Excellent Free tour in Lisbon - Maggie

... so on our previous visit, way back in 2002, we just wandered and blundered on our own. It's very easy to blunder in Lisbon, no previous experience necessary. This time, we wisely decided to take advantage of the free guided [walking] tours. You are, of course, expected to tip the guide at the end of the tour; that is made perfectly clear up-front. But I assure you that it was worth every penny, or rather euro-cent.

We signed up online (duh!), see https://www.takelisboa.com/book-now, and chose the option called Centre - the heart of the city. The meeting place was none other than my fave "Benetton Square" (see previous post), next to the Fernando Pessoa Sculpture, and the guide would be carrying a blue umbrella.

Nina & Fernando Pessoa. Note T-shirt, indicative of balmy weather

 Not surprisingly, the statue above was drowning in tourists that morning... so we moved a few meters away, to the statue of the poet Antonio Ribeiro, smack in the center of the square:

Maggie, a.k.a. Margarida, was absolutely great. An energetic young (27) woman with good English (acquired, apparently, from watching TV!), a sense of humor, a people person (a must for a job like this!), well-versed in the history of Lisbon, full of ethical and moral insights, and slightly hyperactive :-)  Not to worry -- she didn't tire us out too much...

The Amazing Maggie, w/blue umbrella over right shoulder

The tourists (mostly couples) were from London, Brazil, Romania, Namibia, Germany, and New Zealand.
Frankly, I didn't remember any details from our previous visit to Bairro Alto, the so-called Bohemian part of town with its endless bars and restaurants; and definitely didn't know any of the local history. So it was all new and fascinating stuff.

After two and a half hours of energetic walking, standing, looking around and listening, the time came to say goodbye, at the huge Praca do Comercio:

Thank you, Maggie!

Along with the above photo, Maggie sent us all a list of non-touristy restaurants and bars, the ones that the locals favor. She also included vegetarian restaurants, because there's always a demand for such.
However, by then Michael and I were both hungry and tired, and settled for a pizza nearby, before taking the Metro back "home" and collapsing for a good siesta.

Which doesn't mean we didn't profit from Maggie's recommendations! In the evening we took the bus to o arêgos, which unfortunately has no website, but you can read about it both on TripAdvisor, see here, and on Facebook, on this page. It was delicious, and very reasonably priced.

Next post: about our second walking-tour. Coming soon. Or soonish :-)

Hello Again, Lovely Lisbon!

Bertrand Bookstore - est. 1732, Chiado district

As often happens when you’re touring a foreign country, your host – or tour-guide, waiter, or receptionist – asks you:  Is this your first time in [Timbuctoo]?

As you’ve gathered, this wasn’t our first time.

“No,” one of us would reply, “we’ve been here before, seventeen years ago. In October 2002.”

The youngsters never failed to stare at us in amazement: “Wow! It’s changed so much since!”  I’d smile in amusement. Sure, 17 years is a big chunk of an under-thirty person’s life. Lots of things didn’t exist 17 years ago. But what does exist are my handwritten travel journals; specifically, the one from our previous Spain-and-Portugal trip.

Of course I re-read it before this trip, and also took it with for reference, for the fun of it. And guess what? In essence, not much has changed.

Luckily, we learned from experience and didn’t drive into Lisbon. Downtown is still a maze of narrow cobbled streets, with cars, buses, trams and pedestrians pushing through with no consideration for anyone. Everyone wants to use the same street at the same time. Pedestrians happily ignore traffic lights and just charge ahead, in competition with the vehicles around them. Yep, that’s as true now as it was then. Only now there are also electric bicycles and scooters! Almost as bad as in the center of Tel Aviv!

This time, we arrived at Lisbon Airport and boarded the Metro, (one large suitcase and two trolleys) taking the linha vermelha [red line]  to the end, then transferring to the linha azul [blue line] for one stop, since my old notes reminded me that the Parque stop was closer to our hotel than the Marquis de Pombal.  Yes, we’d booked the same hotel we stayed at in 2002! Hotel Avenida Park, Av. Sidonio Pais 6. We remembered it as a small but pleasant place. To do it justice, it has been refurbished since. But it was still convenient and fairly quiet. Do you want to know whether I recommend it? – Sure! Just take into account that the rooms with the double bed (~140x190 cm) are quite small, whereas the Premium rooms are larger but have twin beds. The cost is the same. Next time I’ll know to order the larger room, and just move the beds together. (I did ask the receptionist and he said that’s doable.)

Bed very close to the wall

Not much space for sun-salutations...

Just like last time, our first walk around town was confusing… There are beautiful boulevards, huge plazas with gorgeous statues, columns and arches; an assortment of shops, both la-di-dah and unassuming; plenty of cafes, tabernas and restaurants; and more tourists than locals, it seemed. Like last time, we bought a 3-day unlimited public transport (Metro & bus) pass; though this time you did it at self-service/automatic machines, rather than having to buy them from an actual clerk; and this time the queues of [mostly young] tourists were unbelievably long. The default instructions are obviously in Portuguese, but you could opt for English and probably a few other languages; and the announcements while on board as to the next station etc were made first in Portuguese and then in English. And speaking of English – this time, too, we were delighted that the TV channels broadcasting English shows/series do not dub them into Portuguese. What a relief. Can you imagine Leroy Jethro Gibbs or Sheldon Cooper speaking Portuguese?...

And a propos Portuguese: To this day, I haven’t been able to master more than three expressions in this language… Obrigada/obrigado (“thank you”), bom dia (“good day”), and por favor (“please”). I can decipher some written words, but for the most part I can’t pronounce them properly, nor can I follow a native speaker. I feel a total failure as a would-be linguist L

I don’t remember exactly what the breakfast room at our hotel looked like in 2002; though I had a mobile phone, it did not have a camera. People didn’t go about constantly clicking-and-posting. But my journal does mention the coffee machine that made all sorts of very strong coffee. Well – the current machine is obviously a newer model, but it sure has many options and the coffee is still very strong!

Coffee machine & hot water

I resorted to the same ploy as previously: Nearly-fill your cup or mug with milk/water, then add a shot of coffee.

Re-decorated breakfast room w/diners (No, I don't know them...)

Redecorated breakfast room

On the second day of our first visit, after hours of wandering and sightseeing, I found myself at the spot which was to become my favorite hangout: Benetton Square, or as it is better known, Largo do Chiado.  What is it that makes this square so attractive, so adorable?... It seems to have an ambiance all its own. The fact that musicians, some of them darn good, perform there for tips, might be a contributing factor. 

Performers at the center of Largo do Chiado

Musician at Largo do Chiado

Musician, with Benetton as backdrop :-)

Also, it’s not as grand as Praça do Comércio nor as dizzying as Praça do Rossio with its wavy cobbled design. But more about that in my next post. TTFN!