We had been staying overnight at Canada Water in London’s docklands and needed to be up at 3.00 am to catch a night bus to Liverpool Streer for the Terravision express coach out to Stansted Airport. Our Ryanair flight to Lisbon was one of the first flights to depart, and after boarding, we were soon asleep until our descent into Lisbon.
The metro station is connected to the airport making it easy for us to transfer to our hotel in the central business district. It was only 10.45 am when we arrived at the Hotel Jorge V but we were pleased to find that we could check in and have access to our room straightaway. The room was bright and functional with a small balcony from which we spotted a cafe opposite, so we headed there for a mid morning snack before starting exploring.
A short walk from the hotel was one of the funicular lines, so we jumped on board, sitting on highly polished traditional wooden seats, riding up one of Lisbon’s steep hills. A few photos up there admiring the view, then back down the hill and onto the main square, ‘Praco de Commercial’, a vast area almost deserted that afternoon with a thick mist rolling in from the sea.
We walked around the ramparts, taking in the views and then returning downhill just in time to take the iconic ‘Elevador de Santa Justa’ (elaborate old iron lift) before it closed for the day. This connects the districts of Baixa with the higher level Carno district. Along the top is an ornate, gothic iron bridge leading to viewpoints over Baixa and the River Tejo. After a short rest back at our hotel we decided to eat dinner in the Chiado district as we had heard there were many small, local restaurants.
The one we selected had traditional Portuguese blue and white tiling on its walls, was small and cosy with a friendly atmosphere. It was then back to the hotel for a good night’s rest after a pleasant day in Lisbon.
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Ah great memories. I’m reliving our last trip care of your blog. Thanks, it’s all we can do at present as leaving Australia isn’t possible at the moment
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Its so nice to read that my posts are bringing back some happy memories of your travels in Portugal. Hopefully sometime next year you will be able to travel further afield again. We all need to remain optimistic and I’m sure the day will come. It’s nearly 20 years since I last visited Australia so I’m looking forward to a return visit too!
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I have heard lots of good things about Portugal and Lisbon. Thanks for the post. I hope to get there some day. How easy is it to communicate if you do not know Portuguese? Allan
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We didn’t encounter any language issues on our travels. Menus were predominantly translated into English and using the public transport quite straightforward. Thanks Allan for taking an interest in my Portuguese posts.
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Awesome. Thankyou.
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These trolleys are my favorite!!
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Thank you, I liked riding them too
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Sounds and looks great! Hope to visit some day:) Well written!
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Thank you for your pleasing comments. I do hope you also have an opportunity to visit before too long.
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This sounds like a fun adventure!
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Beautiful Lisbon! I was there only briefly before travelling to Porto, but l hope to visit it, hopefully in the near future.
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Yes, Lisbon is charming. I haven’t had an opportunity to visit Porto yet but would like to one day.
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Porto is amazing, l definitely recommend visiting it. I live there for about 4 months when l had a one-term scholarship at the University of Letters and l loved every single second. You can’t walk around without being tempted to take thousands of photos, It is such a beautiful place. 8 years later and l still miss Porto so much 😊
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I had a great time in Lisbon too! Just wrote my first post on Lisbon recently,but will write a couple of more!:) Nice photos!
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