River of Gold Viking River Cruise
Day 2: Saturday, November 09, 2024 - Lisbon, Portugal
The day's statistics:
- Weather: low 60s
- Steps: 10,382 Linda; 11,187 Steve
- Miles traveled (approximately): 7
After awaking, showering, and getting ready for the day, we headed to the restaurant for breakfast.
By the end of our meal, there was pianist playing.
It was rather quiet in the restaurant. The hostess brought us to a seating area and when we arrived, I
exclaimed "This must be the Viking section!" as our fellow travelers nodded and commented so.
This, like most of our breakfasts, was a buffet. There was "sausage" (as they called it) on the buffet but
it more resembled kilbasa to me. And there was what seemed to be an inordinately high amount of sweets on the
buffet too, including chocolat semifreddo which I tried.
A sampling of what we enjoyed.
After breakfast, we headed back to our room to collect our excursion items.
When approaching the elevator bank, the display is off. When the system recognized someone, it wakes up and displays
the floors anyone that isn't staying in the hotel has access to. After scanning a room key, the display shows the
floors everyone has access to, plus the floor the guest is staying on - in our case, the 3rd.
We were to gather in the lobby near the Viking desk by 8:30 for our excursion Bairro Alto, or
High Neighborhood.
Our guide was Silvia.
We started off by heading to the train station, the same station that had the Lidl we visited the previous night.
Everyone on the excursion received a metro pass good for three trips. Unlike Switzerland where we received a three DAY pass,
we only got three trips. But that was OK as it worked out for us anyway.
Our stop was the Sete Rios, or Seven Rivers, station. Our line, as shown on the map, was the blue line, or the Jardin
Zoologico line as that is the last stop when returning from the city. The lines had different colors, but also different
figures representing each so the colorblind could still easily travel.
There was quite a bit of artwork around the station.
The map above the door on the subway showed the actual lines with the conections too.
As long as one knew where they were going, knowledge of the language was not necessary as the destinations were shown
on a signboard at the end of the car.
It only took a couple minutes - literally - to arrive at the Alto Dos Moinhos stop.
Across the tracks on the platform on the other side were some paintings representing different cities.
We learned that there were rulers named Philip I, Philip II, and Philip III. It was considered the reign of the Philipines.
We emerged from the subway, and our first stop was at this mosaic in the sidwalk stones, with two statues.
The mosaic represents shipping, the life of Portugal industry. The statue on the right represents the hand shipping of
the stones that is done to make this sort of sidewalk. The statue on the left represents the tamping down of the
stones after they are placed. This stonework is long lasting, is very efficient as it allows for the easy drainage of
water, and is better to walk on than cobblestones.
Looking to the right from the above mosaic, there is an oblisk in the middle of the traffic circle.
We were also told, for future reference, that the hotel shuttle departs from a spot on the other side of the oblisk
every hour - it returns from the hotel every hour on the half hour.
Our walk took us to a furnicular. Our transportation ticket gave us a ride on it.
Just before boarding, we took a selfie.
It was a couple minute ride up the incline.
At the top - well, near it - we got off the funicular, finished the short walk up the rest of the hill,
walked a buttonhook to the right.
At the beginning of the park, on the right and right angled to them, were some vendors - most of which weren't open
yet. To the left were some tables and a park area.
On the other side of the park was an overlook. A fairly crowded overlook too. We could see the Tagus River off in the
distance. The royal castle was on the hilltop. Below the level we were on was another level with a garden area.
We grabbed a selfie before we left the overlook.
By the time we headed our, some of the vendors started opening.
The little park had a fountain too.
We exited the park area whence we came, and proceeded down a relatively narrow road toward Church of Saint Roch.
We went inside the church.
There were a large number of chapels. Some images are different angles, zooms, or portrait versus landscape.
We started on the left, walked to the front, across the front, and up the right side.
It seemed like we spent more time in the church than we did, but the half hour went very fast.
We learned that much of this area was impacted by the great earthquake of 1755, but the church survived.
We exited, and headed across the street to a building that was associated to a school that had a book store and a
café. The building was in an old, well-appointed house.
In addition to just having a technical break, we were offered a beverage of our choice. We sat outside in a courtyard -
that had a lemon tree - under an arbor, enjoying our drinks (Linda had a lemonade, and I had a coffee).
We relaxed a bit - probably a half hour or a little more - and then the group headed out.
Our continued route took us back past the front of the church, we crossed the plaza, turned right and proceeded
down Rua Nova da Trindade, which also included a vehicle free section.
We eventually arrived at another plaza that included the Museu da Guarda Nacional Republicana (National Guard
Museum), and the Carmo Archaeological Museum, that was original begun as a convent, that was not completed.
The street ended at a 'T' intersection. In one direction was Basilica of Our Lady of the Martyrs. In the other,
the oldest department store in Portugal.
We walked toward the department store and turned left down the "main street" called Rua do Carmo.
There was an old metal walkway that crossed the street, and an old elevator to get to it that was actually NOT
designed or built by Gustave Eiffel, though it certainly looks like it could have been.
We didn't take the elevator. There was a half-hour or so line to use it, and it cost €5 - 10 to use.
Another fashion photo.
We also passed the first store ever in Portugal - a glove store - which happened to be next to a toy store (the
figures in the top of the window moved too).
At the very end of Rua do Carmo, we turned right and found ourselves in the corner of yet another plaza - though this
one was the largest so far.
There was a statue, a couple fountains, and a market in the plaza too.
Down the plaza on the right a little was this particular store - Joalharia Ferreira Marques. The significance of this store
is that it is the store that James Bond bought an engagement ring in it in the movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
At this point, our tour had come to an end.
We had a number of options available to stay in the city, go somewhere else in the city, stop at any number
of places for lunch, or head back to the hotel. We actually chose the latter.
We headed across the plaza, and exited it to the northwest - and found ourselves near the plaza where we were when
we exited the subway earlier. By now, however, a group had set up to protest about the situation in Ukraine.
We had to pass by in order to get to the opposite side as that is where the hotel shuttle pick-up was.
We came across four others in our group, Barry and Sabrina, and Richard and Valerie. While I walked down a little
further to make sure the shuttle wasn't elsewhere, Linda chatted with these four.
After a few minutes, the shuttle showed and we boarded.
It wasn't that long of a ride.
When we stopped in front of the hotel, there was a Rolls-Royce and an Astin Martin DB9 parked in front.
We weren't in the hotel too long.
On our shuttle ride, Sabrina told us about their orientation walk the previous day and also mentioned the park
that was a couple blocks over.
We set out to find a place for a late lunch. We exited the hotel and turned right. Immediately next to the hotel
was the restaurant Lagar do Xisto, but they were closed. Next to that was the Italian restaurant Napoli Pizzaria.
Beyond those, there were even more locations.
At the end of the block, we turned right. At the end of that block, we turned left.
At the end of the building across the street was a recess. That recess had stairs up to the park.
The park included what looked like some community space as there were segmented flower and garden spaces, though
there weren't too many flowers still in bloom. The public space included an outdoor café.
We walked through the park - which sloped downhill - to the far end, and turned right.
Across the city a bit was an old aquaduct.
We turned right, walked down the street a little - spotting another Porsche Carrera Cabriolet - and on the bridge
over the highway. At the end we turned right, and then right again - and we were back at the hotel.
We didn't readily find anywhere that we wanted to eat, so we just decided to go to Napoli Pizzaria.
The windows across the front of the restaurant were open. There was sidewalk seating, three-season room seating -
where we sat - and indoor seating.
We were given menus.
And we ordered a water.
The waitress stopped by again, after giving us time to peruse the menu, to ask "Are you guys ready to order?" At
which point Linda asked where she learned her English.
We ordered the Salad Caprese and the Lisboa pizza, sharing both of them.
As horrible as "sardines on a pizza" may sound, it was actually not that bad. We were glad we ordered it because,
well, Lisboa... if we were going to have pizza, how could we not order a pizza named after the city we were
in? Also, sardines are a staple of the economy and culture (so much so that Viking offered an excursion
to a sardine factory).
On the way back to hotel, I spied a Bentley Bentayga pulling out of the parking lot. For the uninitiated, almost all
of the luxury brands now make SUVs. This particular example runs $170K to over $200K - so yes, an exotic.
While it was a little early, we returned to our room. We did the luggage thing, played some pinochle, watched what little
bit of English TV was available, and eventually went to sleep.