Dia 1: Welcome to Portugal
Anxiously Waiting ...We wake up charged for the day, enthusiastic to meet our tour companions this evening. During breakfast at the hotel, we glance curiously at the other diners and listen for American voices, look for signs of Rick Steves' gear or books, eavesdrop on conversations to determine if anyone is part of our group. Mark helps a woman struggling with the cappuccino machine and shows her how to use it. Could this be someone on our tour? In the lobby, we see a sign posted next to the reception desk: a warm welcome from our guide, Cristina, along with her picture and the day's schedule. It is both comforting and exciting!
We have several hours before our 17:00 (5:00 pm) meeting so we are off to see modern Lisbon. We take the Metro to the Oriente station to visit the the Vasco da Gama Mall, which does indeed look like a luxury cruise ship, and the Parque das Nações. By following the walking tour outlined in our Rick Steves' guide book, we head for the top level of the mall and purchase an espresso from a nearby stand to enjoy on the outdoor terrace as we take in the panoramic view. We visit the site of the Expo '98 and find our country's flag - Estados Unidos. We stroll along the promenade lined with pine trees and bougainvillea canopies, gape up at the cable cars moving slowly along the riverfront before boarding the metro to the Chiado for a late lunch. We order tapas at the recommended Café No Chiado. We sample Padron's peppers - shishito peppers blistered and sprinkled with Maldon salt. There is a warning on the menu to be careful eating ... most are mild but every now and then you get one with a bite. We share a Portuguese cheese platter with house-made jams, and codfish pastel (cakes) accompanied by aioli. Atmosphere at the restaurant is relaxed and natural, food good, service so-so, view of the trolley excellent.
Did you know ... residents call this city "Lisboa" (pronounced Leesh-BOH-ah). Show Time!At 17:00, we stroll into the meeting room in the lower level of the hotel and can tell instantly we are in for an excellent experience. It is an open, friendly group of people. We are greeted with smiles and warm handshakes. We meet our guide, Cristina, and notice how engaging she is, her megawatt smile and deep throaty laugh. She arranged for port wine and salty snacks as we arrive, which is a nice touch. After a short reception, she calls us to our seats and says we are going to be a great group because we mingled very well and no one sat until she signaled us to. With a humorous and upbeat manner, her Portuguese accent thick, she gives an overview of the tour, what to expect throughout our time together, contact info in the event we get lost or have an emergency, some background on Portugal and her people, and details about how we will spend the remainder of the night. Two items that are different for us versus our last tour: 1) we are able to pre-select our entrees (from two options) for four of our group dinners, and 2) our whisper headsets are provided to us to manage for the duration.
Cristina asks each of us to share a brief intro - our name, who we are travelling with, reason for joining this tour, # of Rick Steves' tours we've taken. We have veterans and virgins, world travelers and some just starting to venture out, people from all four points of the US, two from Australia and two from Canada, mostly couples with one foursome, our threesome, and one solo traveler. It is a convivial, fun group - even the quieter introverts among us make fast friends. We pick our buddies, which happens quickly and organically. And the woman from breakfast who Mark helped make cappuccino? Yup, she is there and Marked selects her as his tour buddy. Seems a natural choice.
HELPFUL HINT: Don't sweat the buddy selection process. Someone will pick you if you don't pick someone first. Or your tour guide will arrange a connection. No one is left out. Heart of Portugal in 12 Days - 28 Tour MembersTuk-tuks, Dancing and Cut-outs, oh my!The air is buzzing with anticipation, partly because Lisbon is alive and bursting with festival preparations, but also because Cristina announces she has a surprise for us. It's something she hasn't done with a tour group yet and she's testing it for our feedback. We follow her outside and see a line of white tuk-tuks parked curbside and waiting for us. She pairs us off by sixes and and we climb into the rickshaws. This is a really fun way to see the city, especially with a large group. Our drivers are enjoying it too, hamming it up for the cameras, thrilled to be in the thick of it. Unfortunately, our whisper headsets are not transmitting across vehicles so Cristina's narration is lost. She might chalk it up as a fail but we are having a blast!
We arrive in the Bairro Alto and come upon a lively scene with music and people, all kinds of color from lights strung across trees, streamers draped around stands selling Sagres beer and paella hot from the pan. We are in the upper part of Lisbon. In fact Bairro Alto (sounds like BY-row ALH-too) translates to "High Town". We stop to take in the viewpoint, the terracotta rooftops and white buildings against the azure sky. In the distance on the mountaintop, we see São Jorge Castle and Cristina tells us we will visit there tomorrow. We pause to take pictures and enjoy just being here.
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Tour GuidanceCristina provides a passionate orientation at our welcome meet-and-greet. This gives us a solid footing for what to expect throughout the tour. We also learn how to spot pickpockets that hang out along Avenida da Liberdade - the main avenue near our hotel.
Back Door DiscoveriesBy chance we are visiting Lisbon during the annual Sardine Festival - the Feast of St. Anthony. Cristina gives us an insider's survival guide (detailed below) on how to to join in with the revelers!
What doesn't kill you fattens you up
Our group dinner is at Leão d'Ouro. There are bottles of red and white wine on the table, smoked codfish spread and olives with bread. We are served tossed green salad to start. We share plates of grilled octopus salad & fried golden potatoes. Our main course is a huge platter of grilled meats served family style with three different dipping sauces.
Fale em portugues, por favorToday's word is vamos = let's go. The "o" sounds like "oo" (as in moon) and the "s" sounds slurred. So vamos is pronounced "VAH-moosh".
Lessons LearnedWhen in Lisbon, use the Metro. It's convenient and very easy. Lisbon is defined by water and you will see imagery everywhere. The blue metro line is called the Seagull Line ... the birds will guide your way. Hotel Lisboa Plaza is an ideal base for us for five nights. The staff are very helpful. They teach us our first Portuguese word - obrigado/a (thank you) - and cheerfully answer all of our many questions. The location is excellent - right off Avenida da Liberdade. The breakfast is varied and plentiful each morning, though we share the space with other tour groups. There is a very nice rooftop bar. If you purchase wine from the hotel, they set you up with a tray, glasses, opener and salty snacks. We spend a few evenings enjoying the view and mingling with travelers from other countries.
Prepping for Opening NightHELPFUL HINT: Bring small bills and coins. It makes it easier to pay for things. Shops, restaurants, and markets are not always able to make change, especially in smaller towns. And when the festival is in town, you will need it as they don't take credit cards at the small stands. Festival Survival Guide
Provided by Time Out Lisboa with compliments of Lisbon Heritage Hotels.
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We depart and pass by a band playing pimba - pop music accompanied by an accordion and synthesizer, singers with their husky European voices reminding us we are far from home. The music is upbeat and toe-tapping. Cristina starts to dance. She grabs Mark's arm, twirls him around. Before we know it, several in our group are taken by the moment and join in. Oh what fun! We pass by crowds of people on the narrow streets, and on impulse, Cristina takes the arm of another one of our tour members, James, and climbs behind a bride and groom cutout that is positioned along the sidewalk. They make goofy faces, imploring us to take a picture.
We continue to walk, the decline subtly taking us to another district, Chiado (pronounced she-AH-doo), which sits between Bairro Alto and the Baixa (pronounced BYE-sha). Chiado is a mix of old and new with fashionable shops, quaint squares and trendy eateries. This is part of our orientation, learning about the various backstreets of Lisbon.
Group Dinner
We follow Cristina to dinner and enter a dimly lit restaurant with big dark wood tables and blue & cream wall tiles. Three tables are set up for our group and we all pile randomly into seats, nothing preassigned. There is room for everyone. Wine is flowing as is the conversation. We meet James and Sharon, Dolores and Karl. Both are lovely couples and we enjoy getting to know them. We share platters of food, which in a way invites even more interaction. Our grilled meats are superb and we stop just short of moaning. There are smoked sausages and chops, steaks and slabs of pork, chicken drumsticks and smoked ham. The seasoning is perfect. Dipping sauces are lemon and garlic aioli, and a remoulade with piri-piri spice. Some in our group have dietary restrictions and accommodations have been made to ensure they don't go hungry.