Day 14 Lisbon

Ok, so we managed the metro, we rode a tram, what next? Well breakfast of course. Dh always brought me tea from the lobby stand and if we weren't eating these in a cafe, we (ok, ok...I !) was buying them from a bakery to take back to the hotel. The delectable Pasteis de Nata.

I do have a bit of healthy first

The day is even bright enough to see the aquaduct in the background (click and view large with note)


We go to the Metro originally suggested by our concierge and yes, there is the whole in the ground with the M we look for.

We approach the metro machines only to see two young women having problems. A helpful attendent makes it clear to all that those machines are broken (shades of WMATA??) and he takes us all to another machine. We look as helpless as we are at that moment, and he walks us thru the process of zapping our card with money for a one day pass. We head on down to Cais de Soudre and find the Mercado I've been anxious to see.

In winter it isn't all that great but I can look and compare prices and imagine.


And even some ristras


Well, I'm hungry! so we get on a tram to go to Belem, sightsee, and eat ...what else? Pasteis de Belem. Dh has that dubious look about how long the ride is, and so an elderly gentlmen taps him on the shoulder and silently points to where we are and then to where we're going. He continues this mime several times, and when we reach Belem, dh bolts through the door (version a) or I linger and dawdle about getting out (version b) and the doors slam shut. DH is off the tram and I am on it. I point to the direction we are headed and dh seems to understand. The Portuguese man looks in wonder and I laugh and he seems to feel I am ok. I get off at the next stop...how could one miss the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos and sit and wait.


Dh arrives and I am admonished not to dawdle. ;-) Apparently, I am not the only one to be hurried along.

We see some unusual sights in the glorius church of the Monestary

but overall like the feel of it and give a pat to Vasco de Gama on our way out.


We wander in the park across the street
watching the gardeners at work amidst schoolchildren of all ages out for the day

But these call to me..
And so it's cafe time again. They are luscious warm and with the sprinkling of cinnamon and powdered sugar they certainly go to another level. I watch the process and wonder...could I make these?


Full enough, we hope to get the 28 Tram around the corner but we decide to take another one to switch at the Cemetario da Ajuda for another ride thru Lisbon's hills. Up one hill and down another it keeps repeating here.

Back downtown we see it has been raining. We try out the tourist office but they have no answers to any of our questions but are very nice. We walk eastward and get caught in heavier rain. Still no umbrella so we head into a church. We come out and it's stil ll raining so we hit the first little place we see for coffee and lunch. Too much rain on the brain so no pictures.