Today we … went out for lunch. Perhaps I should explain.

We spent the morning relaxing, enjoying our coffee, and investigating options for the afternoon. Jan suggested taking the tram out to Belem Tower, and I agreed it sounded interesting, so we had a plan. The first step was to get Navegante cards for the transit system. It’s similar to Porto, so it was straightforward. The easiest way to get to the tram was by going through the Metro station where we could also buy the cards. The metro system has many beautiful stations with elaborate tile work. This picture was taken in the Baixa-Chiado station.

After finding the tram, we headed off for Belem tower, until … we stopped. The doors opened, the air conditioning stopped, and the driver made an announcement in Portuguese. Eventually this was followed by another announcement, this time in Portuguese and English. The power was out, and we were stranded until it was restored. No ETA was offered. Fortunately, Jan used this opportunity to begin researching restaurants, either near Belem, or near our current location. We were within minutes of bailing when the power came back and we were on our way. Our first objective at Belem was Darwin’s cafe for lunch. It was a lovely day and we sat on the patio enjoying this view.

The food was fabulous and the wine was excellent. We took our time and enjoyed the warm afternoon. When we finished lunch we headed over to the tower, only to discover that it was sold out for the day. So we wandered and enjoyed the (free) views of the monuments and the lovely scenery.

When we headed up to take the tram home, I spotted this apartment overlooking the river.

The tram came earlier than we expected, but we boarded along with everyone else. It seemed like a good idea until it stopped and an announcement said this was the end of the line … even though we were only half way back. We left the tram and tried to figure out what to do next. I checked google maps and it was just over 4 km back to the apartment, and we routinely walk 5 km at home. Jan was hot and said “let’s just walk”. So off we went. It turns out that 4 km on the flat isn’t the same as 4 km in Lisbon. But we saw parts of Lisbon that were well off the tourist trail.

I have no idea what this was meant to represent, and how it relates to Lisbon, but I liked it – I think.

We passed many local shops. This was a very small old-school hardware store

From time to time Jan asked “are we almost there” but we managed to keep in good spirits in spite of tired legs and sore feet. But we were unanimous that dinner had to be very close to the apartment. Jan once again used her detective skills to find a wonderful, and close, restaurant. We will definitely add it to our list of places to visit again.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to visit the old city and castle, perhaps using the iconic Tram 28 to help with the hills. But, who knows?