We got up early, finished packing, and took an Uber to the Hotel Corinthia where our cruise housed us for our official two-night visit to Lisbon. Rather than taking the excursions available we set out on our own and did a little more exploring.
Our Airbnb in Bairro Alto.
Our street was pretty steep.
Waiting in line for breakfast at the Manteigaria (which means butter place).
We felt that these were the best pastéis de nata that we tasted in Portugal. It turns out that the Manteigaria is a small chain with a location in Porto as well (and Paris). This was the original store. Unlike the previous day’s breakfast extravaganza, this breakfast was more typical of Lisboetas eating a simple meal standing up at the counter.
A pastel de nata maker in action at the Manteigaria. What sets the Manteigaria apart from other pastelerias is that they only serve pastéis de nata and beverages.
Once we were settled in our new digs at the Corinthia we took a couple buses to the National Tile Museum.
The tile displays were lovely. This one was unique because the tiles were cut in diamond shapes to accommodate the stairs, rather than using typical square tiles.
Part of the museum is housed in what had been a church. The choir seats are below this apparently actual skull and crossbones. It sure is creepy, but it is probably a relic.
Apparently, bagpipes were a thing in 18th century Portugal.
Pretty
“Lisbonne aux mille couleurs” (Lisbon of a thousand colors) by Paulo Ferreira was created for the 1937 Paris exposition. It depicts a fanciful view of Lisbon from the Tagus River with Bairro Alto on the left somewhere.
This tile panorama shows a complete view of Lisbon from the River Tagus before the earthquake that destroyed the city in 1755. It measures nearly 23 meters in length. The creator of this work may have been one of the first masters of Baroque azulejo-making, the Spanish painter Gabriel del Barco (b. 1648 – d.?). It was originally housed in a Lisbon palace where viewers turned in a circle to see the entire work.
A panorama of the panorama
Modern azulejos at the museum.
Waiting for the bus to go to lunch.
We chose this off-the-beaten track tasca from the Culinary Backstreets guide to Lisbon restaurants and were not disappointed. The humble exterior belies the great food inside. Our guidebook had recommended the black Iberian pork ribs but they had sold out of them. Meanwhile they didn’t speak any English so they took us to the refrigerator cases where various ready-to-be-cooked main dishes were on display. The hostess told us, through gestures and facial expressions, that we would be having the chicken and the salmon.
This dish was most likely frango “à Guia” – chicken marinated in oregano, chile, and butter sauce. Yum.
Our other main course was grilled salmon with Portuguese cabbage and potatoes. Also yum!
We made our way back to the hotel and attended the cruise orientation meeting after which we had a light dinner at the hotel with several people who would be cruising with us.