Love Letter to Lisbon, Part 2: Wednesday

Wednesday September 12. I walked around the old town of Alfama and got lost several times over. Physical maps and Google maps doesn’t really help when streets are going up and down a steep hilly area with small narrow streets. First I wanted to check out the Castelo de São Jorge at the top of the Alfama area. Took a bit to actually get there due to the windy roads, but eventually I got there. Since it was still early in the morning, the line for getting a ticket wasn’t that long.

I headed back down the hills and closer to the shore to find the National Pantheon. I went inside a church on the way called São Vincent de Fora. At this point, I felt like I was  checking off monuments via google maps after walking around a lot.

It was later afternoon as I wrapped up Alfama and headed back to my hostel to rest my feet. I got back and deduced to go to the BBQ rooftop party at my hostel’s sister hostel by the shore. I got my ticket and was told to meet in reception if I wanted to have someone walk me over (which is standard,  it is an option to walk over by yourself if yo wanted to). I opted to hang out in my hostel room and relaxed until it was time to go at 7:30pm. 

In the reception area, I again bumped into Paulo and Harrison who were also going, along with a woman from India named Anupa. Taken by a hostel volunteer from Mexico, we all walked from our hostel to the sister hostel by the water for the sunset BBQ. We arrived just as the sun was setting and grabbed some box wine and bbq food. We sat down at the picnic table under a half-tent covered with colorful streamers and lights, surrounded by beanbags — very much a bohemian vibe going on on that roof. We met Jessica from Brazil who Harrison may have known through a different tour though I might be wrong - she wasn’t staying at the hostel but had a friend with connections. So it was me, Anupa, Jessica, Harrison and Paulo all hanging out and eating and drinking boxed wine. Harrison and Jessica invited me to go with them to Belém the next day on Thursday (and I would). All of them were going to the pub crawl later and I liked them all very much so after some talking.... I ended up signing up for the pub crawl later that night! 

It’s my first. I never really imagined I would enjoy a pub crawl since it was always gonna be crowded. And it was,  but the company was good and drinks were great. Our Tuesday night fado tour guide ended up tagging along so he could get experience being a “guide” for the pub crawl - which is how the volunteers get experience in different areas. First we had a bit of a drinking competition before we set off - we had to drink our beer in succession and quickly flip the plastic cup from the lid so it landed upside down. We tied and then the other group won. I learned I am terrible at flipping cups! Then we set off.

All in all, we hopped about four bars and some had dancing areas so we danced in between too. Eventually we ended up at an outdoor exclusive club and danced the night away to flashing lights and deep electronic/rock music. Harrison, Jessica and Anupa and I pretty much had our own dance circle so we stayed together. At one point, our tour guide made sure we were okay before he had to go since the “crawl” has ended. We stayed probably for another hour after that point. Before I knew it, I was crawling into bed close to 4am. 

What. A. Night.

I had so much fun.

Not a lot of photos besides half-lit blurry photos :)

Here’s one good one. The others are either me sweating my butt off with the other folks or blurry buildings in the night. Well, I kept a beer bottle for memory’s sake. 

Thursday, I would regret eating my breakfast due to mild hangover and set off to Belém by train with Harrison and Jessica. Nothing like rearranging my hastily put together plans for better plans.

Love Letter to Lisbon, Part 1: Tuesday

I blinked and already five days passed by in beautiful Lisbon. Honestly, Lisbon has surprised me. I’m not sure it is just the city or the fact I did a lot of hostel adventures with really amazing people. Probably both. Lisbon was definitely a country where I didn’t have any specific plans for but wanted to check out one day. For the first time since Rome, I don’t feel so ready to leave. Here I am, so utterly in love with Portugal. 

From the Moorish building tiles down to the smooth cobble stones neatly decorated, and from the blue skies down to the sparkling blue Atlantic shore.

Since I landed, I’ve been constantly on the go. I was either out late and didn’t have the time to write for my blog or I had to get some decent sleep since I had to get up early and therefore didn’t have time to write. Every day was a perfect sunshine, barely any clouds and was in the solid 80s. Which... if you know me, would be too much for me since I prefer colder air, but it suited Lisbon. And I got tan.

I posted a picture of my hostel last post at the end for a sneak peek. The hostel has been so incredibly accommodating and acts as an easy central hub, since it’s close to the shore and literally in a train station. It is so clean and has a lot of environmental initiatives, in part because the station is a national monument. There are dorms, women-only or mixed as well as private rooms which seems to be popular with families with kids. I will return to Lisbon one day and I will likely come back to the same hostel. I love it here.

So, when I landed early afternoon on Tuesday and dropped my stuff at the hostel - the first thing I did was explore the square around the station and explored the majority of the central area of the city called Baixa-Chiado. Went up a shopping street, got iced tea from Starbucks and walked the streets until I reached the shore.

From there, I walked back to my hostel to drop off my camera and figure out my next steps. My hostel offers a bunch of tours for really decent prices. Day trip tours to short (free!) walking tours. I debated for a while on the spot - I am not usually comfortable in group tours or events since it’s so hard for me to follow along, especially so when there’s countless accents involved. But I took a leap and booked a Fado tour that same night.

Fado - said to be derived from Lisbon’s streets. It’s a soulful music sung by amateurs and professionals to a strumming lyre or guitars in bars and restaurants hidden away pockets of the city. When I got to the meeting area, we almost had to cancel it because I was the only one who signed up ... until one more person signed up, then two, four, ... five people! My tour guide gathered us in the hostel reception area around 8pm and we started of with drinks from the hostel bar. Here I met Paulo from California and Harrison from Tennessee, a woman from Brazil and and a cute young couple from Ireland whose names I’ll never be able to pronounce, but I can spell, Gráinne and Peadar. We chatted for about 30 minutes and all got along great. Our tour guide gave us the run down of the night: we were to walk through the Rossio Square and to Alfama, which is the old town area. We’re to go to a small restaurant called Fora de Mado.

We headed out to the square and took us along the streets through Alfama up winding hills and over bridges. He pointed out some buildings and squares and gave us history background. We went to a palapa overlooking the ocean and got a nice skyline view at night. We eventually got to the restaurant and sat down. 

As part of the tour, we were to get a drink and some tapas. We ended up getting many drinks, tapas AND. a full meal. Ooh, so full! Every 20 mins, the lights shut off and three singers sang three songs per round. I had no idea what they were singing but it was soulful. Food was good, though I panicked and ordered a simple chicken salad since I didn’t understand the menu recommendation. Next time I will try the Bacalhau com Natas, or codfish with cream. My tour guide offered me some of his and it tasted SO good. Portoguese green wine was so good, I had about three glasses. 

Wednesday I would return to Alfama and spend the entire day walking. And later, I would experience my first hostel bar crawl.