Day 11: Lisbon Finale

With a few more things to see and do in Lisbon, our last morning started with a ride on one of the city’s iconic trams along a scenic route. They’re still using the tram cars from the 1930s, complete with wooden interiors, and we caught Tram 28 at the top of a hill in the Alfama neighborhood to ensure a seat at the start of the route. It shimmied and wound down narrow streets, crossing town to the Baxia’s wider, flatter, and straighter streets before climbing another hill.

Riding in Tram 28

Riding in Tram 28; notice how close we get to the buildings and narrow sidewalks on some of these turns.

We got off near Praça do Comércio to take pictures in the square sans marathon scaffolding, and walked to a fancy outdoor elevator called Elevador de Santa Justa. While it was nice to be spared climbing the hill, there are other means to do that and I can’t say the ride itself was worth the wait. 

Praça do Comércio

View across the Tagus River

Elevador de Santa Justa

Praça Dom Pedro IV--more ocean wave patterns on the ground

But it dropped us off right next to Museu Arqueológico do Carmo, the museum of archaeology built in the ruins of a church from the 1755 earthquake. In a place with so many millennia of history, the association of archeology only began in the 1860s, and it was interesting to see what they chose to highlight.

Museu Arqueológico do Carmo

Walking down the hill, we visited the Time Out Market for a light lunch. A few years ago, the travel magazine converted an indoor market into a food court with stalls from some of the city’s best cooks, making it a travel destination in itself. With so many delicious options to choose from it was difficult to decide, but I opted for the Croqueteria and my meal confirmed I’d made the right choice. Returning to a walk through the Baxia, we made one last stop at Confeitaria Nacional, where I selected a few final pastries–why choose just one? 

Croquettes at the Time Out Market

Tram 28 Route

Tram 28 Route

Monumento ao Calceteiro, a monument to honor the skilled workers who build the sidewalk mosaics

Confeitaria Nacional

Finale pastries

Street lamp in Lisbon; this logo of the city depicts crows watching over the remains of Saint Vincent as they were brought to Lisbon centuries ago (Vincent was the patron saint of Lisbon until 1981, when they swapped him for Saint Anthony).

We got off at a different metro stop to walk through a park back to our hotel, and discovered that just around the corner was a Bansky museum. With only time to see the lobby before catching our flight, it was an interesting note to end our trip on and a reminder that for all we managed to squeeze into this trip, while Portugal may be known for sending explorers into the world it has many things to discover.

Lobby of the Banksy Museum

After all the hills and stairs we'd climbed in Portugal, I felt like this was one of the takeaways of the trip.

 ...and of course, I had to map our trip.