Sintra to Lisbon

We enjoyed our fresh, warm rolls again for breakfast, with the great coffee in our apartment, and got ready to go. We were hoping to get a taxi to the train station in Sintra, but our hotel wasn't able to order one for us. There are very few taxis in Sintra, but we've seen Tuk-tuks everywhere. They're small vehicles, like a golf cart, and mostly open to the weather, although we did see some with zip-on plastic walls when it was raining.

We headed off walking down the hill to the train station, and when Nancy spotted a Tuk-tuk, she hired it to take some of the group, along with their luggage to the station. By the time we all got there, the rain was pouring down. We were happy to get into the station, and under cover. The ride back to Lisbon was only about 40 minutes, and it was pouring there when we pulled in too.

The taxi stand was outside of the station, on the street. We all ran out to find a cab, and the nice cabbie we hailed was able to take all 5 of us, plus our luggage, to our apartment. He was driving an SUV, and luckily had a 5th seat, in the 3rd row, that he could open up, and still fit all of our luggage in.

We arrived at our apartment building, in the Alfama neighborhood, and stood out in the pouring rain, no sheltering eave on the building, while Janet called the housekeeper, who didn't get the call right away, since she was in the basement with no cell service. It was raining so hard that it honestly felt like someone was pouring small buckets of water on us from above.

She finally let us in, and showed us around our beautiful apartment Sao Mamede 29. It had 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a lovely dining room and living room that would seat us all, and a nice, modern kitchen. The living room had a wall of windows, which made it very bright and cheerful, and there was a deck off of the living/dining room looking out to the surrounding area. Plus, it was an easy walk to downtown.

We got settled in and luckily the rain stopped. We headed out to find the grocery store, another Pingo Doce, and get our bearings in town. Our neighborhood was within walking distance of the main part of town, and plenty of shopping and restaurants. As we walked along we encountered a demonstration march blocking one of the main streets. The marchers carried signs denouncing human trafficking, and were escorted by police.

Demonstrators up the street carrying yellow, pink and green banners,
and escorted by police.

Janet was keen to find a special coffee shop she'd read about, Cafe A Brasileira, and in spite of the fact that we had the address and Google maps, we still had to ask for directions a few times.

We finally found it. It's been there for 100 years, and decorated in an elegant art nouveau style. We stopped to have a coffee and sat outside on their covered patio and watched the people in the bustling square, some taking pictures with the statue of poet Fernando Pessoa.

It took much less time to get back to our neighborhood than it had to get here. We decided to take the two-stage elevator up to the top of the hill, where the Castelo de Sao Jorge, and the old castle town, are located. The first stage of the elevator was inside the Pingo Doce grocery store, and then we had to scan the buildings for the sign indicating the next elevator to the top. We didn't have time to visit the castle, but enjoyed seeing a different, and very old part of town.

A pedestrian street in the main part of town, leading to the famous arch at the Praca do Comercio

Janet's dream car

This was Nancy's last day with us, so Gail and Pam offered to treat the whole group to dinner. We hoped to eat in our own neighborhood, and saw, in the guest book, a few references to a restaurant right across the street, Santa Rita. We decided to try it. It seemed like a place where locals ate, and not touristy. The place was rather large, and pretty full, but luckily there was room for us at a big, long table, sitting with other diners. We had mixed results with our menu selections. Janet ordered a tomato salad, which turned out to be a platter of plain tomato slices. Maybe that makes sense, but we were surprised. Gail and I had fish, which was good. Janet, Pam and Nancy wouldn't give their meals glowing reviews. Pam had ordered a salad and an omelet. The omelet finally arrived after the rest of us were nearly done with our meals, and after asking about it twice.

One of the diners sitting next to us with his wife and son wondered why we weren't all eating fish. After all, we were visiting a country on the coast, known for great seafood. He had what looked like a wonderful fish stew. Janet's retort was that she'd been to many places known for great seafood and had been able to eat well without eating seafood, which she doesn't like.

Our dinner ended, and as we left, there was a line waiting to get into the restaurant. We walked back across the narrow street to our apartment.