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Published: October 3rd 2017
We arrived in Lisboa this afternoon, after a long, 24 hour voyage that started at 7:00 am Monday morning (and we had not slept well, having heard of the Las Vegas shootings just before we went to sleep...) It began with a drive to Kirkland (complete with a blocking accident on I-5), to leave our car with with my son. He drove us to the airport after we dropped my daughter-in-law off at work in Seattle.
At 1:45 Seattle time, we took a crowded Norwegian Air flight to London (Gatwick). There were at least 3 screaming toddlers on the flight and they screamed intermittently all night... Everything was a la carte on the flight and we had to request water! It was about 11:00 pm our time once we cleared immigration and began our 3 hour layover. We had a delicious English breakfast at the Jamie Oliver restaurant in the airport, and then boarded our TAP fight to Lisboa....I slept a bit on both flights, but when we arrived here at our apartment at 3:00 pm local time (and 7:00 am home time), we were exhausted...! We unpacked and took a delightful nap, before walking around our new neighborhood, and
getting dinner...
We met some interesting people waiting to go through immigration in Lisboa: an older British couple who were cycling the length of Portugal, a couple from Kenmore, WA who had been on both our flights and were spending three weeks in Portugal and then five weeks in Morocco (they had hitch-hiked around the world in the 70's and are about my age..), and most surprising, a fellow docent from LaConner!!!
The apartment is even better than the photos and the owner is very nice. It's in the Barrio Alto.
"
Bairro Alto (literally the upper quarter in
Portuguese) is an area of central Lisbon that functions as a residential, shopping and entertainment district; it is the centre of the Portuguese capital's nightlife, attracting hipster youth and members of various music subcultures. Lisbon's
Punk,
Gay, Metal,
Goth,
Hip Hop and
Reggae scenes all find a home in the Bairro with its many clubs and bars that cater to them. The crowds in the Bairro Alto are a multicultural mix of people representing a broad cross-section of modern Portuguese society, many of them being entertainment seekers
I indulged in my favorite English confection while at Gatwick
I lived in Britain for 6 months in 1973, and discovered Allsorts then...and devotees of various music genres outside the mainstream, yet
Fado, Portugal's national music, still survives in the midst of the new nightlife."
I have trying to learn some Portuguese at home, and the people I've tried on have been very pleased that I'm trying...Portuguese looks like Spanish, but sounds very different...
It was in the high 80's here today...unusually hot for this time of year...
Tomorrow we plan on taking the sight-seeing bus around the city to get a feel for the "lay of the land"...after getting enough sleep, hopefully!
Lisboa is the capital and the largest city of
Portugal, with a population of 552,700. It is continental
Europe's westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. Lisbon lies in the western
Iberian Peninsula on the
Atlantic Ocean and the River
Tagus. The westernmost areas of its metro area is the westernmost point of
Continental Europe. The city is the 7th-most-visited city in
Southern Europe.
Lisbon is one of the
oldest cities in the world, and the oldest in
Western Europe, predating other modern European capitals such as
London,
Paris and
Rome by centuries.
Julius Caesar made it a
municipium called
Felicitas Julia, adding to the name
Olissipo. Ruled by a
One of the many lines we waited in during the past 24 hours...
This was for a taxi from the airport to out apartment.. less than $15 with a good tip.. series of
Germanic tribes from the 5th century, it was captured by the
Moors in the 8th century. In 1147, the
Crusadersunder
Afonso Henriques reconquered the city and since then it has been a major political, economic and cultural centre of Portugal. Unlike most capital cities, Lisbon's status as the capital of Portugal has never been granted or confirmed officially – by
statute or in written form. Its position as the capital has formed through
constitutional convention, making its position as
de factocapital a part of the
Constitution of Portugal.
Lisbon enjoys a
Mediterranean climate. It has one of the warmest winters of any metropolis in Europe, with average temperatures 15 °C (59 °F) during the day and 8 °C (46 °F) at night from December to February. The typical summer season lasts about four months, from June to September, although also in April temperatures sometimes reach around 25 °C (77.0 °F). (Wikipedia)
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Susan Frisbee
non-member comment
Looks like you are in Lisboa for a month? Coincidentally my brother Stephen Frisbee, & sister-in-law Sharon Matheson are there now too, but only for 10 days as they are still working, unlike us lucky retirees!