First day in lisbon

It's Wednesday night, the end of our first full day in Lisbon.  What a wonderful city.  This might not be posted for a couple of days, because I'll be damned if I'm going to pay the hotel 15€ A day for internet service.  And so far, I haven't been able to connect to any free wifi anywhere. We are staying in the hotel Tivoli on avenida Liberdad.  It's a very nice hotel, except for the internet fee.  

This morning we took the city walking tour introduction to Lisbon.  The city is built on seven hills, according to the tour guide, but it's really just lots of hills.  

By dumb luck we came to Lisbon on the biggest holiday of the year, St. Anthony's day, and everywhere there are festivities.  They have a big parade that starts at around 9 pm and runs to 1a.m.  Everybody eats sardines on St. Anthony's day, so all the restaurants serve them.   They are about twice the size of the ones we get in cans, and fresh and grilled over a wood fire.  I could eat them every night.  We had ours at one of many little outdoor restaurants on st. Anthony's street, which is a pedestrian mall running parallel to avenida Liberdad.  I'm describing this location in such detail because it's the only place I can actually grasp the location of with any accuracy.  Secondly, I am having a really hard time with the language.  I can read the signs -- it's not that different from Spanish or Italian, but I can't pull a single word out of my own head, not even hello,please, thank you, excuse me, or I'm sorry.  I can remember banho, bathroom, though.  

Today's adventure was definitely our ride on the E28 trolley.  This is the famous trolley of Lisbon, having been built in 1903 or something.  When the trolleys first came here, thy were called electric cars, but they were pulled by mules because they didn't have electricity.  Anyway, our intention was to go to the castle.  We had rather thin instructions -- buy an all day ticket on the subway, take the blue line to the green line, get off at Munoz and take the E28 trolley.

Problems encountered: 

1.  Walked an extra four blocks because we couldn't see the subway station virtually next to our hotel. 

2.    did not understand the instructions on the machine and bought a two day unlimited ticket instead of two one-day unlimited tickets.  

Solution, asked the guard why I only got one ticket.  Was told it was a two day ticket.  We were then taken about two miles through the station to a live person who happily exchanged them for us.  

3.  Could not find where to get on the E28 when we got off at our station.  Walked an extra four blocks.  Did not know which direction the trolley should be going.  Got on the wrong way.  Got kicked off 8 blocks later because it was the end of the line.  

4.  Walked across the street to the trolley going the correct direction but didn't know we were on the wrong train until we got kicked off halfway to the castle at the end of the line again.  Who knew the words on the front meant anything.

Solution, had a nice walk around the little neighborhood of Graca, including a wonderful panoramic view of Lisbon.  Graca is one of the main party venues for tonight.  They were setting up lots of booths to sell beer.  

5.  Starving husband.  It's now 3 pm and we never got around to having lunch, and as everyone knows, in Europe they eat a big meal at noontime and then they close up all the restaurants.  Especially today because this is the biggest holiday in Portugal.  3 pm is the disaster hour for the two of us.  If I eat anything at 3, I have no desire for dinner.  If john doesn't eat anything by 3 pm, I start to hear stories about fainting, then about dying.  Side note, I don't know how he could possibly be hungry by then.  For breakfast he had two wedges of frittata, bread, sausage, fruit, a bowl of cereal with milk, a container of yogurt, and a sweet roll.  Oh yes, and he has to pee.

Solution we stop in a little coffee shop.  He finds the bathroom, I get in line.  There are people sitting at tables and a few lined up at the counter to order.  I can't figure out if they order at the counter or at the tables.  Since I can't say the word for any of the pastries, or even generic pastries, I get in line to order at the counter where I can point.  After standing there for about five minutes, while John is still lost or looking for the bathroom, I realize that at least three people who are standing at the regular bakery glass display case  have a cup of coffee sitting on the case and are standing there instead of at a table.  This is so confusing to me, that when John comes back we just leave.  Now he sees no other option but to head back to the metro station, puts his head down and starts marching for the tram stop.  We pass another coffee shop.  He is so far ahead of me that I have to whistle for him to hear me.   This one has the word sandwiches in the window, though I also recognize the equivalent Portuguese for petite dejeuner, i.e., breakfast, right underneath that.  But as it turns out, they will make him a sandwich.  It's very busy, but the counter man speaks English and offers him tuna, "meat" or chicken.  At this point, John stands there (the man who will die in five minutes if he doesn't eat) and can't make any decision.  This is one of many places where I'm not sure if he can't make a decision or if he just couldn't hear or interpret what the man said to him.  The guy is looking more exasperated by the minute.  I finally say, why don't you have tuna.  Solved.  Looked like a really good sandwich, too.  

Fortified, we make our way to the tram stop.  Oh, did I mention before that the term is filled beyond standing room only at the first stop, and then they let other people on.  John thinks we can walk back to where we originally boarded the tram, but I think it's miles away.  I win on this one.  By the way, the 24 hour pass is good on everything here, including the various funiculars, which are otherwise 5€, so we already have our money's worth.  

When we get back to the metro station, I want to walk down this tourist street, and when we get to the end of it, we discover we are on St. Anthony's pedestrian walk, and therefore very near our hotel.  I'm so confused.  I had no idea we were anywhere near here.  I mean, it took us two metro lines to get here.  

We did a bit of shopping, I found a magnet with a trolley that said Graça on it, a nice memento, stopped for liquid refreshment, and headed back to the hotel. 

But wait!  On the way back we spotted another funicular and decided to take it to the top of the hill.  

Here we found a quiet neighborhood with another wonderful view overlooking the city.  We wandered around, but other than the little park, it was mostly residential, and we are also not too eager to wander too far from the transportation.  

Back to our hotel, gather some more money, and head off for SARDINES!  We ate in one of the big outdoor restaurants on St. Anthony's street.  Our dinner was delicious. 

Then it was 10 pm and the parade was well underway.    As close as I can figure out, every neighborhood has an entry, and they are all similar.  Pretty girls in shiny dresses --think satin square dance costumes and you come close-- boys and men who dance but also carry the "floats" which are carried by one or two people and which are then marched around in formations at the reviewing stands, while they all dance and sing, and all is accompanied by a band of from 8 to about 20 people. At the reviewing stand, the lead dancers (perhaps the king and queen?) go up on the reviewing stand and greet the judges (mayor? Prime minister?)  with air kisses and handshakes all around.  The big poobah's wife was there and she looked about as interested as Hillary Clinton at a football game.  The crowds were so thick that it was impossible to see, so we went back to our hotel once again and watched it from the window on the mezzanine.  Our room is on the street, but we are above the tree line, so we can't see the street.  When I got back to the room I thought this was equivalent to the Rose Bowl parade, and sure enough, it was on TV.  So, even though we were only 20 feet away from the parade, we had a better view on TV.  I'm turning into John.  

We were supposed to take a trip to Sinatra and various beaches tomorrow, but not enough people signed up, so it was cancelled.  This means tomorrow will be another adventure on public transit.  And perhaps, I will be able to find some  free wifi.