Lisbon, Portugal

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A walking tour was our first adventure this morning, www.lisbonwalker.com No need to book, just turn up at the meeting point. What a great way to get familiar with a new city. Jose was our guide and he gave us an in-depth view of--- the old Roman and Arabic city of Alfama . Alfama area was the site of a messy history with the Visigoths, the Romans, the Moors, the Jews, the Christians, the Portuguese Royalty, and of course the slaves. The persecution of the Jewish in this community was a terrible atrocity. Alfama was a fishing town and it has no rhyme or reason for the way it was constructed ...with narrow streets... and steep steps .... cars racing through. Then one comes to an area where buses and old, old trolleys come and go. How to find your way around is impossible, unless you are a local. We were lucky to have a local guide. It has a proud tradition but to us is strange. It here one can hear the "fado" music famous in Lisboa.
The 1755 earthquake reshaped the downtown area of Lisbon greatly.
After our walking tour we began another walk, up and up to the Castelo de Sao Jorge. It was built by Alfonso Henriques, and was a lavish palace for the kings. I has wonderful views of Lisboa. After we left the castle, we took one of the many trolleys and got off and wondered around another small area. Then back to the bus..
Smoking is something to mention when talking about Spain and especially Portugal. My guess is that all children begin smoking here in Portugal at about age eight.. Yes this is an exaggeration... but it is amazing how young and how many smokers there are here. It is permitted in so many places, it is hard to avoid. Especially in restaurants/cafes... and if you choose outdoor dinning, you still get second-hand smoke from your neighbors. Waiting for a bus, walking in the street, everywhere people are smoking.

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