Bolger Family Travels: A Stroll Around A Lisbon Neighborhood

We've had good success by using "Tours by Locals" to hire a guide for a walkabout tour. I had one scheduled for 2pm our first day in Lisbon, but that meant we had all morning to ourselves.

Our hotel allowed us to get into our hotel upon check-in around 7 am, so we promptly took a two hour nap to try to make up for our fitful dozing on the plane. Being able to shower and put on clean clothes put us in the right frame of mind for the day.

We got a great price on the hotel room at the Hotel Corinthia Lisbon. The only downside is that the hotel is in the business district, outside of the city center, so there is no walking from the hotel to the sights. The nearest Metro is a mile walk away, so we've been taking taxis. We haven't Uber'd yet, because as soon as we step out, there's a taxi.

I did an incredibly thorough job of preparing for the trip, so we made sure to do sight-seeing that was not on the agenda of our guide. We did the Rick Steves "Bairro Alto and Chiado Stroll," which is a nice way to cover that whole neighborhood.

Dropped off by our taxi at the Praca dos Restauradores (a major square that seems most famous for the Hard Rock Cafe. . .at least that's how everyone refers to it). We had an arduous climb up the C. Da Gloria. About halfway up I was regretting not ponying up the money for the "Elevador da Gloria," a funicular that whisks people up the steep, steep hill (did I mention it was steep?).

Eventually we came to the Sao Pedro de Alcantara Park, which offers grand views much of Lisbon. We could see the Cathedral towers, the castle on the hill across the way, and the skyscrapers of the new city to the left. Most impressive, however, was the views of the red-roofed houses, undulating up and down the hills of the city.

A view of Lisbon

Sao Jorge Castle

Little Pink Houses, for You and Me

The River Tagus off in the distance

This is us.

From there we wandered through a cool old neighborhood, the Bairro Alto. Walking up and down hills on small streets, we passed restaurants, bars, and homes. Many of the buildings had beautiful tiles covering the outside walls, instead of using paint.

One example of the tiled walls

Knife-sharpener plying his trade

Would love to know the backstory about this

Typical neighborhood street

Yes, my Shutterfly book is going to have

two pages of different tiles. These are

just a few of them.

Our stop was the absolutely beautiful (inside) Sao Roque Church. Built in the 16th Century, the church has incredibly exquisite side chapels. A Jesuit church, it is also famous for the design of the perfectly flat ceiling, which results in excellent acoustics. Note to self: take off your hat before entering a church in Portugal, or else you get hat-shamed by the security person. We skipped the museum next door, preferring to get pictures with the sculpture of the lottery-ticket salesman. Even though lotteries are for people who are bad at math, the charming fellow is worth the selfie.