Day 5 Thursday 11 April



 Not much on the agenda today. relaxing walk through the city. Cocktails at night. Though I start with a bit of a poor stomach so we leave a bit later.

Plan to go to Rossio Station and get a day pass to travel around the city. Rossio Station is an iconic station but turns out basically the interesting part is the arched entrance. The queue for tickets is way too long. But we see a boulevard and begin a stroll uphill. When it gets too much and we begin to turn around I check on Google Maps where the boulevarde leads to King Edward V111 Park. Which is Insta-worthy. So we keep going. And it's a long walk up a steep hill. A really long walk. Really steep. But the view from the top is amazing once again. The gardens have a cool geometric setting.

We walk down to the local Metro and buy a day pass. Hop on the subway down to the old town. The tram rattles up and down hills through the old town. But my seat is facing inwards so it's a bit hard to see anything and the tram is crowded. Still, it's a new experience. The streets are so narrow and cars have to back up if they encounter a tram. We get to the last stop and walk the rest of the way back to the hotel. Siesta time. The temperature here is getting hot, especially today. However, the shade is cool in Portugal. Those brilliant blue skies spread the heat.


Off to have a few cocktails tonight at the Pavilion Chines. A bar, a museum. Full of old toys and war relics. It looks amazing. We order a couple of Tom Collins and walk to the pool room however we are told that we can't drink there because there is a Fado concert. We offer to pay but it's a full house so we wander off to one of the other rooms. The door girl tracks us down and says there is a cancellation so we can buy tickets. So we go to our first Fado concert. It's brilliant too. No electronics whatsoever just pure sound. The highlight is the singalong at the end. 

After that, we wander to this beautiful terrace that overlooks Lisbon. Magnificent panorama. I think it's the terrace of the Convent of Alcantara. Love it. We stroll down the hill to a restaurant in a small square where a guy is singing Riptide. 

Then back to the hotel. But we see a wine bar across from the hotel and it's home to Portuguese wines so we have our nightcap there.












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