Lisbon Portugal 2019

 

Monument to the Discoveries (Prince Henry the Navigator)

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Read next: Mallorca Spain Sept 2019

September 10 to 12 2019

Ray and I joined Suzanne and David Andrews in Toronto and flew together to Lisbon on September 9 2019. We had rented a two bedroom an apartment for three nights with www.booking.com. It was a great place to see some of Lisbon and to get over jet lag. The apartment was very close to Mercado da Ribiera, built in 1892, to get over jet lag and enjoy the city. The Mercado da Ribiera consists of a farmers market and the new Time Out market, a huge food court with a central area of long communal tables surrounded by small restaurants cooking and serving meals with an emphasis on local specialties. It was in this market where we first sampled Pastéis de Nata (a small custard tart), which has almost become the national symbol of Portugal. The Time Out Market concept is very popular in Lisbon and is spreading to other cities, including Montreal and soon, Toronto.

The best way to see a city is to walk the streets and that is exactly what we did. We followed Rick Steves walking tour of the Baixa and Bairo Alto areas. The weather was just right for walking, there were more than enough interesting places to visit and we found a wonderful little restaurant for lunch in the Bairo Alto. The friendly waiter spoke good English and told us more about the area. He even gave us a small glass of local port to end our meal.

We had a choice for our second day in Lisbon: take another walking tour or take the Hop On, Hop Off Bus. We chose the bus. It was quite expensive and didn't live up to similar tours in other cities. We did get to see some of the northern reaches of the city from the bus and we enjoyed the end of our trip at the Monument to the Discoveries on the shores of the Rio Tejo. 

Our visit to Lisbon was too short. We will have to return another time to see all that we missed.

The next day, September 13, we flew from Lisbon to Palma, Mallorca, via Madrid Airport, where met up with Marg and Jack Dunphy. We flew together to Mallorca where we would spend the next week in Alcudia, a small walled town in the north east of the Island.

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