Lisbon—Our Last Day (November 4, 2018)

Today we visited our new bakery ready afterward to walk up Liberdade Avenue for the 100th Anniversary Armistice Parade. We found a bench about a block down from the grandstand and waited. And then we waited some more. And some more. We people-watched and chatted with folks who joined us on our bench and waited some more.

Two hours later, even though the crowd had filled in and was patiently waiting, the parade still hadn't started so we walked toward the grandstand to see what was up. A few minutes after meeting Nala (an adorable cocker spaniel and her mom Felippia) the parade began.

Felippia gave us some great commentary and information about changes to Portugal in the last five years, and the current situation regarding the influx of tourists and the unintended consequences of being a destination for EU members and the rest of the world.

Looking across Liberdade Avenue at 10AM when the parade
was scheduled to begin. Note the "crowd".

30 minutes later I zoomed in on the troops a block away. They
were assembled in front of the WWI Memorial but they didn't
look as if they were starting. 

I had plenty of time to notice stuff such as these little ships
capping the street lamps. I didn't notice them last year.

1h 45 minutes of waiting later, I took this picture, thinking these
National Guard members might be the only parade we'd see.

After two hours we walked to the grandstand and that's when
we saw the whole shindig getting underway. These are veterans
marching to their reserved seats.

And we're off as troops from the allied nations who fought in
WWI marched down the avenue.

Doughboy representatives.

Nala and Felippia.

    Felippia said these are the "bad ass" guys!

And that's a wrap, folks! And now on to linner, our last (this year) at Tapas-n-Friends.

Couldn't resist the octopus salad again...

the parma ham and mozzarella cheese bruschetta...

and chocolate mousse.

                    A couple of happy campers here! 

Monday morning we started our day at our new favorite
bakery just behind our hotel. And then...pack and hit the
Metro for the airport. It'll be a long travel day, but we'll get
home around 10PM local time and be able to ease back into
a normal routine with not much jet lag.

Just in case you need to check your
social media account, because being
connected 24/7 is crucial, here's a
reminder on the Metro platform.

Imagine our surprise when dinner
was served a few hours into our
Portugal Air flight. Check out the
metal eating utensils!

The wine service, like the meal, was
part of the flight. Way to go TAP!

Saturday in Lisbon

After breakfast we wandered down to the river and eventually up to the Alfama for lunch at O'prego, another favorite restaurant of ours. There are so many good and reasonably priced restaurants in Lisbon, but it's especially fun returning to a favorite. And here are some shots from our today's wandering.

This cafe is behind our hotel down a curved street we hadn't
walked along until today. We both had excellent and cheap
coffees. We'll return tomorrow. So long Baire Gare Cafe!

Note the shuttered building to the left and the one where
Padaria do Bairro Cafe is. We've noticed this throughout
the Baixa district. I'm guessing that by next year the building
on the left will be gutted and renovated like many of the older
buildings in this district.

Walking toward Tagus River and

Commerce Square.

Commerce Square was built on the site of the Ribeira Palace
that was destroyed by a tsunami in the 1755 Earthquake. This
square faces the Tagus River and its proportions are typically
18th century in design. In other words, mammoth.

A guy was working on sand sculptures at the river. He had this
sign posted on the railing overlooking where he was working.

Don't know if these are rhinos or mythical creatures, but the

next morning we walked down to the river again and asked

him, and the sculptor said they are tigers.

Santa Justa elevator from the other side.

Hey look, Christmas window dressing.

Time for some street shots on our
wanderings around the Baixa.

Occasionally you pop out at the top of a stairway leading up
or down to a plaza. Oh, and look, there's St. George's Castle.

It's what's for dinner.

This building is across the street

from this guesthouse.

It looks as if there's nothing here
on this little street up & off Rossio
Square, but there's all kinds of work
being done on apartments with cafes,
restaurants, guesthouses, and yes,
families living in this quiet street a
minute's walk to one of the busiest
squares in Lisbon.

Santa Cruz do Castelo is below
St. George's Castle and we loved
it the other day when we found
it accidentally via the "Good
Health" stairs and escalator so
we returned on our way up to
the Alfama where we'd have
lunch/dinner at O'Prego.

Along the walls of this side street, the same one as this guy
carrying groceries walking toward us, are these black and
white photographs of folks from the neighborhood.

This is the Palace Next to St.
Christopher, an exterior shot this
time. This is the Palace that has a
placard describing the renovations
its undergone since the 15th century.

And this is what I presume is St.
Christopher's, because the palace
is next to it. The church, as you
can see, is getting a facelift.

The elevator goes down as well. 

The tapas here is fantastic and it was really hopping at lunch.

A little nosh to start our luxurious tapas feast.

When in doubt start with some-
thing simple. We didn't eat the
bread of the pork ribs and sausage
tapas; it was just too much.

See what I mean? Last year the
sampler had 12 smaller portions,
but now, they served 6 larger ones.

Eight French women were having an animated and serious
conversation. Politics may have been involved.

Urban art is everywhere.

Iconic scene: #28 Tram with Lisbon Cathedral.

Canned Portuguese fish and shellfish are renowned, so we
finally broke down and purchased some at this specialty store.

Okay, so now where was that pastry
shop we walked past this morning?

Ah, right where it was earlier.

A good way to cap off a large lunch/dinner (i.e. linner).

Around 6PM we heard a marching band so we investigated and the next three videos show what we found. When we returned to our room we got online and found out there's a military parade at 10AM recognizing 100 years since the WWI Armistice Sunday morning.