More Lisbon Portugal

By Ali Karim
This post is part of a series called Northern Portugal July 2018
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This is the 2nd blogpost on Lisbon Portugal; the previous one is at City of 7 hills

After my camera died, I had to figure out how to replace it for the remaining duration of our trip; which was a few more days in Lisbon Portugal, followed by 2 weeks in Lebanon. I did not want to spend a lot of money (a lot already invested in my now dead Sony Camera) & cameras are generally more expensive in Europe compared to the US; so I looked for the same camera I had used previously , the FZ300, a Panasonic travel camera. Unfortunately, this was discontinued, but I found a newer version (FZ82) of this camera which should do, based on the reviews and my familiarity with this family of cameras. So after some researching, we found Worten, the shop in Vasco da Gama Mall that carried this camera for a reasonable price and purchased it. Thank god I found something suitable, and at a reasonable price.

Archway into the old City, Praca do Commercio, close to where I had damaged my camera
Archway into the old City from Praca do Commercio, close to where I had damaged my camera

Next day, after breakfast of omelets and toast in our apartment, we took the ferry from Cais do Sodre to Cacilhas, across the Tagus river. The Cacilhas area is another residential area, and also has the Metro, trams and bus network to take you everywhere on this side of the River and also back across to Lisbon easily.

Along the waterfront west of the Cacilhas ferry station, are old warehouses and piers that used to load and offload large ships; but have been long since abandoned. So some of these old warehouses are ripe for conversion to newer fancy condos soon as it becomes viable.

Currently they are mostly deserted and not in good shape. Below are some scenes as we walked west along the waterfront where we were told were some very good restaurants for fresh seafood. Some views along the waterfront in Cacilhas below

Waterfront warehouses in Cacilhas
Waterfront warehouses in Cacilhas
The old Wharf, Cacilhas
The old Wharf, Cacilhas

On this 15min walk, we passed many disused warehouses that had seen better days, a couple of nice restaurants on the sea wall, and then came to a nice park area with an elevator that took one up several stories up above the cliffs into Almada.

Boca do Vento Elevator
Boca do Vento Elevator

We took this free elevator to the top to Almada; views from the top were breathtaking, see below

View of the “San Francisco” bridge, designed by the same architect of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco
View of the “San Francisco” bridge, designed by the same architect of the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco
Stunning views of Lisbon across the Tagus river
Stunning views of Lisbon across the Tagus river
View of the wharf we had just walked, from the Miradouro Boca do Vento
View of the wharf we had just walked, from the Miradouro Boca do Vento
Views of the continuing wharf
Views of the continuing wharf

After spending some time admiring the view over a coffee, we took the elevator back down, and walked to the Atira-te ao rio restaurant, that we had passed earlier on the wharf.

The Atira-te ao rio restaurant
The Atira-te ao rio restaurant, looking forward to the state of relaxation 🙂
Waterfront dining at the Atira-te ao rio restaurant, views of ships and Lisbon
Waterfront dining at the Atira-te ao rio restaurant, views of ships and Lisbon
Fresh Salmon lunch
Fresh Salmon lunch

After a great Portuguese meal of fresh Salmon, we headed back to Cacilhas along the wharf

Old, disused and decaying wharf with colorful graffiti
Old, disused and decaying wharf with colorful graffiti
Great views of old Lisbon from Cacilhas
Great views of old Lisbon from Cacilhas

Back on the Lisbon side, we walked some more in the old city and got some great shots of old Lisbon and daily life here; see below

Lisbon and daily life
Lisbon and daily life
Hilly city, great exercise
Hilly city, great exercise
Another funicular (Ascensor)
Another funicular (Ascensor)
All aboard, school trip on Tram 28
All aboard, school trip on Tram 28
Another beautiful old church, Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Loreto / Igreja dos Italianos
Another beautiful old church, Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Loreto / Igreja dos Italianos
The Praça Luís de Camões; a popular tourist meeting place for guided walking tours
The Praça Luís de Camões; a popular tourist meeting place for guided walking tours
We can figure this out….. tourists and trams
We can figure this out….. tourists and trams
Some thoughts on Lisbon and Portugal
Overall, a very friendly, civilized and reasonably cheap place to eat great quality food; we never had a bad meal in Portugal. Everything was freshly prepared, down to the orange juice purchased at the local mini markets, which was freshly squeezed by a machine right in front of our eyes. The food was remarkably cheap, costing us about 12-22 euro’s for a meal for 2 of us, in cheap to mid-range restaurants used by locals. Good variety of food available, Portuguese and various ethnic foods. The costs for fresh produce and wine in the Grocery shops were very reasonable. Public transportation was quick, efficient and reasonably cheap and took us everywhere we needed to go. People were friendly and the weather was perfect for us while we were there. Great place to visit and even live; we had a great time.

Highly recommended.

I can get used to Portugal; great quality wines, especially vinho verde, for very reasonable prices
I can get used to Portugal; great quality wines, especially vinho verde, for very reasonable prices

After our last night in Lisbon, it was time to catch our flight to our next destination. Since we were in Europe (Lisbon) for the Aga Khan’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, we decide to go check out another place off the beaten path that was not far away, Lebanon. So we booked an Uber in advance, and at 5AM we left our apartment for the airport.

5AM start from our apartment in the old city to get our Uber to Lisbon airport, and onto Lebanon
5AM start from our apartment in the old city to get our Uber to Lisbon airport, and onwards

Beirut, Lebanon next

This entry was posted in ››Northern Portugal July 2018, Europe, Portugal

13 thoughts on “More Lisbon Portugal

  • Pingback: Beirut - Ali Karim Travelog

  • Muslim Harji August 28, 2018 at 5:06 pm Reply

    Great Images…Sorry to hear about your camera….????

    Love, Light & Cheers
    Muslim Harji

    • Ali Karim August 28, 2018 at 5:07 pm Reply

      Thanks Muslim. I need to learn not to argue with the wife 🙂

  • farida ali August 28, 2018 at 5:04 pm Reply

    Thanks for sharing Ali

    • Ali Karim August 28, 2018 at 5:05 pm Reply

      Most welcome, Farida

  • mahamud jinnah August 28, 2018 at 5:03 pm Reply

    Awesome blog.i agree that lisbon is a great place to visit and live. You really visited every corner of lisbon. I think I missed most of it on this trip.

    • Ali Karim August 28, 2018 at 5:04 pm Reply

      Thanks Mahamud, you need to go back there again 🙂

  • Gulnar Jiwa August 28, 2018 at 5:00 pm Reply

    Thanks Ali Karim,

    I am about to book my flights for spain and portugal. Info will come in handy

    • Ali Karim August 28, 2018 at 5:02 pm Reply

      Hi Gulnar, Glad this helped. Enjoy your vacation

  • Pingback: Lisbon Portugal, City of 7 hills - Ali Karim Travelog

  • Nash Rajan August 25, 2018 at 11:04 am Reply

    I have thoroughly enjoyed your coverage and beautiful photographs . we were in Portugal at the same time but never saw all the areas you visited. Makes me like Portugal even more . BY the way, what camera do you use ? The pictures are stunning !

    • Ali Karim August 25, 2018 at 3:24 pm Reply

      Hi Nash, thanks for the nice feedback; glad you enjoyed my Travelog.
      Regarding the camera I use; I used the Sony RX10 Mark 3, before it fell & broke :(. This is a big and bulky camera but takes great pictures and I love it.
      Then, after the accident, I shifted to the Panasonic FX82, a much lighter and smaller camera. But I still prefer the Sony.

  • NoorJehan Tejani August 23, 2018 at 4:06 pm Reply

    Beautiful Dilshad & Ali.
    Hope to meet you guys in Toronto soon !
    Love, NoorJehan

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