Portugal - Day 8

Portugal - Day 8 - Lisbon

Monday, June 12, 2023

Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

We were determined to get on the number 28 tram this morning. It is one of Lisbon’s iconic sights, the old yellow tram trundling through the streets of the old town. It’s a very popular tourist attraction as well. The queue of people waiting yesterday was enough to deter us then but we hoped if we went early that we might beat the crowds today. We did well. Three trams line up together and more or less follow each other around the route. We let the first tram go to ensure we were close to the front of the line and had a seat. It was perfect. The ride takes an hour one way, then everyone has to get off at the terminus, then we all bought another ticket, got back on and came back. We sat on the same side of the tram so we had the opposite view going back. Not a bad tour of Lisbon for 6 euros.

By the time the tram got back to the beginning our bones had been sufficiently rattled and shaken and we were glad to get off. It’s a great experience though. They move through some very tight spaces and contend with traffic on the lines and people walking by them, as well as all the hills that have to be climbed and rolled down. They talk about the seven hills of Lisbon but I think there’s more. The trams are not exclusively used by tourists. We had school children on their way to school, business men on their way to work and elderly ladies going out to do their shopping as well. It got pretty crowded at times.

After our tram ride and a stop for some sustenance we just wandered the streets.

Tram riders

There’s a lot of shopping streets, some narrow and windy and others wide thoroughfares but all of them are paved with Portuguese Cobblestones. This is apparently an art form that has been around for centuries here. They use the small, square cobblestones to make intricate patterns. Here in Lisbon the most common stone used on most pavements is white and black limestone. It’s very durable it seems which was the reason for its original use. The white is very shiny and also slippery! And, of course, the ground moves overtime so it is very uneven. Not an easy surface to walk on all day. People have asked how my back is…not loving the cobblestones!!!

We ended up back down by the waterfront. It was a hive of activity. Lisbon is in the middle of a four day party and tonight is their big night. Bigger than New Years Eve an Uber driver told us. Tomorrow is a public holiday. I think so everyone can recover. Signs of preparations for the big night could be seen in lots of places as we walked around. We found a great food place called Time Out and wished we hadn’t already eaten lunch because it looked so good with so many different food choices.

Squeezing round tight corners

The weather app tells us that the temperature only reached 23° today but when you’re huffing and puffing up Lisbon’s seven hills it feels much hotter than that. After a week in my sandals I have tan marks on my feet so there must be a bit of power in that sun.

We lucked out with dinner tonight. We scored the only table not reserved in the restaurant across from the hotel. Only because we arrived at 6:15 and everyone was booked in for 7. They didn’t start serving meals until 7 but they did let us have a drink while we waited. We overlapped with Enid and Howard again today and caught up with them for dinner. By the time we left the restaurant they were completely full and people were waiting outside for a table. Lisbon is hopping tonight. The parade has started and we watched a bit of it. Each district in Lisbon has a dance group who stopped every so often to perform their dance routine. Unfortunately where we were standing wasn’t where they did their dances so we didn’t really get to see that. There was quite a gap between groups so we only stayed for the first few. The parade will be going on for a few hours to come, I think.

While we were travelling around on the tram we passed the cathedral. There was a cordoned off area outside and I saw a TV crew lined up with their cameras. Inside the church the pews were adorned with flowers. I thought some celebrity must be getting married but it turns out that every Saint Anthony day 16 lucky couples are chosen for a group wedding ceremony. They then lead the parade later that day. It’s considered very good luck to marry on this day. Unmarried girls can also ask the Saint to help them find a husband. We noticed that bridal veils were one of the favoured adornments on girls in the crowd tonight.

Happy Saint Anthony Day, everyone.