January 22, 2026
Falling for Lisbon
Bumps and All
We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.
Anthony Bourdain
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Well, you will see we have ridden 0 km as yet. Our bikes remain cosied up in their bags but man, our feet have had a workout! Today we walked almost 14 km. And the day we arrived, we managed almost 5 km., probably mostly in the Paris airport. But we did get out yesterday to orient ourselves a bit to our immediate neighbourhood and the nearby riverfront of the Tagus. Good name for a dog I think. Here’s our street in both directions.
I had a 1/2 nap in the afternoon when I realized I had fallen asleep several times while writing yesterday’s post. We had not slept after all before arriving here. But we both had a great sleep - it was as quiet as Galiano - and had an equally great breakfast in our hotel’s sweet little breakfast room.
During breakfast, one of the staff kindly phoned the lost luggage tracking and found me an English speaker who assured me our luggage would be delivered today - and so it was. That bump has been resolved.
Fueled by numerous coffees from a good machine, we headed back down to the riverfront and spent the day walking along the promenade, exploring different buildings and squares en route. There is a good bike path all along there so Jim will likely unpack the bikes tomorrow and we will do a ride at some point, weather permitting.
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4 days ago
It rained last night but we even had some sun in the morning. We could see more rain was coming in the afternoon so we made the most of the dry part of the day, retreating back to the hotel during the afternoon. It is still a pleasant temperature - 14 - and has not been particularly windy so not sure about Storm Ingrid’s severe weather warning. However, the rain forecast is continuing for the next week so we have done what we often do - changed our plans.
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3 days ago
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4 days ago
We have booked two more nights in our lovely hotel to see more of Lisbon now, as there are so many inside things to see and plan to leave Monday by bus to Évora, about two hours away inland and slightly south. We will postpone our original plan to ride all the way south down the coast to the Algarve. This gets us closer to the Alentego Region where we want to ride before the Algarve. Rain is pretty much everywhere right now but we will do what we can. Really glad I splurged on a pair of Vessi waterproof short boots I can wear for walking and cycling. And we have good rain gear. Into (almost) every cycling trip, a little rain must fall.
We’ve booked 2 nights in what looks like a lovely apartment hotel in Évora (with breakfast again) and will stay longer if need be. Another bump resolved. It was a bit challenging making bus reservations for us and the bikes online, though we know they do take bagged bikes, so we will walk to the station tomorrow and do it in person. This will be another test for our folding bikes.
The Tagus River or Rio Tajo where we walked today, so vital to Lisbon now and throughout history, is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula where it originates in eastern Spain, emptying into the Atlantic at Lisbon. Lisbon is actually on a big salt/freshwater estuary, called the Mar da Polha, a bit like the San Francisco Bay Area, with ferries going here and there. It also has a similar looking bridge to the Golden Gate called the 25 de Abril Bridge, the date of the Carnation Revolution in 1974, a peaceful military-led coup - an amazing part of Portuguese history - that overthrew the authoritarian regime led by Antonio Salazar. The bridge was named after Salazar when it was inaugurated in 1966. Make one almost hopeful for the US and the rest of us when contemplating this event in history. Citizens apparently climbed the bridge pillars to remove the large brass letters that spelled out “Salazar”. Maybe some brave souls will do the same for the Kennedy Centre.
We have not seen the other bridge yet, the Vasco de Gama, once the longest bridge in Europe at 17.2 km.
So we had a most interesting walk along the river promenade towards the river’s mouth. There are still lots of interesting older buildings from its maritime past that are now restaurants and cafes, and several beautiful Art Deco ferry buildings. We also saw big freighters in the distance.
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The variety of boats was interesting from one huge ugly cruise ship to some graceful traditional wooden sailboats and other tourist river cruise boats.
We circled back through the lower part of the Alfalma district, the oldest and most traditional area in Lisbon, a warren of very narrow cobblestone streets and steep stairways that lead up to the Castelo de São Jorge at the top. We are working up to seeing that. It is one of the few areas that survived the devastating 1755 earthquake that destroyed most of Lisbon, preserving its original medieval layout and Moorish architectural influences. The name means hot spring or baths that were once prominent in the area. During Moorish rule, it was the entire city of Lisbon, but as the city expanded westward, it became a working class neighbourhood of mainly fisherman and the poor. I noticed many Fado bars and restaurants where you can hear this traditional music, if we can ever manage going out at night!
There were several quite old-looking notions shops in this area.
We ended up in a massive square, the Praça Comércio, that looks out to the river, with an huge equestrian statue of King José I, who was the reigning monarch at the time of the earthquake. It depicts serpents being crushed under his horse’s hooves, representing the triumph of the monarchy over its enemies. It has other figures representing Triumph and Fame. I do hope Trump never visits Lisbon - it will give him more bad ideas. And it apparently was the Prime Minister who led the rebuilding of Lisbon. The square is backed by a stunning arch, the Arco da Rue Augusta, also part of the reconstruction of the city but was only finished over 100 years later.
We came across the Museum of Design that had the most elegant, spare gift shop I have ever seen. We will return to see the exhibits when we are fresher.
We stopped for a revival coffee and a yummy cinnamon cream bun at the Copenhagen Coffee Lab, a very trendy cafe near our hotel. I did return my cappuchino as it was not hot but the barista was so nice about it and insisted he would re-brew Jim’s flat white as well. We have found everyone we have encountered here so friendly and helpful, and English has been spoken by all so far. And the city feels very relaxed. No doubt very different in the high season.
We hung out at the hotel through the rain until dinner time and then walked the short distance to the Time Out Market, a gorgeous food hall full of 26 small restaurants, bars, shops and a cooking academy. It opened in 2014 in a beautiful old building with a dome. It’s a concept started by the British founder of TimeOut, a cultural magazine and what a terrific place it is! Open till midnight, you meander from eatery to eatery where they display the actual dishes they serve, along with wine and beer. It’s wonderful to be able to actually see food you are unfamiliar with before ordering.
The inside walls are lined with small restaurant kiosks and the middle is filled with big wooden tables where everyone eats en famille. There were so many delicious options as well as specialty bars for port - will have to try the port flights - sangria and aperol spritz, plus amazing desserts. My blood sugar went up just looking at them. Still coping with my Xmas sugar addiction.
We were mired in indecision but finally I ordered a shrimp and bean stew with a glass of very nice Portuguese white wine and Jim ordered a big cod cake mixed with vegetable and a Bock beer. You are given an electronic device that vibrates and flashes when your meal is ready for pickup and everyone eats at big wooden tables. We may have every meal there!
We passed on dessert but are thinking of stopping by tomorrow for a coffee and one of these elaborately decorated donuts.
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A couple of unusual aspects to the TimeOut Market - a falconer is on duty to keep other birds out and they don’t take cash - only credit or vouchers. Robbery insurance I wonder? It’s open til midnight.
Upstairs is a wonderful bookstore with lots of English books. I bought a poetry book, by a famous Portuguese writer and poet I had been reading about, Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) and A Brief History of Portugal.
Home to our little hotel where I decamped to the lounge to write this. Falling for Lisbon big time!
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It's great to be reading your posts again and vicariously enjoying Lisbon. I've always thought Portugal would be a wonderful country to visit, so this will be a fun daily exercise for me. Andreas and Rachel left for Southeast Asia in October and are returning next week with a visit here before heading for Victoria. I'm looking forward to hearing all about their travels too!
3 days ago
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3 days ago
Fingers crossed the weather behaves🤞
Love J
3 days ago