The train to Lisbon departed from Porto's Campanha station and we purchased our tickets in advance through the online system. The train journey did not have any great scenery so we passed time by playing Scrabble. We arrived in Lisbon via the Santa Apolonia station and our plans to purchase a Lisbon tourist card (that included a 3 day transport pass and map) were not helped by the tourist centre being closed on a Sunday. So we had no choice but to use trusty Google maps to navigate our way to the hotel.
Tram trip
Our first step from leaving the train station was to take the metro to Baixa Chiado (sort of an artistic / tourist area) and by chance found a tourist booth and were directed to use the No.28 tram to get up the hill to the Castle of Sao Jorge, where our hotel was located. The tram was packed full of tourists and luckily it was only a few stops before we got off and enjoyed the view over the River Tagus
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| Castelo Sao Jorge - location of our hotel |
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| Tram to the castle |
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| Feels like home in Melbourne |
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| Modern art - a collage of post-it notes |
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| Archway in Baixa Chaido |
Hotel - Solar de Castelo
Our hotel, Solar de Castelo was located within the walls of Castle of Sao Jorge, in what used to be the village surrounding the central Keep and Palace.
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| Location of our hotel - within the castle walls |
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| In the courtyard of our hotel |
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| Visitors to the hotel courtyard |
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| Cute 'do not disturb' sign |
Lisbon tour
After checking in, we walked back down to the main road and caught a tourist bus for a short tour of the main city centre before heading to the Marquess of Pombal Square - a large roundabout with a station for all the city's tourist buses. From this stop, we boarded the Belem tour bus and we kicked off the almost 2 hour tour down the Av. da Liberdade where we passed by Lisbon's famous white and black cobblestone pavements; the Ponte 25 de Abril (25th April Bridge) and the Cristo-Rei (statue of Christ the King) which is modelled on the famous Christ the Redeemer status in Rio de Janeiro.
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| View from the tram stop next to our hotel |
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| Famous black and white cobblestone street art |
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| April 25th bridge |
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| The Bullring |
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| Christo-Rei statue |
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| Tagus River, Lisbon |
Belem
The bus continued along the Tagus estuary, where we passed by the large monument to Henry the Navigator (patron to the Golden Age of Portuguese exploration) and the start point for many great maritime navigation expeditions like Vasco da Gama's discovery of the route to Asia. The area also contained the World Heritage sites of the Belem Tower and the Jeronimos Monastery.
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| Jeronimos Monastery |
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| Belem Tower |
Barrio Alto
From the river front, the bus headed back into the city where we were becoming quite drowsy in the warm sunshine. More tan lines appeared by the time the bus reached central Lisbon and we stopped off at the Barrio Alto area - a bar and eating district where waiters hand out business cards touting the live 'fado' (traditional Portuguese music) acts playing.
Our selection of a restaurant was based on finding a venue that didn't look too tourist tacky where the waiters tried to make funny small talk about the country you were from. We ended up eating at Alfaia, and enjoyed eating the salted cod (bacalhau), sausage and grilled octopus.
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| Barrio Alto - restaurant and bar area |
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| Salt cod |
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| Grilled octopus |
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| Traditional sausage |
Lisbon at Night
After dinner we walked back to the Castle area where Olie set up the tripod and captured the full moon and night skyline.
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| Full moon over the Tagus |
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| View from the tram stop next to our hotel |
Castle of Sao Jorge
The next morning we woke up to the sound of peacocks (sound just like roosters) and after a filling buffet breakfast, we headed for the inside of the Castle - early enough that there were very few tourists. The view from the castle walls was pretty amazing and we learnt how the Castle had played a role in history, particularly the Second Crusade where Lisbon was captured from the Moors.
The view from the castle overlooked the area of Portugal that was wiped out in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 that killed up to 100,000 people. After walking around, we headed for the Keep and the Tower of Ulysses where we had an opportunity to view a periscope that was based on the model invented by Leonardo Da Vinci. The periscope presented visitors with a real-time (we saw airplanes land at the airport) 360 degree view of Lisbon - a definite must-do for any visitor.
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| Statue of one of the first Kings of Portugal |
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| The castle was one of the principle defenses of the city |
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| Every castle needs a knight |
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| Jumping for joy at the castle keep |
From the castle, we headed for the bus stop and after waiting unsuccessfully for 45 minutes for an opportunity to reuse our tourist bus tickets, we caught a tram to the Baixa Chaido area and a Metro line to the Restauradores station for the direct train to our next destination - Sintra.
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The train to Lisbon departed from Porto's Campanha station and we purchased our tickets in advance through the online system. The train journey did not have any great scenery so we passed time by playing Scrabble. We arrived in Lisbon via the Santa Apolonia station and our plans to purchase a Lisbon tourist card (that included a 3 day transport pass and map) were not helped by the tourist centre being closed on a Sunday. So we had no choice but to use trusty Google maps to navigate our way to the hotel.
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