A Week in Lisbon

On our first full day in Lisbon, we took an AirBnB Food Tour.  After coffee and pastry at a nearby cafe, we met up with our guide and 6 other tourists for a walk and eat tour of Lisbon.  We had 5 stops, representing 5 courses: 1st course—quince jelly on cheese (it’s actually wonderful), prosciutto, bread and a port wine; the 2nd course was a bean and squid salad (fortunately, Kathy thought it was tuna) and a dry white wine; 3rd course and our favorite = veggie and meat samosas (the best we have ever tasted), a vegetable curry and a coconut spinach dish with rice and cashew juice; 4th = canned sardines, octopus salad, two kinds of sausage, bread and a lovely red wine.  Finally, dessert—Americano coffee with milk and an egg yolk pastry for which the Portuguese are known.  The walk took us through 2 of the 3 main neighborhoods of Lisbon.  Absolutely fantastic...as were the 6 people on our tour.  So much fun.
Afterwards, we explored the Castelo de Sao Jorge (Castle of St. George).  We then rode the electric trolley across town to the end of the line, just to see the rest of Lisbon.  We took the return ride on the trolley to our apartment, but detoured around the corner for a beer before returning home.

The next day, we hopped on the trolley again and returned to the Alfama neighborhood and its famous flea market (Féira da Ladra Mercado).  Lots of antiques (which we increasingly recognize as associated to our youth) and junk.  We continued our walk to a small cafe where we sat outside to enjoy our coffee and custard pie (miniature custard tarts with filo-pastry).  Yesterday, we shared one.  Today we each had two.   We searched a long while for a seafood restaurant noted on our Lisbon map.  After getting lost several times, we arrived on the very narrow street and we found a non-descript restaurant.  We knew we were in trouble when inside we found white tablecloths, wine glasses and a chef who came to the table to describe the night day’s offerings.  Fifty dollars and very little food later, we left vowing to eat lower on the food chain in the future.  We got lost again on our way home, but enjoyed the journey.  That’s what travel is all about.  We had a light cheese, bread, wine and chocolate dinner...and a movie at our place.  Despite all the walking we are doing..we are NOT losing weight!