7 - March 4/5 Weekend

We headed toward the Mosteiro Sao Vincente de Fora in the Alfama district.

Along the way we did some souvenir shopping and we bought a beautiful dish with Lisbon buildings and a street car on it. The shop is Porta 16 and is a collection of pottery from various artists. We purchased the work of the artist who is also an architect.

At another collective artist shop I purchased a print. For some reason I found the works by this artist very amusing. It includes flying street cars in the Lisbon landscape. I think it will look great in my bathroom.

We also purchased a street car model that Bill will turn into a Christmas tree ornament from one of the many souvenir shops.

Our final big score of the day was found at a flea market. If you want to bring home a Portuguese tile as a souvenir, this is the way to do it. The selection was vast and the prices were dirt cheap. We don’t know the origin of our tile but do know that it is reclaimed from building here and that is pretty special! And it was only 5 Euros. We saw prices that were more than double and triple that in the shops.

I purchased a very mediocore hot chocolate from a nearby cafe and chugged it back to give me the energy to tour the monastery and have a later lunch.

Mosteiro Sao Vincente de Fora dates back to the siege of Lisbon in 1147 when the first King of Portugal, Afonso I, promised to build the monastery to honour the popular Saint Vincent, now known as the patron saint of the patriarchy. Another interesting historical fact is that St Anthony lived here in his early years as a monk.

The first part of the tour included the old cistern and the new cistern and I started to think this was going to be very dull. Thankfully, I was wrong, there was lots of diverse things to see and do, and I found it much more interesting than Monasterio de los Jeronimos.

As to be expected, the halls, stairways, and courtyards are filled with amazing works of art depicting scenes of history or stories in azulejos all over the grounds. I was particularly amused by “Les Fables de la Fontaine”. There were dozens of azulejos of fables along with translation of the fable. I could have spent hours reading them because I found them so puzzling and hilarious. I am hoping something was lost in translation, otherwise I have some serious doubts about the wisdom of the Portuguese ancestors.

With our entrance fee we were also able to explore the cloister which had some beautiful works of art on the walls and ceiling, vestments, vessels, relics, furniture, and even a giant umbrella. We also were able to explore the front of the Church (you are only allowed to enter and remain in the back of the church if you don’t pay) and see the sacristy of marble, paintings, and sculptures by a famous Portuguese artist.

This place is also special, as I mentioned the patriarchy earlier, because it is the resting place of Portuguese monarchs over a 250 year period, dating back to the 16th century.

We were also able to climb one of the towers and walk along the roof of the church. Since the monastery is positioned on one of the highest points of the city, we were able to have a great view of the castle and the river Tagus from the roof.

From there we walked through the massive flea market to Maca Verde (Green Apple) for a traditional Portuguese meal, near the Santa Apollonia train station (to Porto). It was partially filled with locals and tourists (thanks to Eater) and we a great, cheap meal. I really enjoyed my grilled sea bass with rice and a small salad. Bill also really enjoyed his pork special with fries. I was going to try the Arroz Doce (rice pudding) but the damn hipster next to us had the last one!

We headed back to our place to watch F1 qualifying for the first race of the season and for a rest.

After doing some blogging and some work we had dinner at Pastanaga. It is a charming little place that is run by a lady who takes a lot pride in her family recipes. When we decided to have a bottle of wine, the waiter selected 4 reds for us and gave us a tasting of each one to allow us to select our wine for the evening. What a fantastic idea! We liked both Chao da Quinta and Barca do Inferno. We went with the 2018 Chao da Quinta for our meal.

We stared with hard boiled eggs stuffed with tuna (her mother’s recipe). It was like deviled eggs with a nice bonus. Bill had the sheperd’s pie (a recipe she created for her son) and I had the rabbit stewed in red wine. It came with a fresh salad with raisins and nuts. It was a nice home cooked feeling meal!

Sunday morning we headed to the ferry station at Cais do Sodre to cross over to Cacilhas. We arrived just in time to miss the ferry. We made the classic mistake of putting all of our fares on one ticket. Bill was able to enter into the waiting area but I was not. The gate closed and the ferry departed.

After a bit of fighting with another machine, I was able to purchase my ticket from an agent and enter the waiting area. Fortunately there are two ferries, so the wait was less than 20 minutes. Then, it is only an 8 minute ride aross the river.

From our side of the river, Santuario de Cristo Rei (Santuary of Christ the King) looks like the highest point in the area. It also appears that there is a steep climb, a valley, then another climb to get to the monument. But, we got very lucky and the ascent to the monument was very gradual through the city centre. It was a quiet morning but was a bit livelier as we got closer to the monument and were surrounded by local residences and shops. This side of the river is definitely not as pretty as our side and has more of a working class vibe.

We arrived at the grounds without too much effort and no rain, so we are pretty happy. The clouds are still low and grey, so the view is not ideal, but still pretty good. It is no surprise to learn that the inspiration for this monument is Christ the Redeemer in Rio. After seeing in in 1934, the late Cardinal Manuel Goncalves Cerejeira, was inspired to erect a similar monument in Lisbon giving thanks to being spared going to war during WWII. It is meant to represent and inspire love and peace.

Along the view facing the water, bridge, and city centre of Lisbon are the stations of the cross, a statue of Mary, and the “tall cross”.

We had to wait in a queue for the elevator to take us close to the top of the monument, then walked the rest of the way to the top. We did a couple of laps around the top, enjoyed the view, and snapped some pics. Again, had to wait in a queue for the one elevator (lots of ups and downs in her job) in the gift shop for a while before we could depart.

It started to rain as we were leaving, so we ducked under some trees to get back to parking lot exit. We were able to spot three or four new bird species - a Eurasian Siskin, a Common Chiffchaff, a European Robin (same as in Scotland), and a Eurasian Blackbird. What a nice added bonus!

We headed downhill to Ponto Final restaurant. This part of the city along the river’s edge looks like it used to be a factory or warehouse area and is now long abandoned for the most part. The steep stone staircase down is unkempt and covered in graffiti.

The restaurant is beside the water and a old stone pier and we had seen it on Someone Feed Phil. Tables beside the building are covered with umbrellas but we made a bold decision to sit on the pier with no railings and exposed to the elements. The sky has lightened a bit but the rain clouds have not completely disappeared.

Initially we were alone on the pier except for the fish begging for food below us in the water. We have a great view of the graffiti along the waterfront abandoned buildings on our side of the river, downtown Lisbon on the other side, and the bridge looming beside/over us.

We ordered a chickpea and cod salad, an octopus salad, and oysters to start. All were so delicious! We enjoyed a nice crisp vinho verde and the unique ambiance during our meal. We shared an order of grilled sardines. It was my first time having them and they were larger than I expected. I am used to seeing them sold in tiny cans. The entire meal was delicious! And we finished just in time. A huge rain cloud parked itself overhead and dumped on us.

We grabbed the rest of our wine and water and stood under the cover of umbrellas around the tables near the restaurant. Thankfully is subsided quite quickly and we stood at the edge of the water out of the way of the staff to finish our drinks. It was a great opportunity for me to snap a few more photos with the waves crashing in at our feet.

We spent the afternoon watching the first F1 race of the year, napping (mostly me), blogging, and working (mostly Bill).

For dinner we tried the small and too popular Fado spot near the cathedral again. It was full so we ended up at a tourist trap, Sao Miguel d’Alfama. We were at the bottom of a slope outside the restaurant, so I kept a close eye on my glass of wine all night. Overall the meal was as expected - mediocre at best. For the first time on the trip I forgot to take a photo of our meal. I had roasted chicken that was dry and Bill had a tender lamb dish. There were three very good Fado singers but they did not seem to captivate the attention of the crowd as they have in our experiences so far.