What I thought was bad news greeted us on the flight board at Newark Airport (EWR). It read that our 11 pm flight would be delayed to 11:15. Not bad in itself, but I've seen enough that it might mean continuing updates of later delays. Plus, the poor people who were flying to Porto were delayed until 1:15 am from 10 pm. I'm glad we started in Lisbon!
What did I say about worrying earlier? The flight left on time. Not sure what caused the delay news, but we actually landed a bit earlier than scheduled in Lisbon.
Our plane was an Airbus A321neo--a pretty big plane with three seats on each side of the aisle. I'm making this point because it turns out the flight was not totally full so Fe and I had an empty seat in our row. It wasn't long before I was pushed over to the aisle seat and she stretched out. That's OK, my thrill of flying has long gone and I prefer the aisle now.
By the time we disembarked, got through customs, got a taxi to take us to the hotel, and dropped our luggage off it was about 12:30. We each got about three or four hours of sleep on the plane so the first thing we did was get coffee at a little place nearby, called Restaurante O Cardo. Just some coffee here, but we'll be back.
First Things First
After that, we used our
Lisboa Card to ride the subway down a few stops to explore a bit. I highly recommend this card because it will pay for itself in transit costs alone. It gets us on all subways, busses, and funiculars (inclines) as well provide discounts on many of the attractions.
Parque Subway Station Tiles
Monument in Praca dos Restauradiores celebrating the end of the Iberian Union in 1640. Guessing the Portuguese weren't fans.
A word about our hotel in Lisbon.
It's the Ibis Styles Lisboa Central Marquês de Pombal and I am very pleased. It's in the same hotel group that we used in our last trip in 2019--in both Budapest and Bratislava--and I was impressed then. The staff here are very helpful, the location is great (both to restaurants and transit), and the room is unique.
Hotel Room
OK, the post is getting long. We pushed ourselves hard today after a redeye on very little sleep. But c'mon--it's been three years since I've been out of the country!
After coming back to the room to rest and change, we went back out to the center of town. Saw some interesting things:
Time Out Market. Touristy, but interesting.
Pink Street
And now dinner. Once we find a place we like, I usually try to steer back to it. So we went to Restaurante O Cardo again. First was an appetizer found all over Portugal, Bolinhos de Bachalhau which is Codfish Croquettes. They were great!
Bolinhos de Bacalhau
Next was another Portuguese staple, sardines. I never thought I would eat them looking like this:
Sardines (before)
Sardines (after)
Are you impressed that I could fillet those things so well? Don't be--it was all the work of my wife, who is more accustomed to eating things with their heads still attached than I ever will be. I didn't think I'd like them, but they were very good. Lots of bones, though. And finally--because I just refilled my A1C prescription--dessert:
Whiskey Tart
Four croquettes, the sardines (we shared), dessert and drinks came to about 35 euros. And some of that was Lisbon city tax, I'm sure. You know we'll be back again.
Observation of the day: like any major city, Lisbon has a lot of traffic. What I wasn't expecting was the NYC level of honking that I've noticed today. Everything I've read about Portugal and the people were how easygoing, friendly, and laid-back they were. I guess it goes to show you that getting behind a wheel can make anyone's nerves fray.
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