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Waking up to a gloomy morning was not what we ordered but we need not have worried. It wasn’t long before the sun came out and all looked good for the day.
We decided on the Metro as a way into the city and the nearest station was only about five to ten minutes away. A 24 hour ticket was our best bet as it gave us travel on metro, bus and tram. The metro looks quite new, probably had a good facelift in preparation for their Expo 98. Within 10 minutes we were in the centre of Lisbon and ready to start the day.
By the number of tourists around there must have been have been some cruise ships in town. After a wander around downtown Lisbon and a chance to look down the harbour towards the Ponte 25 de Abril it was now time to climb to the castle – Castelo sao Jorge. With our magic ticket in our pocket we took a local bus up the hill to the gates of the castle and what a rollercoaster ride it was over cobble stones and through streets so narrow the wing mirrors nearly touched the houses on each side.
The castle had been restored in 1935 after being nearly destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. There are great views of the city from many vantage points around the castle. Out came the magic ticket again and this time we took an historic tram down the hill. What a great ride twisting and turning down steep narrow streets.
Now it was time to use our “Get out of Jail” card. Talking to the very nice man at the Post Office about our offence he quickly entered our registration number into the computer. The computer did not recognise foreign number plates. Prison here we come!! After discussing what our next steps could be he sort of suggested, but couldn’t, that we forget it, or attempt to talk to someone at a toll office on one of the motorways. Maybe we will...
We had one last planned visit, to Belem. To get there we took the metro to connect with Tram 15. The tram was the old type and jammed with tourists doing the same thing. Belem is the part of the harbour where many of the early explorers left on journeys to the unknown. Henry the Navigator, Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand
Magellan to name a few left from this point. It was time to head back to the city on a more modern tram that got very full. Before we headed out for the day we had emptied our wallets of all cards and just took enough money for the day. We had been warned about the notorious pickpockets that plague the city. As we were getting out of the very packed tram the wallet belonging to one of our number suddenly “fell” out of a very deep trouser pocket and landed on the floor of the tram only to be picked up by a “kind young lady” and handed back with everything intact. Was this a foiled attempted at wresting someone of their valuables – we wonder.
And so ends our day in Lisbon. A wonderful city to explore and we’ll leave with some great memories.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
I would like to go to Lisbon
I like your rooftops of Lisbon and the Monument to the explorers!