It was a jam packed day in Lisbon, starting off with a fabulous joy ride on Tram No. 28, which takes you through many of Lisbon's diverse neighborhoods. Trams are all over the city, and though they seem like they would just be a tourist attraction, they are actually one of the primary forms of public transportation along with buses and metros. The trams are old, rickety, full of character and awesome. Highly recommend taking a ride.
Here is an audio recording of our ride on the tram. It's a binaural recording, so if you listen to it in headphones it will sound as if you are actually there!
We explored many areas of Lisbon, including the Alfama which was described in our so far totally unreliable guidebooks (both Rough Guide and Lonely Planet) as a wonderful place to just get lost among the enchanting winding alleyways. We did get lost -- or more accurately trapped -- in the Alfama, desperately trying to get out of the largely dark, run down, smelly and dirty narrow streets. Maybe we just missed the more appealing parts of this neighborhood. When we finally escaped and were able to breathe again, we came upon a huge plaza, the Praca do Comercio, right on the water, with a gigantic and very attractive arch (Rua Augusta Arch). The big open space and clean air was a very welcome change from the Alfama, and we strolled this area for a while until we decided it was time for lunch.
Seeking out the best places to eat in a new city often takes you to neighborhoods not ordinarily on the tourist map. In this case we were lured to Campo De Ourique, a largely residential, easy going area where we arrived at Cervejaria da Esquina right when it opened at 1:00 p.m.
This was an excellent restaurant, laid back but definitely upscale, a "foodie" type of place with simple but expertly handled ingredients and an interesting and sometimes adventerous menu. My crab salad, packed with roe and a mayonnaise based dressing was as crab-y and roe-y as it gets, and I loved every bite. And Matt's excellent shrimp bisque, followed by a stunning and simple seared tuna sandwich with coarse sea salt and dijon mustard was pretty much perfect.
Lisbon is an insanely hilly city and walking around is not easy, especially when it is 90 degrees outside. But for some reason (perhaps the great meal had gone to our heads) we made the decision to walk from the restaurant to the Gulbenkian Museum. The walk took forever, or at least it seemed like it did since half the time we were huffing and puffing our way up some seriously steep climbs. But we made it at last to this small but surprisingly amazing museum (which is free on Sundays) and thoroughly enjoyed the collection of art from Ancient Egypt, Greece and Asia.
For dinner we checked out the Barrio Alto, a neighborhood up on one of Lisbon's many hills, with lots of bars and touristy restaurants. The restaurant I had wanted to go to was closed, on holiday from August through sometime in September (grrrr). We ended up at a nice cafe overlooking the water for a simple, Indian-Portuguese dinner. (Noo Bai Cafe). The views were fantastic.
After dinner I had a hankering for some ice cream, as I so often do on hot summer nights, and a quick Google search of "best ice cream in Lisbon" led us to Santini ice cream shop in the Chiado neighborhood. And let me tell you, this was a wonderful, happy place with some DAMN GOOD gelato. I highly, highly recommend going here if you are an ice cream lover. Some of the best I've had, anywhere.