Lisbon to Lyon: It has Moxie!

Posted bybrantdyer6929Posted inUncategorized
Yup, third castle in one day. I believe this is Saint George. Thank goodness for Oofos. At this one there were gusts up to 45 mph—hence the big hair. The ticket in my pocket went airborne out of my pocket seconds after pic was taken. A nice spot for sunset.
We try to always take our advice from the young folks so we sat down on the steps to watch this…

I really loved Lisbon. It had a great energy about it. And just a great variety. It also had a few less steps than Porto. And the Uber drivers were funny and informative. The driver bringing us in convinced us to go to Madeira Islands where he is from. He also gave us a great outline of what to in the city plus some history … very kind.

Fun to stand here and think what the King looked out over so many years ago.

Another driver was hilarious… reminded me of the character in Catch 22…Milo I think. He was from Punjab. He told us he lived in Italy for a few years but now in Portugal for 6. I asked if he liked here or Italy better. He said he liked Italy but he couldn’t get his papers renewed after a couple of years… so now he is in Portugal and he likes that better now. Then he giggled. Another had been in Portugal for 11 years from Bengal… he seemed to have confidence and pride that Portugal was doing everything it could to improve their country. Still he prefers his own country’s spicy food. Then we had a guy who picked us up after a Fado show who was very upset we were in that part of town. He felt it was very unsafe… filled with immigrants and crime. I think he was sincerely concerned about our safety but also was angry about what he felt immigrants were doing to his city. It was a heck of a strange walk to get there but the restaurant was tucked away in a tiny ally then upstairs to a tiny room. We did get the sense we were in a “bad” part of time but it was also unique and kind of magical.

There’s Brant in that very scary part of town—-which I believe is the home of fado. Of this pedestrian road are tiny allies where we found our restaurant.

Our hotel was also unique… and thanks to credit card points we somehow got upgraded to the “boss’s room”… yup that’s what it said on plaque right next to our door. A spacious suite on the top floor, but what really made it was the wrap around deck. Pretty posh! Easy to grab a drink at the bar on the way up the elevator then enjoy them on our wrap around deck.

Feeling pretty posh (as the British Fran would say).
Didn’t use the pool but it looked like a great place to swim laps. I was afraid if I added laps to my 15,000 steps and 30 flights per day I might have a stroke!
And a unique courtyard. Looks like it’s a relatively new chain in Europe called Moxie. We could have watched “Mean Girls” in the lobby with free popcorn. Lots of young people so it must be good.

We had only 2 nights in Lisbon so just did a superficial tour of the city which as always includes lots of walking, searching out good food, drink and views then a bit of music and throw in a little local feel.

…and of course a museum. This one had been recommended by several friends and really was wonderful. I would actually go back again it was so good!
I really loved these tiles that it said were common in bakeries. Imagine the handiwork that went into creating each and every tile.
One thing nice about traveling in a foreign language country is that you can just give up on translation and just enjoy the ride….but I think I would have enjoyed having this room explained to me. Except it would have taken a long time.
The Tile Museum was housed in an old convent —worth it to go just to see the structure
I loved the mix of green space and crowded city space—and of course the golden light.

Would we go back? I feel most definitely, a fun city with lots to do. Like NYC so many different parts to the city—each area different. I think the Chiado area would be the best to stay in but I also read that the Moorish Quarter was terrific place to stay for a diverse mix of people and culture—-and that is exactly where the cab driver told us was very dangerous and we should not be there!

Here is my attempt to load a fado video:

Oops put in wrong video—but too difficult to delete,hard to pick the correct one when its dark!
I wish I had taken a better pic of this “Fado dinner club”. You had a course (this was obviously appetizers), then the lights went out and there was “Fado” then another course, then lights out and more Fado—through a 4 or 5 course dinner. The food was very good and the best Fado I have ever heard (also the only Fado I have ever heard). The best part was the diversity of the occupants of the room: Japan, Korea, Mexico (x2), Chicago, and Portugal. There were only 10 tables and we were all hanging out in the most dangerous neighborhood of Lisbon. The wine was excellent and all you wanted! I actually did enjoy the fado, though thought I wouldn’t, perhaps it was the setting? The wine? Or a little bit of everything

Off to Lyon! We leave Portugal with a desire for further exploration and maybe a month in the Azores someday—-and we also leave behind a beautiful scarf (originally 80 bucks but bought in LB for 75 percent off) which I lost when we got in the wrong person’s car in a parking lot. We rapidly jumped out when we didn’t recognize the jacket in the car sadly leaving the scarf behind. I bet they are wondering where that scarf came from!Fortunately for me Portugal had a beautiful assortment of scarves to choose from. It’s very hard to choose but I narrowed it down to two.

I took this pic because of the soft pink light and the moon but notice at the horizon that gray spot. It’s not mountains but a plume of smoke from the wildfires. A foreshadowing of the wildfires that took off in the 45 mph winds and killed several people. We were fortunate to have no smoke or road closures but that happened later, First Jasper now Portugal.
Friends recommended this spot and we really did enjoy the chorizo over the tabletop fire. He uses nearly pure ethanol poured into the bottom of this chafing dish. Brant of course could resist flipping it. (The man misses his grill).
Brant found a great barber shop and I found a delicious glass of wine across the street.
I love this even if I may not fully understand it.
Exactly!
Brant is such a great vampire. Found a sign for an exhibit and after following the signs realized it was in a library—-where we just happened to find a plug. It was however difficult to fake reading Portuguese books for 20 minutes while we charged (never found the exhibit). It was a beautiful library though. And they never questioned out presence. (Probably used to it).
…and they had a beautiful view from the library!
I like this photo….seems like everyone should be looking out over a beautiful river with the moon above but instead they are looking out at this huge cruise ship. AhhMuy Romántico!
And of course, lots of street art, Linda you weren’t painting while you were here were you?
And of course, glitzy churches built by the wealthy while the poor people starved but don’t get me started.
And nothing like a giant cruise ship to add to the ambiance of the architecture. Seemed every time we turned a corner a huge cruise ship was staring at us. As a result Brant prefers Porto. I see his point but I still love Lisbon
So I took this picture with no cruise ship but moments later a big ship came and filled up half the arch with its window wall. Just that small change completely changed the feel of the place—very interesting. (I think that guy needs a jacket or he did not want me to photograph him)

3 thoughts on “Lisbon to Lyon: It has Moxie!”

  1. enjoyed the blog. What an adventure, enjoyed your interesting pics, nice finds and deelish meal with “fado”.
    definitely on the to do list

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment