:00. We had enough time to go to the room to drop the backpack off, which was extremely heavy as Brian had bought beers and cold drinks along the way. When we went to the lift I said “Brian, this is the wrong Holiday Inn!”
We went to the reception and was told we were at the Lisbon Holiday Inn and the Intercontinental was a long way back to the metro and then a short distance from the metro. I was finished and my foot was so sore. Brian said we would hail a taxi, but we only saw one, which didn’t stop. Eventually we staggered into the hotel and thank goodness our restaurant stayed open until 01:00. So at nearly 23:00 we had Shrimp Bisque, Salmon Medallions and Vegetables. Delicious! And then fell into bed.
If it sounds as if we had a miserable day, on the contrary we had a marvelous time.
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