The breakfast buffet range in the hotel was a little different to the UK, which was a nice change. They still had cereals (and an average tasting muesli), but they also had plates of donuts and small pastries
(and sliced meats).
I started the day at Praca de Comercio, a large open space down by the river. The Ponte 25 de Abril (literally the 25th of April bridge) runs across to the south side, where I think they mostly have some seaside villages and the big Cristo Rei statue - just not as big as the one in Rio De Janeiro.
I had to wait around a while until the shop selling the Lisboa tourist card opened, then I got the two day option for 31.50 euros. I found out the card includes two days of free travel (normally 6 euros per day) but many places were only crappy discounts instead of being free...
I jumped on a tram headed to Belem and got to the Jeronimos Monastery just as it was opening, free with the card (10 euros saved). The entrance square looked cool with all the stone arches, and the church it lead into was alright too. There wasn't too much else to see or do, a couple of exhibition rooms that required too much reading so we were through in a bit under an hour.
The Discoveries Monument was just across the street and down by the river, the engravings along each side were great but being overrun by street vendors wasn't so much - they were all trying to sell the same sunglasses and selfie sticks.
We walked further along the waterfront to get to Belem Tower, free with the card (6 euros saved). The tower was very small so there was a strict 120 person limit inside. The staircases were only designed wide enough for one person, so they had a traffic light system to specify which direction was allowed to go. That worked week until the very end, when some stupid family ignored the rules and the whole staircase just about got stuck.
The view from the top was good, since it was at the far end of Belem you could see everything close by and a bit of Lisbon in the distance. I think my favourite part was when we got out and found the line had tripled since we got there.
We waited for a tram back to Lisbon, only none came by in either direction in at least twenty minutes so we had to give up and walk all the way to the train station instead. I got some strange looking horseshoe-shaped chocolate pastries at the other end, ok but a little dry.
Being ahead of schedule there was time for a quick ferry trip across to Cacilhas. We walked along as far the great sounding Elevador Panoramico but it wasn't open, and it looked like it was still a long way to go to get up to the Cristo Rei statue, so we ran back just in time for the next ferry instead.
On the way to the Castelo de S. Jorge I made a couple of quick detours:
Then we made it to the Castelo de S. Jorge that overlooks the city. They had the discount offer crossed out in the booklet I had to accompany the tourist card, but the guy still gave me 2 euros back each, so I didn't complain. The castle included:
The whole visit took about an hour and a half.
I was pretty dead after a long day of walking so I got the train across the city to find somewhere to eat dinner. We came up with some Asian rice place, the menu was only in Portuguese but I think I ordered the right thing. The jerks also would only take Portuguese credit cards which was annoying.
On the way home I stopped in at one of the two major football stadiums in the city, Estadio Alvalade XXI, the home of Sporting Lisbon. The ground was attached to a LIDL supermarket and a cinema which was a shame. Even though I don't support either Lisbon team I thought the prices in euros might be a bit better, but it was about 80 for shirts and 40 for shorts.
I got a chance to try out the hotel "gym" in the evening, it consisted of one treadmill, elliptical and exercise bike - which goes to show how much peoples use gyms at the hotel.
(and sliced meats).
 |
| Donuts. |
I started the day at Praca de Comercio, a large open space down by the river. The Ponte 25 de Abril (literally the 25th of April bridge) runs across to the south side, where I think they mostly have some seaside villages and the big Cristo Rei statue - just not as big as the one in Rio De Janeiro.
 |
| Praca de Comercio. |
I had to wait around a while until the shop selling the Lisboa tourist card opened, then I got the two day option for 31.50 euros. I found out the card includes two days of free travel (normally 6 euros per day) but many places were only crappy discounts instead of being free...
I jumped on a tram headed to Belem and got to the Jeronimos Monastery just as it was opening, free with the card (10 euros saved). The entrance square looked cool with all the stone arches, and the church it lead into was alright too. There wasn't too much else to see or do, a couple of exhibition rooms that required too much reading so we were through in a bit under an hour.
 |
| Jeronimo! |
 |
| Inside Jeronimos. |
 |
| The church at Jeronimos. |
 |
| The upper deck at Jeronimos. |
The Discoveries Monument was just across the street and down by the river, the engravings along each side were great but being overrun by street vendors wasn't so much - they were all trying to sell the same sunglasses and selfie sticks.
 |
| Discoveries Monument. |
We walked further along the waterfront to get to Belem Tower, free with the card (6 euros saved). The tower was very small so there was a strict 120 person limit inside. The staircases were only designed wide enough for one person, so they had a traffic light system to specify which direction was allowed to go. That worked week until the very end, when some stupid family ignored the rules and the whole staircase just about got stuck.
 |
| Belem. |
 |
| Just qualifies as a tower. |
The view from the top was good, since it was at the far end of Belem you could see everything close by and a bit of Lisbon in the distance. I think my favourite part was when we got out and found the line had tripled since we got there.
 |
| On top of the tower. |
We waited for a tram back to Lisbon, only none came by in either direction in at least twenty minutes so we had to give up and walk all the way to the train station instead. I got some strange looking horseshoe-shaped chocolate pastries at the other end, ok but a little dry.
 |
| The really popular pasteis. |
 |
| My less popular pastries. |
Being ahead of schedule there was time for a quick ferry trip across to Cacilhas. We walked along as far the great sounding Elevador Panoramico but it wasn't open, and it looked like it was still a long way to go to get up to the Cristo Rei statue, so we ran back just in time for the next ferry instead.
 |
| Cristo Rei, not Cristiano Ronaldo. |
On the way to the Castelo de S. Jorge I made a couple of quick detours:
- Casa dos Bicos - The House Of The Spikes wasn't that spiky...
- Se Cathedral - It was free, so I just looked inside for a minute
 |
| The House Of The Spikes. |
 |
| Se Cathedral, if you don't get run over by a tuk tuk first. |
Then we made it to the Castelo de S. Jorge that overlooks the city. They had the discount offer crossed out in the booklet I had to accompany the tourist card, but the guy still gave me 2 euros back each, so I didn't complain. The castle included:
- Good views of the city and the river
- A small archaeological pit
- A very dusty and rocky surface
- The interior was mostly empty or contained some ruins
- The main tower was still intact, able to get a 360 view of the city
- Lots of stairs
- A museum full of pots!
 |
| Lisboa. |
 |
| The castelo. |
The whole visit took about an hour and a half.
I was pretty dead after a long day of walking so I got the train across the city to find somewhere to eat dinner. We came up with some Asian rice place, the menu was only in Portuguese but I think I ordered the right thing. The jerks also would only take Portuguese credit cards which was annoying.
 |
| I got "bread of god" on the left. |
On the way home I stopped in at one of the two major football stadiums in the city, Estadio Alvalade XXI, the home of Sporting Lisbon. The ground was attached to a LIDL supermarket and a cinema which was a shame. Even though I don't support either Lisbon team I thought the prices in euros might be a bit better, but it was about 80 for shirts and 40 for shorts.
 |
| Estadio Alvalade XXI. |
I got a chance to try out the hotel "gym" in the evening, it consisted of one treadmill, elliptical and exercise bike - which goes to show how much peoples use gyms at the hotel.
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