First day in Lisbon. Did I mention I am in the old quarter on a hill. No matter where I want to go in the city, it involves stairs up, stairs down and many, many hills.
As a result I broke my cardinal rule and walked down to the main square (which has been converted into a World Cup viewing pen, complete with giant big screen) and bought a ticket for the big yellow bus tours. My ticket got me a ride on the Historic tram, a boat cruise and two hop-on/hop-off tours of Lisbon. It was nice to spend a day of my feet and allowing someone else to manage the route.
Historic tram first - a 45 minute circuit of the old city - which even goes up into the Alfama neighbourhood where I am staying. The streets are so narrow in places that the tram squeezes between cars and walls with only cms to spare - and there are no big cars in the quarter as they are too wide for the car parks. The tramways are so narrow that at times they have to pull onto a siding to allow traffic to come down the hill before proceeding along the route. At one stage our driver even had to get out switch the tracks, move the tram forward and switch them back before going about our journey. Lots of history about the 1775 earthquake and stories about the older areas of the city.
Next stop, the river cruise for an hour and a half along the River Tagus. Lots to see and marvel at and once again a great history lesson from the water.
Final activity for the day was the old Lisbon bus tour which took us from the Restauradores in a circuit around the city, once again giving history lessons and commentary on the city of Lisbon.
By the end of these trips I was shattered - it was a hot 32 degrees today and even though I had sought shade all day and used my Aussie sunscreen, after a quick trip to the supermarket for Pepsi, upon arrival home the mirror confirmed that I was badly burned despite my efforts. Straight into the coldest of showers to take the sting out, followed by cold compresses to ease the burns and I thought I was done for the day. I made a little nest to rest on my bed but as I listened to the sounds of the Portuguese World Cup party down in the square I went for one final walk to discover some nearby viewing points and listen the the silent city. Back home and in bed early and I finally got a solid eight hours of much-needed sleep to fuel the body for the next day.
I wish I could say it was getting easier to navigate to my apartment but I am still struggling and sometimes Google Maps is not particularly helpful. Today I got hopelessly lost and was pretty close to a full blown tantrum, only to find it had directed me to the back of my building and I just had to walk around the other side. Again first world problems!
Join me tomorrow for a day-trip to Sintra.
