We arrived in Lisbon at 8:00am. We checked into our hostel, which was very nice. It was breakfast time and they had eggs! Eggs with bacon mixed in. And it was delicious. It was well-seasoned and perfectly cooked. This blows away any breakfast we have had anywhere. They also have a meal cooked every day at 9pm. 9pm is an early dinner by Spanish/Portuguese standards. You have to sign up and it is 5 euro. This seemed like a pretty good deal to us and we had it the two nights we were there. The staff was great and helped us decide what to see while we were there. The hostel also had a great social scene. Other hostels should take notes.
As we were eating breakfast we talked to some people that were heading out on an all-day tour which left at 9am. I saw an ad for it and knew it cost 30 euro. It sounded interesting, but this was definitely something we wanted to hear reviews from before we signed up to go. A kid we met in Vienna, Austria was also staying at this hostel and going on the trip today. I told him I wanted a full report later.
There was no rush for us to leave our hostel that morning. Shortly after 11:30am we set out for Belem, which is a section of the city of Lisbon. This section contains historical buildings from the period when Portugal was a maritime powerhouse. It is also located at the entrance to the bay that Lisbon is situated on.
The first building we visited was the Mosteiro dos Jeronimous. It was in disrepair and needed a new paint job, but it was cheap so we were fine with the condition. The thing with Lisbon, unlike most other cities we had been to, is that it doesn’t have one specific site that is a ‘must-see.’ It has multiple places that are good to visit, but you won’t leave regretting not seeing them. It was easy to see that this Mosteiro was once a beautiful building, but it was disappointing in the current condition. The courtyard and cathedral within it was very nice, however. Feed the hungry? Clean the poor? Naw. Let’s build another sweet church!
The Chapel inside
I forgot to mention Brandon enrolled in an aerobics class where they do exercises on historical sights. Here he is with a classmate.
Continuing the trend of disappoint was the Belem Tower. This was the first structure sailors would see when they entered Lisbon. It was covered in gold and silver and a magnificent sight. At least the original was from what we read. This remake was not a remarkably massive structure and fairly plain. However, it was interesting and cheap so no complaints. Back in the States this would be something to visit, but in Europe it doesn’t compare with some of the other buildings we have seen.
From the tower we walked along the bay inlet until we came upon a memorial, Padrao dos Descobrimentos, to the famous voyagers from Portugal. Vasco de Gama is the most famous of these. Nice monument. Snapped a picture and moved on.
Both the receptionist at our hostel and Rick Steves told us we had to try these pastries that originated in Belem and are now popular throughout Portugal. They are called Pasteis de Belem. I got side-tracked on our way when I saw a menu listed outside a small fast-food joint along the way. The most expensive thing on their menu was 4 euro and I nearly snapped my neck when I saw it out of the corner of my eye. As we were glancing over the menu hoping our fluency in Portuguese would jump into action some man walking by stopped and asked if we needed help.
I was wearing my Detroit Half-marathon shirt and he noticed it while walking by. He told us he was from a suburb of Detroit also and had been living in Europe for over 20 years. He is an artist and first moved to a small town in France before moving to Sintra in Portugal, which is just outside of Lisbon. He told us it is a beautiful, hilly city and that we should go since we were whining about the heat and it was cooler there. He then helped us interpret the menu and knew everybody walking by on the street and inside the fast-food joint. When I went to shake his hand as he departed I decided now would be a great time to make an ass of myself; I flipped the try as I retracted my hand sending my delicious chicken wrap all over the ground. The staff just laughed at me and refused to allow me to pay for the new sandwich they made for me. When they handed it to me they mockingly motioned to use both hands when carrying the tray. Haha…
Then we went for our pastry desert. As I type I realize I should have taken a picture of it. Just know that it was really good and covered in brown and powdered sugar. We also ran into the group that went on the 30 euro van tour this morning. They said they had a great time and that we should definitely do it. We decided we’d sign up when we got back to the hostel. It was time to head back anyway and wait for our freshly-prepared dinner.
It was about 7pm when we arrived back at the hostel. I went out to the patio/bar because it was cooler than the inside of our hostel. I started chatting with another American, though I can’t remember his name. He was having some wine and in front of him sat a tray of chorizo, cheeses, plums, and ham. I was worried he might be a hipster and start explaining to me how much more cultured he is then me. He turned out to be a guy I could get along with. I couldn’t believe they were playing old bluesmen songs in the background (son house, john lee hooker… that genre) so I brought that up. I chatted with him, someone else (never found out where he was from), and Ben from Australia about the blues for a little. Brandon I think was showering and at this point he came down to join us. Shortly thereafter we met 3 very cool Aussies.
They sat down next to us and we began to chat. It was a married couple and the wife’s younger sister. They were a riot and we chatted for a few hours, ate dinner, and chatted some more. Other people came and left our conversation. Ourselves and the Aussies didn’t leave the patio until about midnight and then we headed up the street to the bar district. We somehow managed to pick up two younger kids (around 20-21 I’d guess) from California that wanted to head out, too. They were drinking some of grand dad’s cough syrup and were starting to zone out. They weren’t too much fun to converse with anyway, so maybe this was a good thing and they would be too drunk to notice we weren’t talking to them much.
The 7 of us approached the bar district and the streets were decently crowded with people. The little sister, Jenn, had one of the biggest personalities we encountered since being in Europe. She was a riot and definitely a fun girl to have at your party. She ‘took the piss out’ of everybody she talked to (Aussie-speak for bullshitting someone). She let loose while the rest of us danced a little, but for the most part we continued to drink and talk. We called it a night around 2:00am, maybe?
The next day we figured we would try to book our train tickets to Pamplona because it was a strong possibility that the trains were booking up fast for the San Fermin festival. From the train station we planned to walk back to our hostel and hit up some of the historical sights on our walk.
In any other city a walk like this would be maybe 40 minutes and no big deal. But Lisbon lays It’s foundation on 7 hills and it seemed like we had to scale all of them on our walk back. In truth, we walked up and down 4 different hills on this short walk. You are constantly walking up or downhill in this city.
Unfortunately I took this picture at a slight angle from how I was standing. Look at how high the road rises along the buildings to get a better idea of how steep the street is. This picture captures roughly ¼ of the climb to our hostel.
Leaving the hostel around 11am, we took the tram to the train station. It just so happened that the lady working in this particular train station is the most ardent follower of Eurail rules and regulations in all of Europe. She wanted the pointless book that came with my Eurail. Technically I am supposed to have it with me, but only one other person yelled at me for not having it and still accepted it. Obviously there was no way in hell Brandon was going to get past her in his situation. Guess we’d have to wait for our tickets to Pamplona.
The first site on our excursion was the National Pantheon. Started in the 17th century and completed in 1960. Guinness World Record for inefficiency? We walked around the building and around the dome that capped it. It also had a nice vantage point from the terrace on the roof. This building is used to house the remains of some of the most important figures in Portuguese history.
Next stop was a church of course, because in Europe every other stop happens to be one.
A sweet tomb
Then another church
The closest thing to a must-see attraction in Lisbon, I would say, is the medieval castle atop one of the city’s hills. It is huge and well intact.
Here is a picture of the main shopping center (at least as far as we saw) in Lisbon. It was very different from the rest of the city, which is slightly rundown. We also didn’t have to walk far to get weed or coke here. One guy approached us offering marijuana and Brandon touched his nose to signal that he wanted cocaine. The guy got excited and said he had some. Brandon had to tell him that we were just browsing right now, but maybe later.
We got back to our hostel at 8:30pm and waited for our daily home-cooked meal to be served. When we arrived the Aussies from last night were just getting back from the van tour. They said they had the time of their lives and that we should go. We were signed up to do it tomorrow and now were really anticipating it. Brandon and I went to the patio bar to hang out, but it was only the American wino from last night who was there with his tray full of assorted food in front of him. He said he did this every day. It was also happy hour and the theme tonight was “toss the boss.” Call the right side of the coin and you get a free beer. Get it wrong and you pay normal price for your beer. I went 2 for 3 on free beers. The people from the van tour began to flood in and we chatted with the Aussies a little. However, they planned to leave early tomorrow so the husband and wife went to bed. Jenn, the party animal, had ambitions of staying up all night. We told her she was on her own.
A reoccurring experience with hostels is the fresh faces that arrive daily. Today’s crop included 2 German girls. We also talked to Ben, the Australian, for a while and Jade, another girl from Australia.
One of the girls from Germany, Jenny, was really interesting to talk to. It was to the point where I felt I was weighing the conversation down with my lack of stories. While in high school she went to the States for a year to live. She took a survey to match her with a host family and she was paired with a southern Baptist family. Jenny decided the survey was flawed. She made a friend whose family was travelling carnies. Jenny abandoned her host family and travelled the south as a carney working at a “basketball joint” game. She admitted the rim is slightly oval-shaped. Shady carnival games… She then went back to Germany and then moved to (I think it was) Spain for 2 years. After, she worked for AirBerlin for a couple years and traveled the world. I could not compete but I was too fascinated to walk away. Eventually the 2 German girls and everyone else at the bar went to the bar district. I had decided I wasn’t going out because of the long van tour we were doing tomorrow. Brandon had been chatting with other people, also, and went to bed a little before me. We both didn’t feel like fighting heavy eyelids all day tomorrow on our tour.
Jenny, Jade, and I
Our tour was supposed to start at 9am, but everyone was running behind. Portuguese, much like the Spanish, are laid back and in no hurry. We ended up heading out a little after 9:30am I believe. Our group of 9 included Nelson, our driver, 6 Australian girls, Brandon, and I. Aussies are everywhere! Luckily they tend to be really fun, interesting people to hang out with.
Our first stop was Pena Palace, which is in Sintra. The same Sintra where our friend from Metro-Detroit lives. It was built for a Portuguese queen and is surrounded by a huge garden full of vegetation imported from all over the world. We saw Sequoya trees from western North America, which wasn’t even colonized during the time period this garden was planted. Brandon and I accompanied the girls on the walk to the palace and then split off to walk briskly across the large garden in order to get a picture from its highest vantage point. It was a 15 minute walk at a quick pace and we barely fit it in before we left, but it offered a great view of the surrounding area.
We then went for a picnic at the most western point in Europe. Lunch was provided and he didn’t skimp. I was starving before lunch but left full.
From there we headed for the beach. Brandon and I realized too late why everyone from our hostel went to the beach. It was a nice beach in itself, but there was also a busy little town just off of it. You could easily spend the day here. I kicked the soccer ball around with Nelson and went for a swim while Brandon caught some rays.
Afterwards, the tour went to Belem and stopped at all the sites Brandon and I had already covered. We, along with two Aussies that had also already been to Belem, sat on our asses in the van while the other half of the group went exploring. Our tour ended at the same famous pastry shop Brandon and I went to on the first day. We got off our asses for this stop.
We got back to the hostel and I used a shower in the room of the girls we met today. We were checked out at this point and had no room. I needed to shower because when we were at the beach earlier I was the only one that went swimming. Before I did, though, I made the girls promise me I could use their shower when I got back so I didn’t feel filthy on the sleeper train back to Madrid. When I got out of the shower Brandon was chatting up two Canadians that were heading out for the same train as us. They just started travelling so we gave them our quick speech on ‘things we wish we knew when we started backpacking’ that we give to all the fresh meat we meet along the way. The sleeper train departed at 10:30pm.
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