Wednesday 24th June 2009: Our first day wandering round Lisbon

Our first day proper as tourists in Lisboa. The nearest metro station, Sao Sebastiao, was closed for redevelopment so we decided to walk down in to the city centre as a means of getting our bearings and enjoying the morning sunshine.

Our first stop off was in the area to the north of the Parque Eduardo VII. We found a poolside cafe (closed) in the Jardim Amalia Rodrigues where I took some photos.



We then came across a statue, Maternidade by Fernando Botero (1999) overlooking the road across the top of Parque Eduardo VII.



After this it was a short stroll to the giant flag pole at the top of the Parque with a picture postcard view down to the city centre and the river.



After taking photos of the earthquake memorial, we headed down the hill though the park. We stopped off for iced tea and custard tarts at Cafe Nicola in Praca Dom Pedro IV and picked up a copy of the European edition of the Guardian on our way down to the river. We bought travel cards at Rossio Station that gave us access to the metro, trams, and elevadores of the week. The grid of streets in the Baixa was amazing but we were disappointed to find that the Praca Comercio was boarded off for retiling.



From Baixa, we caught the 28 tram up to Santa Luzia and its Miradouro (viewpoint). A man attempted to pick my pocket but the buttons on my pocket stopped him. From the viewpoint we headed up the hill towards the castle where we had lunch surrounded by peacocks and peahens.



After lunch we walked the castle walls and visited the museum.



Having had our daily dose of archaeology, we left the castle. It was so hot we stopped for an ice cream in a small cafe which served delicious creme brulee flavoured cornettos - why can't they sell them in the UK?

Feeling the effects of the heat and the walking, we caught the 28 tram back to Baixa and then the metro back to Saldanha. We strolled back to the hotel and attempted to have a nap. In the early evening we headed back to the Saldanha metro, heading down to the Baixa-Chaido area to wander the streets looking for Bernard's english book shop to buy a replacement Rough Guide as one of us lost our copy at some point during the afternoon. Having bought an old version in English, we then wandered down into Baixa for dinner. We found a street cafe on Rua dos Coreciros near the junction with Rua de Santa Justa. I had a beautiful salmon steak and Sonia loved her salad Nicosea. We followed our meal with a walk up to Largo Sao Domingo where we each had a cherry brandy from Aginginha - a small "hole in the wall" shop counter selling small cups that warmed you up. Having refreshed ourselves, we gently staggered to the Restauradores metro and headed up to Praca de Espanha. From there we eventually worked out where the Gulbenkian Museum was and walked around the perimeter back to our hotel.

I finished the evening sat on our balcony looking at the Guardian Cryptic Crossword and planning the next day's excursion.