Lisbon, Portugal

After spending a few days in Salamanca, Spain to attend a friends' wedding, I embark on the 6-hour bus journey that I anticipate not to be fun for my tall body. It ends up not being too bad and I arrive around 9pm at Lisbon's main bus station, a few metro stations away to where I'll be staying for the next couple of days, not too far from the Praça Martim Moniz.
I get a bit uncomfortable waiting at the square late at night for my AirBnB host to tell me where to meet, with multiple people approaching me to sell various drugs. I eventually get to the flat where we'll meet, having to go in some narrow and dark alley. It's not up to a good start.
The host welcomes me in the apartment and we discuss a bit about the history of the neighborhood and he assures me that there's nothing to worry about and just ignoring the people trying to sell me things is enough to be safe.
I almost immediately go to bed, tired from the bus trip. The walls, floor and doors of the building and apartment are very thin and they do not inspire trust.
A few nights after, I see a young woman by herself at night in the same street, seemingly dressed to go to a night club and I am now less worried when coming back to the flat late in the evening.
The goal of this solo trip is to walk and walk and walk, without any particular objective in mind, just letting my curiosity lead me. I start my first day following murals in Caracol de Graça staircase, with a few pieces from Bree Chapin, some for the You Are Not Alone project.

I reach Miradouro Graça panoramic terrace and we are up to a very good start of this trip. The view on the city is spectacular, the Castelo de São Jorge and the Carmo Convento ruins making their first appearance. I only learned today while writing this blog post that the Carmo Convento are indeed ruins, I initially thought it was a church still in activity!

I turn around and enter the Igreja da Graça where I see my first tiles, something Portugal is known for.

The vague goal I spontaneously come up with is to every day walk in a different direction from my starting point, Martim Moniz. Today, I go East.
Having researched nothing about Lisbon to not be spoiled, I am quite surprised by how steep and hilly the whole city is. The narrow streets are made of cobblestones and I will only learn later that they really are unkind to my feet. There are old cable cars going through those streets but I prefer to walk when discovering a city, allowing me to more easily aimlessly wander instead of letting myself be guided by the public transport or specific objectives. A week before my coming, an unfortunately-deadly accident of one of those cable cars confirms I made the right decision.
One choice of transportation for tourists seem to be those Tuk Tuk of which there are plenty.
The city hides many impressive murals, so much so that at some point I decide to stop taking a picture of all of them as I realize that I haven't packed a charger for my camera and I'm already at 2/3 of its battery left and four days to go.

It's middle of the afternoon already and I haven't eaten yet today. I look for some restaurant in the vicinity and only find a small cafe in a residential area. Its façade with window bars isn't the most welcoming, but I'm hungry so this will do. I end up eating one of the best meals of my stay, a simple but oh-so-delicious seafood tomato rice. The owner is very friendly and I will make the detour my last day to say my goodbyes. I can only recommend you try Restaurante Orquídea, the food is simple but good and cheap. Only one other restaurant during my stay will challenge that meal, the others being mostly overpriced meh food with very good notes on Maps. I have learned my mistake and when looking up reviews I now check whether they are written in the local language or in English.
I head towards the main cemetery, something I like to do when I'm looking for a quiet and green place. This turns out to be a nice idea as the cemetery is overlooking the port and empty on this week day. I snatch a picture of a lizard with its fresh catch. Some of the tombs are impressive in scale and craftsmanship.
I head back towards the city center. I have the option to go through some hill with small gardens but the amount of litter and makeshift tents doesn't inspire trust. I go around it and find myself opposite side of the street to a kindergarten... with high fences and barbwire.

I take a break at Miradouro do Monte Agudo where one can enjoy a nice panoramic view on the city center.

My last break of the day will be at Jardim da Cerca da Graça while I patiently wait for the sunset which will keep its nice colors to itself tonight.

I leave the flat slightly before noon, legs still heavy from the long walk yesterday. The plan is to see the riverside "South", then go up North and see where this leads me. I stumble upon some archaeological site that somehow also holds some theater play?

I end up on the Terreiro do Paço square, which differs from the rest of the city center, being completely flat. One can see the Rua Augusta arch surrounded by the buildings for the Minister of Justice and Supreme Court, and the statue of King Joseph I. In my back, the Tagus riverbank and a view on the 25 de Abril bridge crossing the river. I don't stay long, the riverbank is full of tourists and the Baixa neighborhood isn't too inviting, being mostly flat and with relatively new and big buildings.

Being curious about this pretty building I keep taking pictures of from afar, I go there to see what's what. It's only now writing this article that I know they are the Carmo Convento ruins. The view on the Praça don Pedro IV and its column, as well as the Santa Justa lift on the right is impressive. The lift really stands out with its design.

I continue on my way up North to Parque Eduardo VII with a rather steep slope. The park overlooks the city though its trees hide most of it. In the center of the big round-about South of it is the Monument of Marquês de Pombal. I then spend the sunset in Gulbenkian Park with the Gulbenkian Modern Art Museum. The colors and the unusual architecture is quite the sight. It is really quiet and peaceful, an opera singer even giving an impromptu mini-concert.

Still disappointed from the very touristic restaurant from yesterday, I decide to aim for a more chill and traditional restaurant. Unfortunately, it happens that the one I pick closes at 6pm, which I only realize once in front of its closed doors. It seems to be a recurrent theme for most family restaurant. Odd.
I decide to go back to the flat and stop for dinner wherever it looks inviting. This strategy pays out as I eat my best meal at Sacco, a traditional Portugese restaurant. I start with a Pastel de Bacalhau (fried cod fishcake) that is promising for the rest of the meal. The main dish is Bacalhau à Brás, fried potatoes, eggs, cod and black olives. I only have good things to say about this dish, only regretting there aren't more of those delicious olives. I finish with a slice of some almond tart. Scratch that, I finish with two slides of some almond tart. It's amazing even though I can already feel the effects of its main ingredient, sugar. Infatuated with my dinner, I ask the waiter for the name of the dessert and get "Doce Conventual". It's only looking for a recipe hours later and the day after that I realize he essentially just told me the English equivalent of "a sweet dessert". After days of research a few weeks after, I find out it's actually called Toucinho do Céu. A few months after, after struggling to find something close to the squash jam they use, I follow this recipe and am very happy to taste something close to what I had that day.

My feet still hurt a lot from the 40km walked on the city cobblestones in the last two days. I only have two days left though, and I'm not sure if I will ever come back to Lisbon, so rest day will happen only once I'm back home.
I decide to go West this time, to Belém, by foot. It's going to be a long day, that I already know. The weather is great, 27°C with nice but not harsh sun. Still, I cover myself in sunscreen.
The fastest and seemingly most interesting walk to Belém is on the Tagus riverbank.
Unlike some of my friends, water (sea, river, ocean, ...) isn't that pretty to me so the walk to Belém feels long, which isn't great when your feet are hurting.
On the docks, I stumble upon an empty pool exhibited... vertically, and colorful basketball courts.

I pass the 25 de Abril bridge, reminiscent of the San Francisco Golden Bridge I saw almost 10 years ago, with the Christ the King catholic monument overlooking the Tagus river and Lisbon.
Approaching Belém, the beautiful MAAT (Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology) building greets me.
I finally arrive in Belém when I see the impressive Monument of the Discoveries.

The Jerónimos Monastery really stands out, especially with the 4-by-4 road and two train tracks I need to cross to reach it from the riverbank.
What also stands out is the length of the queue in front of it. I don't have the patience to wait that long, it'll be for another time. I've already walked 10km today, so I stop at the Pastéis de Belém cafe/pastry shop on a recommendation from a friend, to eat... pastéis de Belém and compare them to pastéis de Nata which I've had a few times in the last days. I for sure am not an expert as I don't notice a difference in taste or look. It's good but also nothing out of the ordinary. At least I won't miss it once back in Vienna! If you see a big queue to buy pastries to go, try inside, they have lots and lots of tables and plenty of waiters.
Liking the quiet and greenery of botanical gardens, I assume like most people, I naturally decide to pay the botanical garden a few minutes away a visit.
I take a break in the small Japanese garden, avoiding by sheer luck the automated water sprinklers by a few minutes.

I decide to push even more West before heading back to the flat, still by foot.
I pass the empty cultural center exhibiting for some reason a ridiculously small tank.
I happen to be at the Monument to Overseas Combatants when the bells ring 5pm and the guard replacement ceremony starts.

Having seen the riverside already, I decide to head back to the flat via the city. I go up North slightly, through the street of rich embassies overlooking the neighborhood of Belém, the river and bridge. Opposite of these embassies is a tall fence which I do not understand the purpose of until I reach an opening and enter... the football stadium.
I go through the city at sunset and decide to head to Miradouro da Graça to have a look at the city at night.

I can feel the 30km I walked yesterday didn't make my feet happy. Walking that much in basic sneakers probably wasn't the best idea. I vow to buy more reasonable shoes for my next trip.
I head towards the National Museum of the Azulejo (the Tile Museum) where I spend an hour and half having a look at the process of tile making and the different designs. While I didn't take many pictures of buildings in Lisbon, a good percentage of them are actually partially to fully covered with tiles, making the city quite different from what we're typically used to in Europe.

I say goodbye to the owner of Restaurante Orquídea, taking the opportunity to eat there one last time.
After walking for 10 minutes under the harsh sun and my feet hurting really bad, I cave in and take the bus to go to the botanical garden of Lisbon where I spend an hour and a half. I head towards the castle, which I kept last for the sunset. On the way, I stop at Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara to admire the city.