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Published: June 24th 2014
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Elevator to next level of the city Another day, more Lisbon. We took off on our .5 mile walk to the subway station and headed down to the port. We hoped to find the place to buy tickets for an afternoon boat ride on the river. The sky was beautiful and it looked like it was going to be a great day. We get of the subway and walk up the stairs and there is the place to buy the boat tickets. Cool. After that Nicky had found online a place that makes the handmade tiles that are so popular here in Portugal. We've seen lots of touristy shops that had the tiles but this was not in the tourist area and they were unique. We hiked thru old town until we got to the store. It was great and we all made purchases. Of course right after I made my initial purchase, I look up on a wall and see another one I really want. So I bought it too. I just hope it survives in the suitcase on the way to Barcelona. When I travel back to the states it will be in the backpack but I don't have the carry on limit for this short
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Too much gold trip so it's in the suitcase.
After the tile shop we head to Sao Roque Church. It is supposed to be full of gold that the Portuguese took from Brazil in the 1500s. We get there right as it starts to pour. Yes our beautiful day now had a massive thunderstorm. We thought we were lucky and ran inside to buy tickets only to find out that it opens at 2:00. Hum. We all stand there with lots of others that seemed to have the same idea and watched it pour for about 20 minutes. Finally, when the rain slowed we took our umbrellas (remember mine won't stay open so I have to keep pushing it up) and take off. We decide to find a place to have lunch and just relax before the boat ride. We find a lovely outdoor cafe near where some musicians were playing.
After lunch, we had a walk thru town back to where we pick up the boat. Right as we got there, another storm came up. We got on the boat in the rain but we were able to snag covered seats. Our table was on the side where as we
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Night view of the castle pull out you could only see across the bay but on the return trip (after the rain ended) we were on the side with the view. It was a nice leisurely 2.5 hour boat ride. We saw all of Lisbon from the river and got to see many of the places we had visited on our trip.
After the boat returned, we hike to the old elevator. There are multiple elevators in Lisbon that take you up the side of the hill. This one is the oldest, built in 1902. We got in line to ride it but near the door we realized we actually couldn't get out at the top level, it seemed to just be more of a view point now. So we broke line and hiked the hill to go visit the church that was now open. There was a lot of gold in the church but it was small, still worth seeing.
After that it was a nice dinner in another outdoor cafe followed by a visit to Solar for some port wine. They have a large variety of ports and explanations on the different kinds. We bought 6 different kinds and shared them.
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cable car (they call it an elevator) We tried 2 late harvest, 1 10 year tawney, 1 20 year tawney, 1 ruby and 1 white dry port. They were all good but Nicky, Tim and I like the 2nd Late Harvest the best. Susan liked the 1st late harvest and the white the best. We learned a lot but it was mostly from what Tim and Nicky already knew and what was in the booklet that handed us that described the kinds. It was fun.
Afterwards we walked to an overlook of the city and took in some wonderful views of downtown and the river. The lights of the castle came on while we were up there. We then took the Gloria Elevator back down the mountain but this elevator really was a funicular system (kinda like cable car). It dumped us out at the sex shop.
We then took the subway back to the hotel and crashed.
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Patty
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Adventures with Susan, Nicky and Tim!
It's fun to vicariously enjoy your trip ;-) I hope you have some rainless, sunny days while you're there!