Wednesday Lisbon

We arrived in Lisbon about sunrise passing under a large suspension bridge to dock in port.  Lisbon reminded us of San Francisco.  The city is built up the hill from the water, most of the town was destroyed by an earthquake in the 1800’s and they have cable cars that you can ride up the hills.  We took a shuttle to the center city and decided to take a double deck, hop on hop off bus tour around the city.  We saw a variety of old and new areas and stopped in the Belem area of town.

This water side area west of the port and downtown had a fort to protect the harbor dating back to the 1400’s and several museums.  We went to a museum of coaches that is housed in a former mansion.  The coaches were made for the kings and queens so they were very elaborately decorated.  There was advanced technology designed to reduce the road shock by using straps to hold the passenger compartment.

Following the museum tour we stopped for lunch in a local restaurant called Caseiro.  The dining room was decorated with a variety of gourds.  They had sheep cheese and Serrano ham as lagniappe.  The menu offered options of fish and meat prepared in Portuguese style.  We choose meat and enjoyed the sauces and flavor.  The pastries are local favorites that have a cream filling surrounded by a light flakey crust.