EU 2017 (vii): Lisbon (II)

Having set aside 4 nights in Lisbon, you can say I had a pretty laid back schedule. The main POI (places of interests) for Saturday were Castelo de São Jorge (St George Castle) and Sé de Lisboa (Lisbon Cathedral). And I left Belém for Sunday.

I finally took the Metro from Marquês de Pombal, that was right outside of the hotel, to Baixa-Chiado station on the Blue line. It was interesting to find out that apart from the differentiating the lines with colours, they also use symbols. Seagull for Blue/Azul, Orient for Red/Vermelha, Sunflower for Yellow/Amarel and Caravel for Green/Verde . I just learned that caravel is a small, fast Portuguese sailing ship of 15th-17th centuries.

Getting to the castle. 

This is what I meant

Tram 28 is one of the popular options for getting to the castle. There's also Bus 37. But I found out that one could go to Sao Jorge on foot easily by the aid of elevators. And it's free. After you exit the Baixa-Chiado station, take the Elevador Castelo that's at the end of Rua da Vitória (Victoria Street) and then switch to another one that is in the Pingo Doce supermarket. 10 more minutes or even less, you'd find yourself at the ticketing office. Well, not before clearing the queue in front of you ;). I did find the line go by quickly because they had a lot of counters opened.

Elevador Castelo

The elevator inside Pingo Doce

The line that greeted me on that day

I tend to agree... I also passed by another shop in Porto. I guess it's a chain.

Almost there

To me, Castelo de São Jorge is all about walking along the ramparts, enjoying breathtaking views of Lisbon and ... taking lots and lots of pictures!

The square after the ticketing gate

Awesome view on a great day

Every angle is a photo-op ;)

I don't mind living in that house down there.

You guys got that? Hehehe

To the right, I believe that's Miradouro da Senhora do Monte, another viewpoint, which is next to a church

Peekabo

Going down to the lower terrace

I was taken aback how exhausted I was climbing up those steps

That's the 'Tower of Ulysses' which has a camera obscura that gives a 360-degree view of the city. Only a handful of people are allowed in at set time slots. You could also opt for specific language.

Why not right? :D

One last shot before leaving

I had lunch in one of those tourist-trappy restaurants in Baixa. It may be a couple of Euros extra, but the food was still tasty. I ordered octopus just so I could a picture of it to Firouz. Hahaha. But his octopus at the Turkish restaurant in Nuremberg was still better

Walking in the Baixa neighbourhood

No eyes! Hahaha, I had to even squint because the sun was in my eyes! :D

Back again in Praça do Comércio

A normal scene if the sun is out... but not in Asia.. hahaha

I really needed to go and I found this 1-Euro-per-entry toilet

When I asked what's so sexy about the toilet, the girl at the register said It's a concept

They also sell these. I was thinking of buying one but I didn't have space for it in my bag. It'd be squashed.

The girl said spend as much time as you want

Toilet selfie to make my money's worth. Well, I tried. I don't think I have what it takes :D

I made a quick detour to the cathedral.

Church of Saint Anthony and Lisbon Cathedral (at the back)

They have lots of Tuk tuks here in Lisbon

Thirst quencher... Easier for them to write down, and it's my other nickname from college

Santa Justa lift. I didn't bother because I've been to a few vista points in Lisbon.

The lines snaked around until the other side.

That's a real cool way of getting around and sight-seeing

Before leaving the hotel this morning, I requested for a room change - the one with the view. So when I got back to relax and freshen up, before going out again in the evening, they informed me that I got moved to the 8th floor - the top most floor. Woohoo!

Now, that's what I called a view! You could even see the castle and the river

I didn't even get to see any of this from my first floor room! LOL

Kedai DARA. Tapi tak jual nasi lemak.

When in Portugal... :)

Boa noite, Lisboa

Nice wrapping job for canned sardines

For the above picture, I didn't take any pictures at Conserveira de Lisboa - neither of the shop nor the sardines. I was preoccupied with deciding upon which cans of sardines/octopus to get. But you could certainly check out TripAdvisor or any other websites for that matter. Sardines are pretty much everywhere, and so too are souvenirs that are inspired by them. I wasn't sure which sardine brands were the best, but I stumbled upon the shop on my first day here in Lisbon. I took mental notes of the shop and only afterwards, I stumbled upon the shop in TripAdvisor. Such coincidence.