A Win At the Arc and Discovering Lisbon
Oct 21st, 2013, 12:40 PM
#24
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,604
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks, YankyGal - it was a mix of old and new, a good trip.
HappyTrvlr - I'm starting Lisbon now.
When we arrived in Lisbon it was a different world from Paris. First the airport was substantially smaller than CDG and it was sunny and hot. We collected our luggage and headed to the taxi stand. Taxi's are cheap in Lisbon. The relatively short ride into the city was 15 euro. We waited on the taxi line with everyone else and were basically told by a policeman which taxi we were going to get into. Our taxi pulled up and it didn't have an official taxi sign on top and it looked like a private car. I told the driver that I wanted a metered taxi and he could speak English and said it was not possible to take another taxi and that he did have a meter. I asked the policeman if his taxi was legitimate, in so many words, and he said yes. So in we got. The driver could speak a little english which was good as I know only a few words of Portuguese. I handed him the map and directions that the owner of our apartment had instructed me to give to the taxi driver, as her apartment is in the Alfama area of Lisbon and GPS would not work for that location. He chose not to to use it and off we went. Well, I felt like the Griswalds in European Vacation or a contestant on the tv show Amazing Race. The driver got lost and we stopped a minimum of four times to ask directions. As a matter of fact he drove in circles and we stopped at the same cafe to ask the same bunch of men, twice. Neither they or the driver seemed to recognize that fact. It was really laughable, however the landlady had arranged for someone to meet us at the apartment and we were getting quite late for that meeting. Finally the driver went down a one way street the wrong way and pulled over and he and my husband walked down the small alleyway of a street and located the apartment. We assured him that he didn't need to go any further and that we would be more than happy to carry the luggage to the apartment. Now I know why I don't use taxis that often.
The apartment in the Alfama was absolutely wonderful! The view upon entering was over the rooftops and all of the Tagus river in front of us. It was sunny and warm and all the sounds of the Alfama were wafting up to us, from the neighborhood dog to the #28 tram. It couldn't have been more perfect. The owner had arranged for a friend to meet us as she was away. Her friend showed us around the apartment and gave us a map that the owner had produced from google maps with everything in the Alfama on it, all of her favorites. It would really prove to be indispensible, as it is so easy to get lost in the Alfama. There was a bottle of wine and fresh fruit for us on the dining table. We enjoyed both during our visit while listening to her jazz cd's and gazing out the window at the river traffic and watching the neighbors (as they were also probably watching us, the tourists).
The first thing we did after we settled our things in was head out to find a "supermarket" and of course immediately got lost.
More later.
HappyTrvlr - I'm starting Lisbon now.
When we arrived in Lisbon it was a different world from Paris. First the airport was substantially smaller than CDG and it was sunny and hot. We collected our luggage and headed to the taxi stand. Taxi's are cheap in Lisbon. The relatively short ride into the city was 15 euro. We waited on the taxi line with everyone else and were basically told by a policeman which taxi we were going to get into. Our taxi pulled up and it didn't have an official taxi sign on top and it looked like a private car. I told the driver that I wanted a metered taxi and he could speak English and said it was not possible to take another taxi and that he did have a meter. I asked the policeman if his taxi was legitimate, in so many words, and he said yes. So in we got. The driver could speak a little english which was good as I know only a few words of Portuguese. I handed him the map and directions that the owner of our apartment had instructed me to give to the taxi driver, as her apartment is in the Alfama area of Lisbon and GPS would not work for that location. He chose not to to use it and off we went. Well, I felt like the Griswalds in European Vacation or a contestant on the tv show Amazing Race. The driver got lost and we stopped a minimum of four times to ask directions. As a matter of fact he drove in circles and we stopped at the same cafe to ask the same bunch of men, twice. Neither they or the driver seemed to recognize that fact. It was really laughable, however the landlady had arranged for someone to meet us at the apartment and we were getting quite late for that meeting. Finally the driver went down a one way street the wrong way and pulled over and he and my husband walked down the small alleyway of a street and located the apartment. We assured him that he didn't need to go any further and that we would be more than happy to carry the luggage to the apartment. Now I know why I don't use taxis that often.
The apartment in the Alfama was absolutely wonderful! The view upon entering was over the rooftops and all of the Tagus river in front of us. It was sunny and warm and all the sounds of the Alfama were wafting up to us, from the neighborhood dog to the #28 tram. It couldn't have been more perfect. The owner had arranged for a friend to meet us as she was away. Her friend showed us around the apartment and gave us a map that the owner had produced from google maps with everything in the Alfama on it, all of her favorites. It would really prove to be indispensible, as it is so easy to get lost in the Alfama. There was a bottle of wine and fresh fruit for us on the dining table. We enjoyed both during our visit while listening to her jazz cd's and gazing out the window at the river traffic and watching the neighbors (as they were also probably watching us, the tourists).
The first thing we did after we settled our things in was head out to find a "supermarket" and of course immediately got lost.
More later.
Oct 22nd, 2013, 01:53 AM
#25
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,604
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We used the map that the apartment owner had left for us and if we had taken the advice of the owner's friend and walked up to the tram tracks and followed them up to Las Portas do Sol (a beautiful miradour that we ended up visiting frequently during our stay) and continued on to the Baixa elevator we would have easily ended up at the Pingo Doce supermarket. Instead we lost our way and just by sheer luck found the elevator and figured out that the store was on the bottom floor, three streets below. I can't say enough about how unbelievably hilly Lisbon is. I knew that they had the elevadores and the funicular, but the stairs and the steep alleys and streets all over the city somehow came as a surprise to me. With the hills came the beautiful vistas and out of the way spots to sit and grab refreshments and relax and enjoy the view and the weather.
Back at the apartment we put away our supplies and back up to Las Portas do Sol to do what we probably enjoyed most on the trip, sit at an outdoor cafe and sip a beer (or wine or coffee) and relax and people watch and of course watch the trams. I really love those trams. We regularly used the #28, but also the #12 which was more of an express. We even just went out "for a ride" for the fun of it. I managed to snag a spot standing next to the driver, the best vantage point, or a single seat with the window open, leaning out and barreling down the hills with people walking on the sidewalk within inches of the tram. If you were the walker you had to flatten yourself against the building when the tram went by. Everywhere people were taking pictures of those trams, they were loved by all.
Back at the apartment we put away our supplies and back up to Las Portas do Sol to do what we probably enjoyed most on the trip, sit at an outdoor cafe and sip a beer (or wine or coffee) and relax and people watch and of course watch the trams. I really love those trams. We regularly used the #28, but also the #12 which was more of an express. We even just went out "for a ride" for the fun of it. I managed to snag a spot standing next to the driver, the best vantage point, or a single seat with the window open, leaning out and barreling down the hills with people walking on the sidewalk within inches of the tram. If you were the walker you had to flatten yourself against the building when the tram went by. Everywhere people were taking pictures of those trams, they were loved by all.
Oct 22nd, 2013, 03:04 AM
#26
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 208
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Enjoying reading your report as we're planning to go to Lisbon May 2014. Would you mind sharing more apartment details -- agency, name, price, etc? We're planning to stay a week and rent an apartment and sounds like you liked yours very much. Thank you!
Oct 22nd, 2013, 03:40 AM
#27
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,604
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I would be happy to share the apartment info, CollK. The website is http://www.casadalfama.com/ The owner rents the apartment and all your dealings will be with her. She is really very nice and made sure that everything was perfect for us. We didn't meet her on arrival, but a friend of hers was there and was equally as nice. We did meet the owner when it was time to leave. She also arranged a taxi to pick us up and take us back to the airport, which was very convenienient. I highly recommend this apartment! All the info you need about the apartment is on her website.
Oct 22nd, 2013, 05:33 AM
#30
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,960
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
opaldog:
So you made it to Longchamp for the Arc! Terrific! And you won with Treve, the still undefeated 3-year-old filly. She won going away, leaving the Orfevre, the Japanese hopeful, who finished second last year in the Arc, in her wake. Treve is scheduled to run next year and will again be pointed to the Arc. A very exciting horse.
You and I exchanged posts some years ago when we were both at the race course in Chantilly on the same day.
I've been to Longchamp several times but always in the spring, never for the Arc, which, to me, and many others is the premier race (on turf or dirt) in the world.
Did you have seats at the track? Was it easy enough to get around, to buy refreshments? When I've been to Longchamp on a Sunday, the crowd was around 18,000. But, for the Arc, it can be 40,000 or more. I'm curious.
I'm also curious about Portugal. Keep writing.
So you made it to Longchamp for the Arc! Terrific! And you won with Treve, the still undefeated 3-year-old filly. She won going away, leaving the Orfevre, the Japanese hopeful, who finished second last year in the Arc, in her wake. Treve is scheduled to run next year and will again be pointed to the Arc. A very exciting horse.
You and I exchanged posts some years ago when we were both at the race course in Chantilly on the same day.
I've been to Longchamp several times but always in the spring, never for the Arc, which, to me, and many others is the premier race (on turf or dirt) in the world.
Did you have seats at the track? Was it easy enough to get around, to buy refreshments? When I've been to Longchamp on a Sunday, the crowd was around 18,000. But, for the Arc, it can be 40,000 or more. I'm curious.
I'm also curious about Portugal. Keep writing.
Oct 22nd, 2013, 07:23 AM
#31
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,604
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hello wanderful: Of course I remember you. The Arc was a wonderful experience, I hesitate to ever go to another Arc as I couldn't recreate the feeling of winning! My husband had the "other" Japanese horse and the Japanese people were betting like crazy and cheering like crazy for naught. Treve is a beauty! All of the horses were really magnificent. At that level of racing they should be, not like the very sad horses I see at Suffolk Downs in Boston. We didn't have seats, but it was fun to walk all around and see the people, the entertainment, the horses, etc. It was crowded but not so crowded that I couldn't walk around and I never got shut out at the windows. I actually didn't buy any refreshments. We were only there for 3 races, but the best part of the day. The races went off exactly on time, the weather cooperated, and the track personnel kept things running very smoothly. I wrote about the shuttle buses. We were amazed at how many there were and how quickly they got us to and from the metro station. The car traffic however looked to be back up for miles.
We had been to Longchamps before and there were hardly any people there at that visit. We have also been to Chantilly, as you know, and Maisons Lafitte. Nothing compared to the Arc.
I'll be writing more about Portugal, or more specifically, Lisbon as that was where we were.
Thanks for the comment.
We had been to Longchamps before and there were hardly any people there at that visit. We have also been to Chantilly, as you know, and Maisons Lafitte. Nothing compared to the Arc.
I'll be writing more about Portugal, or more specifically, Lisbon as that was where we were.
Thanks for the comment.
Oct 22nd, 2013, 04:27 PM
#34
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,604
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks sandy_b: We were only in Lisbon for four days so I am definitely no expert, just a first time experience.
CollK: If you stay at that apartment you will not regret it. It is in the Alfama, an area we really enjoyed.
Our first night in Lisbon we didn't really want to go to far and get totally lost, so we followed the map up (everything's up or down)the cobbled street to the stairs and up some more. I can't remember the name of the small restaurant that we decided to eat at, but it was nothing to write home about. I had shrimp and squid on a skewer served with boiled potato. Many of the meals were served with plain boiled potatoes. My husband had a fish, dorado, and enjoyed it. We walked back down to the apartment and watched the boat traffic on the river and listened to the Fado music coming from the little restaurant at the bottom of the stairs outside our window. When I checked the map the next day for restaurant recommendations, the one we ate at was not a favorite of the owner and I can see why.
Our first full day in Lisbon and it was sunny and bright. I went to the big tall windows in the living room to get my first glimpse of the river and see if the tanker that had been docked right across from us was still there. I couldn't see it and then realized why, a huge ocean liner was docked right in front of the apartment, or so it seemed. It was huge and really did cover a big portion of our river view, but it was different and so it was also kind of interesting. You could hear all of the announcements that the captain was making on board. It seemed that the passengers would only be there for the day and so it was as that evening we watch the boat power up and take off. On our last day there a much smaller ship docked and went through all of the same announcements, only with that ship we watched the crew being led through their safety drills, while we had a glass of wine.
So back to our first full day, we decided that we would like to take a ferry across the river to Calcihas, where we planned to have lunch and head back across the Tagus to Lisbon. We caught the 28 tram up into the Graca neighborhood and down back to Praca Figuera where we walked over to the Rossio metro and bought our Via Viagem card for 6 euros and unlimited travel on metros, trams, buses, and funicular for 24 hours. We took the Rossio metro to Cais do Sodre and the ferry terminal. The woman behind the window spoke fluent english and told us that the boats were not running between 2:30 and 6:30. Well we didn't want to be over at Calcihas that long so on to Plan B. We walked across the road to the tram tracks and waited for the #15 tram to Belem, a must for every tourist visiting Lisbon, if only for the pasteis de Belem, a famous custard tart, (nata) that in this particular case are sold at a place called Pasteis de Belem. They were pretty tasty and the place itself was huge, room after room of people eating pretty much the same thing, pasteis de Belem. We also purchased our nata at a small pasteleria down the stairs from our apartment, every morning we were there.
The weather was really beautiful and it was a perfect day to walk along the waterfront at Belem. It was fairly full with tourists. There are several things to see there. We went over to the Discoveries tower with all of the discoverers carved on it. It was only built in 1960 to honor Prince Henry the Navigator. My husband went up to the top. I stayed planted on the ground. I saw the pictures he took and that was good enough for me. Then we walked on down to the Belem Tower, built in the 1500's and toured around that for awhile. At this point I was ready to hop back on the #15 and head back to Alfama. We went back the same way we got there and rested up at the apartment enjoying our view.
CollK: If you stay at that apartment you will not regret it. It is in the Alfama, an area we really enjoyed.
Our first night in Lisbon we didn't really want to go to far and get totally lost, so we followed the map up (everything's up or down)the cobbled street to the stairs and up some more. I can't remember the name of the small restaurant that we decided to eat at, but it was nothing to write home about. I had shrimp and squid on a skewer served with boiled potato. Many of the meals were served with plain boiled potatoes. My husband had a fish, dorado, and enjoyed it. We walked back down to the apartment and watched the boat traffic on the river and listened to the Fado music coming from the little restaurant at the bottom of the stairs outside our window. When I checked the map the next day for restaurant recommendations, the one we ate at was not a favorite of the owner and I can see why.
Our first full day in Lisbon and it was sunny and bright. I went to the big tall windows in the living room to get my first glimpse of the river and see if the tanker that had been docked right across from us was still there. I couldn't see it and then realized why, a huge ocean liner was docked right in front of the apartment, or so it seemed. It was huge and really did cover a big portion of our river view, but it was different and so it was also kind of interesting. You could hear all of the announcements that the captain was making on board. It seemed that the passengers would only be there for the day and so it was as that evening we watch the boat power up and take off. On our last day there a much smaller ship docked and went through all of the same announcements, only with that ship we watched the crew being led through their safety drills, while we had a glass of wine.
So back to our first full day, we decided that we would like to take a ferry across the river to Calcihas, where we planned to have lunch and head back across the Tagus to Lisbon. We caught the 28 tram up into the Graca neighborhood and down back to Praca Figuera where we walked over to the Rossio metro and bought our Via Viagem card for 6 euros and unlimited travel on metros, trams, buses, and funicular for 24 hours. We took the Rossio metro to Cais do Sodre and the ferry terminal. The woman behind the window spoke fluent english and told us that the boats were not running between 2:30 and 6:30. Well we didn't want to be over at Calcihas that long so on to Plan B. We walked across the road to the tram tracks and waited for the #15 tram to Belem, a must for every tourist visiting Lisbon, if only for the pasteis de Belem, a famous custard tart, (nata) that in this particular case are sold at a place called Pasteis de Belem. They were pretty tasty and the place itself was huge, room after room of people eating pretty much the same thing, pasteis de Belem. We also purchased our nata at a small pasteleria down the stairs from our apartment, every morning we were there.
The weather was really beautiful and it was a perfect day to walk along the waterfront at Belem. It was fairly full with tourists. There are several things to see there. We went over to the Discoveries tower with all of the discoverers carved on it. It was only built in 1960 to honor Prince Henry the Navigator. My husband went up to the top. I stayed planted on the ground. I saw the pictures he took and that was good enough for me. Then we walked on down to the Belem Tower, built in the 1500's and toured around that for awhile. At this point I was ready to hop back on the #15 and head back to Alfama. We went back the same way we got there and rested up at the apartment enjoying our view.
Oct 22nd, 2013, 05:45 PM
#36
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 776
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We went to Belem and ate the famous 'custard tarts,' which are very tasty but we didn't go to the Monastery either. There were hundreds in line. And we have seen a lot of monasteries. We went to the Coach Museum which was very interesting. I'm really enjoying your trip report. (We were there the 3rd week in Oct.)
Oct 22nd, 2013, 06:14 PM
#37
I've seen a lot of monasteries too, but not one like the Mosterio dos Jeronimos.
See: http://tinyurl.com/pzfvnyj and http://tinyurl.com/p4vplsu
See: http://tinyurl.com/pzfvnyj and http://tinyurl.com/p4vplsu
Oct 23rd, 2013, 02:17 AM
#38
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,604
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The weather was so absolutely beautiful and I had already kind of decided that this trip would just be about soaking in the atmosphere, the people, the food and drink and not about museums and sites. All my other trips I have done a lot of sightseeing and I just needed to relax, if that's possible in a city, in Lisbon it was. If it had been raining or cold, yes I would have been inside and going to the Tile Museum and others like a modern art, contemporary art museum that we saw. Now I have a reason to return. I'm already planning a visit that would incorporate Lisbon and further afield.
Oct 23rd, 2013, 04:45 AM
#39
We didn't wait in line for the monastery either, just walked around the cloister, which did not have a line. But somehow found time for those pastries too.
Other than riding through on the tram, we didn't make it to the Alfama either. Very very hilly, and lots of stairs. Maybe next time, if I'm so lucky.
I had a great time in Lisbon, looking forward to hearing about the rest.
Other than riding through on the tram, we didn't make it to the Alfama either. Very very hilly, and lots of stairs. Maybe next time, if I'm so lucky.
I had a great time in Lisbon, looking forward to hearing about the rest.
Oct 23rd, 2013, 05:20 AM
#40
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 662
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It almost sounds like you're apologizing, opaldog - stop that! ;-) The "soaking in" you describe is such an important part of travel for me. Between the weather you're describing and that view from your lovely apartment, I would have had a hard time leaving that balcony and my glass of wine...
I'm becoming more and more intrigued by Lisbon, so carry on!
I'm becoming more and more intrigued by Lisbon, so carry on!
