Disclaimer: From now onwards, you guys have to be contend with selfies. I no longer had my awesome personal photographer, who worked pro bono, on this leg... Too bad :D.
I actually spent a full day in London in between the Germany and Portugal trips. I didn't stray that far in London. I pretty much walked from Victoria to Oxford Street to do some shopping for the folks at home, stopping by the Buckingham palace. I didn't get as far as the River Thames to do any sightseeing. I think I've done a lot of that before ;)
 |
| Sembah ratu jap (Paying my respect first) :). Overcast with a slight drizzle on this day.. a typical London weather :D |
 |
| A building next to Hard Rock Cafe. Loved this! |
 |
| I didn't photograph this well. The plaice was slightly bigger than my palm. |
Okay, so on to Lisbon...
My easyJet fight out of Gatwick took 2h 45m of flying time to reach Lisbon. I left Firouz's place at 7 in the morning to catch my 10 o'clock flight. Better early than sorry :).
 |
| 787 Dreamliner. Haven't flown that before |
Before taking the Aerobus to the hotel (
€3.15 one way via online purchase), I purchased Vodafone's prepaid Data simcard (
€15 for 15 days).
 |
| Flying off to Lisbon |
If I'm not mistaken it took the bus roughly 30 minutes to get to Marquês de Pombal. From the drop-off point, the HF Fenix Garden hotel was just a few minutes walk away. The hotel put me in a room on the first floor, which was below the garden level so there was no view per se. No biggie ;).
 |
| HF Fenix Garden is on the far right. Looks like I'd miss the pope by a week |
 |
| A screenshot from a video message to my parents -- trying to get somewhat organized before heading out :D |
 |
| That's a lot of walking, don't you think? :). Not seen is the 'El Corte Ingles' which is roughly 100m away from "B" (Miradouro do Parque Eduardo VII) |
I believe it was 4pm when I went out and headed to the
El Corte Ingles shopping mall to do some grocery shopping like bottled water and others. It's just next to Eduardo VII park. I couldn't help it but to get me a
pastel de nata from the bakery shop. They were everywhere! :D
 |
| My first 'pastel de nata'. Yummmss! #nomnomnom |
 |
| Not too sure what this symbolizes |
 |
| Looking out to the river from the park |
 |
| The non-panoramic shot |
After dropping off the stuff in my room, I walked down
Avenue da Liberdade. It is where you could find the big branded boutiques on each side of the avenue. I just love the wide shaded pedestrian walkway.
At
Restaudores after a kilometer away (
I just checked this on the map. But you won't feel it because you are doing downhill), there was a slight climb that brought me to the
Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara square. There's also a tram that could take you up for 3 Euros and some change. Whichever option you pick, you'd be rewarded with a great panoramic view of the
Baixa neighbourhood and
Sao Jorge castle. You could also get drinks and snacks from the stalls too. It has a pretty lively atmosphere.
 |
| The tram |
 |
| Check out the view! Ignore the crane :D |
 |
| The lower terrace of the square. |
Then I headed down towards
Praça da Comércio via the walkway along the river. I was surprised to see
Ponte 25 de Abril (25 April Bridge) resembled San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge.
 |
| The "Oakland" side of Ponte 25 de Abril has the Cristo Fei statue |
 |
| They were organizing futsal matches at Praça do Comércio |
 |
| It was slightly overcast on this day. Did I bring it with me from London? |
Before heading back to the hotel, I passed by
Praça da Figueira. I didn't really check out the
Baixa Pombalina neighbourhood that much because I would have time for that in the next few days.
 |
| Lisboa Se (Cathedral) and a bit of the Alfama neighbourhood. |
 |
| The kind of menu you'd find at restaurants in Baixa. I don't think I saw Nando's-like menu here :) |
 |
| I snapped the octopus rice for Firouz :D |
 |
| The famous Tram 28 |
 |
| Tram28 is a popular transportation to go to Castelo Sao Jorge (the one on the hill). I walked to the castle with the help of elevators (more on this in 2 more postings) |
 |
| Statue of King John I at Praça da Figueira (Square of the Fig Tree). The square is not the most popular one in Lisbon. |
 |
| What did I tell you? They're everwhere! Hehehe. I got 2 more from this shop. Hahaha. |
 |
| Praça Dom Pedro IV, which is on the next block, is a more popular square |
 |
| Rossio train station. This was where I took the train to Sintra (confer the next posting a bit later) |
 |
| Another shot of the castle. Please wait for me ... gituuu hehehe. |
 |
| 'Monumento dos Restauradores' is for commemorating "the independence of Portugal from 60 years of Spanish rule in 1640". Btw, that's the HRC at the back :) |
 |
| As recorded by my phone. I myself found it surprising :) |
I have to say, Lisbon had given me a really good first impression. Honestly, I wasn't really expecting much. When I was planning and deciding for this year's trip, I was like, "
Let's just go to Portugal" without much enthusiasm. Lisbon did however get added to the wish list after I finished the Turkey-Athens-Berlin-Prague trip two years ago. Now, I'm sure I'd have a great time here.
Insya Allah (God willing)
Comments
Post a Comment