Lisbon—October 6-9

October 7th: We arrived yesterday afternoon about 3:00PM and caught the Metro to Pensao Estacao Central, our residence adjacent to the Lisbon Central Train Station. We're in the heart of Lisbon and this will be home for our last three days.

Yesterday before boarding the bus from Albufeira to Lisbon we met Wayne and Wendy, a couple from Toronto. They were going to Lisbon for the first time, so we took them under our wing and helped them get Metro cards and rode with them to our mutual stop, finally pointing them to the "Big i" for further directions.

We were overwhelmed by the volume of visitors yesterday afternoon. There seemed to be more tourists now than a month ago. And then while walking up the Alfama neighborhood for dinner we noticed the cruise ship docked at the foot of the hill. Right, forgot about the cruise ship invasions.

This video of college students having some fun gives a sense of the number of tourists in Lisbon.


Once settled in the pension we hit the streets, walking up to the Alfama district to Oprego, a favorite tapas restaurant of ours.

Oprego is small but fabulous and can be found just below Graca

at Largo Rodrigues de Freitas, n14-18. See their Facebook page.

We ordered the 12 piece sampler.

Tile mural representing the 

Carnation Revolution.

Read this. It explains the rubber
ducky store pictured to the left.

Praça do Comércio was built to commemorate Lisbon's
reconstruction after the 1755 earthquake. Rua da Augusta
Arch in the background was completed in 1873. The plaza
fronts the Tagus River and the colonades that encircle the
plaza (see left) now house restaurants and cafes instead of
banks and government offices.

(see close up of Rua da Augusta at: http://moretravelswith
rickandmarie.blogspot.pt/2017/08/portugal.html)

Just wandering streets around Baixa Chiado
and came across this street artist.

Add money to his can and viola!

Cafe Gare across from the Lisbon Central Train Station.

Ruinas do Carmo/Convent of Our
Lady of Mount Carmel—main door.

The Convent of Our Lady of Mount
Carmel was founded in 1389 and
decimated in the 1755 earthquake.

Bell tower built in 1389-1423
survived the 1755 earthquake.
Clock added around 1900.

Sky bridge from Ruinos do Carmo
to Santa Justa elevator (i.e. better
known as Carmo Lift) opened in
1902. Famous for wrought iron Neo-
Gothic decor that mirrors the Gothic
Ruinos do Carmo.

Lovely Art Deco architecture along streets
between Rossio plaza and Praça do Comércio.

Glove shop wide enough for three

customers, maybe four. 

This Starbucks was huge.

Wandered streets enough to earn a coffee at Starbucks in a
high-end shopping complex.

Woman in sunglasses is Rosie, not Meryl Streep. We met her
and Marta and had a long and energetic conversation about
life in Miami, Seattle (where Marta lived for five years), and
Portugal.

Just took some street scenes on our afternoon walk.

Tapas and Friends is next door to our pension and we enjoyed
a delicious late lunch. We ordered the recommended spare ribs,
smoked salmon and feta salad, and tomato and mozzarella and
herb bruschetta. Followed that up with a custard tart with port
and a pot of chocolate mousse and espresso. Mmmm!

Cantinho do Avillez, one of Jose Avillez's five restaurants.
The decor of this tavern was whimsical and the food
was scrumptious. 

Chef Jose Avillez is considered one of the greats in Portugal.
His restaurant Belcanto has earned two Michelin Stars. We
happened upon Cantinho do Avillez while walking around
Baixa Chiado neighborhood, an up and coming area.

Ceramic food hangs from the ceiling,
adding to the fun atmosphere. The
decor may be playful, but the food
is seriously delicious.

We forgot to take pictures of the
three dishes and dessert. As you
can see, we were attacking this
salad until I remembered to take
a picture of this asparagus and
mushroom salad. We were so lost
in the meal I also forgot to take
a picture of our desserts. We were
definitely "in the moment."

Final Thoughts
We thoroughly enjoyed our month in Portugal, particularly the civilized social structure and friendly and helpful people.

Albufeira—here and there

Remember, you can enlarge pictures by clicking on them.

September 27 to October 6, 2017

Mural on side of fire station.

Ya, that's the Atlantic at the end of the street.

Albufeira pier.

Great sculpture that honors the fishing history of Albufeira.

We liked the color of the evening sky.

Continente is a massive store that carries everything from
groceries to beach towels. It's a super store for sure.

On the lower level of Continente is a food court with this, 

Pizza Hut, and a gelato store that also sells cocktails. There's

something not seen in Seattle.

View from our balcony.

The seagulls are the crows and pigeons of Albufeira.

The Pingo Doce (Portuguese grocery chain) here in Albufeira
has a cafeteria that serves traditional food and specialty meals
such as grilled salmon at unbelievably low prices. This lunch
fed both of us for $6.25.

And of course you can have a carafe, small or full bottle of

wine with your meal, or like this guy, supersize it.

We love Pingo Doce.

Name a cheese and Pingo Doce has it.

In addition to the cafeteria, Pingo Doce offers prepared foods.
We purchased some frango chicken, a traditional favorite in
the Algarve, and it was delicious.

Rick's favorite potato chips.

Old Town Albufeira from atop the escalator down to it.

Ingreja Matriz (Mother Church) 

Ingreja Matriz (Mother Church)

 
This is what Old Town is all about.

This shop doesn't need a name. These grot shops are geared to
kids. Albufeira has something for all ages and Portuguese
families come here in August for their holiday. Brits retire
here in large numbers as is evident by what's on restaurant
menus and the sheer volume of bars catering to British tastes.

We walked through Old Town last night
and couldn't believe the number of bars.
Mainly Brits, Irish, and Germans drinking
themselves silly. In the morning Albuferia
is a sleepy town but after dark...look out!

And here's a small sampling of our walk last night.

The main square is surrounded by restaurants pumping out
music and each one competing for the biggest portions at
unreasonable prices.

It's actually evening, but the "Vegas" lighting from restaurant
row here on the main square, makes it seem as if it's afternoon.

Yep, that's the Rock Cafe (not Hard Rock Cafe) adjacent to
the Tic Tac Bar.

Sir Harry's seemed to be the hangout for
single men. The single women were at the
next bar over.

Nothing but shops and bars as far as the eye can see in the

old town. It's not our thing, but folks were having tons of fun.

 

Tunnel leading to the beach and our escape.

 

The Atlantic is warmer than up north at Peniche.

Since we have a studio in what is considered the heart of Albufeira, which luckily means not in Old Town, we can prepare simple meals at "home" after our morning walk followed by a lie about at the pool, reading and swimming—what's become our routine.

Looking out to the marina breakwater just beyond Old Town.

 

Close up of decoration above door to the right.

Looking down stairs attached to the

elevator that also goes to beach.

Elevator to beach.

From lookout adjacent to elevator, looking
back to the beach that fronts Old Town. The
mound standing alone was once part of
cliff. Signs warn that wind erosion and land-
slides are a danger.

Cliff at foot of elevator and stairs

to the beach. It's crumbly.

It's another sunny morning. Here are some pictures we took on our morning walk; we walk one to two hours each morning before it gets hot. Today (Sunday, October 1st) it's supposed to be 80 (26.6 celsius), but it's about 65 (18c) when we head out each morning. We walked toward the new area of Albufeira today and were amazed at all the new hotels and homes, one after the other stretching for miles along the coast.

This picture was taken back toward Albufeira at a crest of a
hill as we made our way back to our apartment.

This building seemed appropriately named.

This is a typical menu outside restaurants in Albufeira.

Chalet Santa Rita sits on a large
corner lot 50 feet from the Atlantic.

This little "car" sells artisanal popsicles, Albufeira's version
of Seattle Pops.

This apartment looks out to the Atlantic and has a garden,

unusual here.

Our apartment building sits above this, the Belle Vista
Commercial Center.

We'd walked over an hour and decided to stop for a toasted
ham and cheese breakfast sandwich and orange juice. This
McCafe is right of the main counter where Big Macs and
fries are sold. Here, you can get a good latte or espresso.

And like everywhere we've traveled, wifi is free and ubiquitous.

Steps from the main road to ours and 

hundreds more apartment complexes.

It's October 1, 2017. It's not easy being us!

A macaroon snack and espresso after a tough day poolside.

Sunrise at 7:10AM on our last day in Albufeira.

Albufeira marina. Fishing boats have a safe harbor and haven't
run their boats up on the beach since the early 80's.

Full moon rising.