Weary as we were, we stuck to our anti-jet-lag strategy of staying up after our overnight flight. We lasted surprisingly long and then headed to Bairro Alto for a good night’s rest.
Arriving at the Lisbon airport early in the morning. We look pretty good for not having slept on the flight!
After an Uber ride to our digs in Bairro Alto and getting settled, we set out to find breakfast. There were lots of cafés selling pastéis de nata, the delicious custard-filled pastries that Lisboetas eat for breakfast, with coffee.
The route 28 trolley is a popular way for tourists to see a lot of Lisbon for a single small fare. We were warned that it is also popular with pickpockets. Here it is stopping at Praça Luís de Camões.
As we wandered the streets, we happened upon the oldest operating bookshop in the world, established in 1732.
The bookshop has iconic Portuguese tiles (azulejos) visible on the right in this picture. We went into Livraria Bertrand and bought children’s books in Portuguese for one of Elaine’s libraries.
After more wandering on drizzle-slicked limestone cobblestone sidewalks, we looked for a place for lunch and found Sol e Pesca. We had learned about this place in a travel video, and had planned to look for it, but we happened upon it by accident. It specializes in canned fish, which the restaurant prepares by plating the fish and adding house-made garnishes or sauces.
Two of the several dishes we had for lunch: spicy mackerel on the left and dried tuna with toast and lemon on the right. Both were delicious.
Selfie on the bus to the Belém neighborhood
Our son, Benjamin, had told us that he was interested in Lisbon’s massive earthquake of 1755 because of a board game he plays. So, we went to the quake museum to learn about it.
All of central Lisbon was destroyed, either from the earthquake itself, the fire that followed, or the tsunami that followed the fire.
After the museum we returned to Bairro Alto exhausted and hungry again. We stopped for takeout and each got a pastel de bacalhau (dried cod fritter) to consume at our apartment.
Fatalities were high in the Lisbon earthquake, estimated at 12,000 to 50,000, because it took place on the feast of All Saints in the morning, and people were concentrated in the churches in the center city.