Days 1-3, Lisbon, Portugal

I took a Globus tour of Northern Spain that started in Lisbon, Portugal. I flew Lufthansa from Los Angeles to Munich and then to Lisbon––first a 12–hour flight in economy class, then a 5–hour layover in Munich, and next a 3–hour flight to Lisbon. I did not realize that Lisbon and Munich are in different time zones (Portugal, due to its geography, is in the same time zone as Britain), so I was really wondering why we hadn’t landed in Lisbon according to Munich time––Did we make a detour, etc.? For my first full day in Lisbon, where I had been before in 2008 and had already seen much of Lisbon, I took a walk in the main historical section of Lisbon, Baixa, and revisited it. First to the Praca de Comercio, with its statue of King Jose I with the Arco da Rua Augusta seen behind the statue.

Arco da Rua Augusta

The statue of King Jose I seen through the Arco da Rua Augusta.

Portugal Specialities

Restaurant on the Rua Augusta serving codfish cakes and port wine, two Portuguese specialties.

Eating on the Rua Augusta

I ate lunch at one of the restaurants on Rua Augusta.

Praca de Figueira

The equestrian statue of King Joao I on the Praca de Figueira. In the background, you can see the Hotel Mundial, where I stayed, also on a Globus tour, in 2008. It has a very convenient location. On this present Globus tour, we stayed at Real Palacio Hotel, a nice hotel but a long walking distance or a taxi ride to the historic center.

I put my photos of my Lisbon Walk on a slideshow. Go to http://www.peggysphotos.com/lisbon–walk/ (Slide Shows, Western Europe, Portugal, “Lisbon Walk”).

Inside Lisbon Food & Wine Walk

Late in the afternoon, I met an Inside Lisbon Food & Wine Walk at the King Pedro IV statue in Pracq de Don Pedro IV, which is also called Rossio. Not only in Lisbon but throughout Portugal, the pavement is covered with black and white tiles in various designs. The last time that I was in Lisbon, I took a number of tours from Inside Lisbon and I highly recommend the tour company. A large group showed up and we were divided into three groups, with about 12–15 people each. We had people on our tour from Norway, Australia, Alabama, Florida, and North Carolina. Day tours are a great way to meet people from different countries and also from other U.S. states.

Bifana and Beer

We made five stops on the tour. The first one was for bifana, a pork sandwich, and also for a beer to go with it.

Ginja

Our second stop was at A Ginjinha Espinheira, a bar founded in 1840. It serves ginja, which is a strong sweet cherry liqueur that originated in Lisbon. It is a combination of aguardente (distilled from wine and used for fortified wines) and ginja berries, a sour cherry. Then it is combined with water, cinnamon, and sugar. You can order a glass either with or without a cherry in it. Our tour guide, Ana, bought a whole bottle of ginja for us and we could have seconds or thirds if we wished. I knew it was strong as I had had it before so I limited myself to just one shot. You can go to A Ginjinha Espinheira on your own.

Port Wine, Cheese, and Quince Marmalade

Port wine, cheese, and quince marmalade––a very good combination at our third stop.

Codfish Cakes

We had tasty codfish cakes and green wine at our fourth stop.

Cheese, Chourico, and Wine

At our fifth and last stop, we had cheese, chourico (a Portuguese sausage), and more wine. Everyone was pretty mellow by this time. Note: you don’t have to drink the alcoholic beverages if you don’t want to. You can have water or probably a soft drink instead.

I put my photos of the Inside Lisbon Food & Wine Walk on a slide show. Go to http://www.peggysphotos.com/lisbon–food–wine–walk/ (Slide Shows, Western Europe, Portugal, “Lisbon Food & Wine Walk”).