Lisbon: not for the dieter nor the careless

Every relationship has its unique difficulties. As I watched Airport Ron try to take off with some stranger’s luggage at SeaTac airport security, I had to remind myself that, without him, I cannot change the ceiling lightbulbs in our condo. Likewise, although I can report that the initial assessment of Lisbon is good, the founding fathers got a really great deal on some 19th century limestone tiles and promptly installed them everywhere, making Lisbon a little nerve wracking to wander. Below is a good example. Sure, it’s a lovely square, but add a little water and it’s like walking on oil.

We started our day with Carolina of Lisbon Riders, who picked us up for a city tour, just to get oriented. I booked this at the last moment, when I wasn’t sure how much mobility I would have on this trip. And while I’m getting around pretty well, every moment spent with Carolina was another moment I didn’t have to inch my way along that limestone tile and so I was especially grateful.

Carolina gave us a good overview of the city – especially about the Carnation Revolution – from April 25, 1974, when the authoritarian government was overthrown and about an earthquake that leveled Lisbon in 1755. She also took us down to the Belem area of the city to try a famous pastry called a Pastel de Nata.

I had already tried one of these at our hotel as we were checking in(diligent pastry student) and had felt they were pretty meh, but I gamely tried another with Carolina. The Pasteis de Belem cafe makes a recipe devised in 1837 by monks from a local monastery. The monks were desperate for an income source when all monasteries and convents were ordered to close and the buildings were nationalized.

Above is a picture of our first order, which was followed immediately by our second order. These things are perfection – a crispy, buttery crust, holding a slightly sweet, warm custard. We’re told the cafe sells 30,000 of these a day and that only 6 people in the world know the entire recipe.

In addition to the above pastries, here are a few of the other goodies Ron has sampled since we arrived 19 hours ago, heroically trying to stay within the parameters of Ron’s doctor’s healthy eating goals:

In case you’re trying to glean some actual trip-planning information from this post, we also went to the Jerominos Monastery from 1495. It’s an example of Manueline architecture – very Gothic with a lot of flamboyant details. Here we are waiting in line with our skip-the-line! pre-purchased tickets. Notice it’s raining so the limestone is extra slippery.

Here’s the interior, with a close-up of some of the Gothic detail:

From the monastery, we parted ways with Carolina and struck out on our own, armed, as always, with my small font phone GPS/failing vision and the fun that always flows from that. It was 7 kilometers from the monastery back to our hotel. First we stopped in at the National Coach Museum, which chronicles the history of the horse drawn carriage in Portugal. They ranged from merely ornate to outrageously ornate:

This was my favorite, though – the carriage to transport prisoners. There are six individual cells in this thing:

At some point in our wanderings we came to a highway we could not cross, wandered down a set of stairs thinking it was an underpass, and found this Metro station:

And though Ron will surely ridicule this offering, we also wandered past many of these community oil recycling tubs:

And past this mini-toilet for babies who are still crawling but have somehow mastered perching on toilets with no seats:

And then, finally, these beautiful vistas of Lisbon:

Tomorrow we head out with Lisbon Riders again – this time to a couple of monasteries in outlying towns. More later from this beautiful city…we’re excited to be out on the road again!!