We managed to get an early start today – mostly because the hotel had a fabulous breakfast buffet – which meant we didn’t have to make our own coffee.
We started the day with a ride on the famous tram #28. The vintage trams are still running all over Lisbon. We opened the windows and enjoyed the beautiful mosaic tiles and interesting graffiti.
We hopped off the tram at the top of the hill and climbed the remaining stairs to the castle. We spent about an hour wandering the ramparts, walls, and tunnels in and around the fortress on the hill.
We returned to our previous tram stop and waited quite a while for one to arrive. We hopped on the tram without looking at the number and ended up on #12 instead of #28. Fortune was on our side though as we met a friendly couple from Hawaii that gave us a wonderful dinner recommendation. We also returned to our hotel much faster than we would have on #28.
After a quick stop in our room to drink water and drop off the souvenirs we picked up that morning we were off to the Aquarium. Tracy and I both love aquariums and they are always cool and dark. It was getting to be quite hot so the hour or so we spent wandering the exhibits was perfect. It was a beautiful facility though we all agreed that the Monterey Bay Aquarium is far superior.
We filled our bellies with all you can eat sushi before dashing back on the metro in time to get back to our hotel before our 24 hour passes expired.
We enjoyed a long siesta in our extremely hot room before venturing down for a drink and some reading time in the much cooler lobby. Though we asked repeatedly they couldn’t get our air conditioning to keep up with the heat wave. Our room was on the top floor on the sunny side and had massive Windows. It was a fantastic view – but so hot sleeping was difficult.
After our siesta we headed out on foot to do a little last minute souvenir shopping and find the restaurant we heard about. Dinner was fantastic and we even had room for dessert. We treated ourselves to ice cream at the “magnum” bar. They sell these frozen ice cream bars at home – usually dipped in chocolate and nuts. At the bar they let you choose your chocolate flavor and mix your own toppings. It was fantastic.
We finished the evening by sharing a bottle of wine on the roof. Our room was still sweltering so we opened the massive windows hopping it would help. It was a long night of strange sounds from the street below and a few mosquito bites but we managed.
Lisbon is a fantastic city. Portugal is officially on the top of my list of places to return to there is so much more to explore – well maybe it’s tied with Iceland.