Sadly it is time to say good-bye to Porto as we head to Lisbon. What a great time we had in Portugal’s second largest city!
We walked A LOT, climbed A LOT of hills, made new friends on our tours and during our Eatwith dinner, saw an old friend and learned a little Portuguese. Looking forward to what Lisbon holds for us.
Originally we planned to rent a car when we arrived on Sunday at Lisbon airport but fortunately my greater angels prevailed and we decided to take the train to and from Porto. We are glad we did as parking in Porto was pretty much non-existant and the drive back to Lisbon would have involved a trip to airport to return car and then a cab to our apartment in the Bairro Alto. The train ride from Porto to Lisbon is about 2.5 hours and was a welcome respite from all the walking we did in Porto.
Because the section of Bairro Alto where we are staying is an historic area, only cars with permits and taxis are permitted. There is an automatic steel pillar at the foot of the VERY steep hill into our neighborhood. I guess we should have know we were in for some hills as Bairro Alto translates to High Town. Our taxi driver had some anger management issues as quickest route to our apartment was closed due to today being a national holiday and a military parade was taking place. He wanted us to get out of the car after only 5 minutes and then walk the 2 miles uphill with luggage none the less and we refused. I called our host and let her give him the detour to our destination. We finally arrived and again very thankful our building has a lift and our apartment has air condititioning...I believe I have mentioned it is unseasonably warm.
The holiday today is Republic Day. It marks the day in 1910 when the monarchy of Portugal was overthrown and a republic was started.
Just like Rio, Lisbon has a Cristo Rei Christ statue across the Rio Tejo. Our apartment has a great view of him and the Pont 25 de Abril (April 25 Bridge). The bridge was designed by the same designers of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. In April 1974, what started as a military coup against Estado Novo grew in popularity and became a civil resistance that would lead to the fall of Novo’s regime and Portugal withdrawing from its African colonies.
After a quick orientation to our apartment by our host, we unpacked and headed back down the hill to wards the Time Out Market for dinner. The market is a bit of crazy scene with locals and tourists alike so we opted for a quiet restaurant and then headed to the market for some post dinner gelato.
It’s been a long day and tomorrow promises to be the hottest day of our trip so we are off to bed.
Boa noite!
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