Other sides of Lisbon

A week ago I had some long awaited guests here in Lisbon when my sister and aunt came to visit. Although the temperature seemed to drop heavily during the few days they were here, we got to enjoy sunny Lisbon in many ways. It was nice to act as a tour guide again, but it also served as a great opportunity to visit places and attractions that I have been meaning to see all autumn. 

In the city center I showed my sister and aunt some basic places like the castle and Praça do Comércio. We also tried some new things like riding up the Santa Justa Lift (looks cool in the city but a total tourist rip-off I would say, 5€ to ride up even though you could just take another rout and walk onto it for free...)  and taking tram number 28 across the city. The tram ride feels like an old roller coaster - it goes up and down Lisbon's steep hills and especially the downhill parts are filled with a mix of excitement and anxiety because you wonder if the breaks will make it. The earlier you jump into the tram the better because once tram 28 reaches the city center, it will be packed. 

For one of our day trips outside of the city center, we hopped on a boat and crossed the Tejo river to visit Cristo Rei, the Jesus statue. We took a boat from Cais do Sodré and then bus 101 which gave a nice little tour of the Almada municipality on the way. Cristo Rei may mildly remind you of Rio de Janeiro's Cristo Redentor, yet the massive cement structure of Cristo Rei makes it look and feel quite different. Cristo Rei is located next to Ponte 25 de Abril, the bridge that reminds you of another city, San Francisco. The Cristo Rei monument itself is somewhat pretentious but the view over Lisbon, the bridge and the entire coast line is pretty amazing. Both the monument and bridge were built during times of dictatorship in Portugal which makes them historically interesting places to visit as well. 

One might also think that I have totally fallen for football since one of that weekend's highlights was the World Championships qualification game Portugal vs. Sweden. Everything about the game was like something I haven't seen before - crazy fans, the jammed metro, the riot police, the size of the stadium, and the excitement of the game. It ended 1-0 for Portugal, and although I have to admit that I cheered for Sweden that night (and football is perhaps the only sport in which it can be considered ok for a Finn to be on Sweden's side) it was great to see the local team win. Now that the teams have played the second game, I'm happy that Portugal went through as they also won the second game by 3-2. 

Portugal vs. Sweden and Ronaldo vs. Zlatan.

Portugal scores!

This Portuguese fan really wanted me to take a photo of him after Portugal's goal.

On the last day, we took the train to lovely Cascais to have an easy day of enjoying the sun and sea breeze. When we got back to Lisbon in the evening, it was time for another highlight as we went to listen to Fado. It is traditional Portuguese music that is sung in restaurants. I had wanted to experience Fado for a long time, and although I did not understand a word of the songs it was just as beautiful, dramatic and melancholic as I had imagined. We decided to try out Clube de Fado which was quite pricy but had both good food and Fado, but there are many other places all around Lisbon to listen to Fado all as well. It might be a good idea to book a table in advance in any place though because even now during "off season" the restaurant was completely full.

Pretty little Cascais

 

Overall we did so much during those four days that we were completely exhausted every night. Hopefully my sister and aunt enjoyed Lisbon as much as I do and perhaps will also to revisit someday.