Look out Lisbon!

Day 9

I had the best sleep of the trip last night; almost a whole 7 hours. Maybe it was the Bendryl or maybe it was sheer exhaustion, or a combo of both, but I welcome it. When I woke up, I packed up and headed down to breakfast. Usually I bring my phone or iPad with me while I eat, but today I didn't and just sat there alone eating (which I really don't mind) and then realized I was staring off into space, eating alone and was reminded of Steven Glansberg from Superbad and starting laughing out loud to myself. You know that scene in the cafeteria when Seth doesn't want to be left alone to eat dessert? Hope so. If not, YouTube it. It's funny.

Then it was on the road to Portugal. This was going to be a long ride, but we were going to gain and hour on the way (it's on the same time zone as London). After about an hour and a half into the drive, we stopped in the town of Jabùgo to see a Spanish ham factory. The best hams in all of Spain are made here, Salamanca, and in another small town in Spain. At this factory, which produces Iberian hams, we had to put on a sanitary gown and hat to protect our clothing from dripping oil from the hanging hams. Lovely. They showed us the process of how the hams are made and gave information on how they are cured and dried and everything. It smelled awful in there but was interesting. I love me some swine and have been eating ham almost every day so far so I may as well learn a little bit about it. There were also hams hanging everywhere. The entire time I kept thinking how much my brother would have enjoyed this; especially the samples at the end.

Iberian ham is one of the top of the line hams sold and once sliced, looks and tastes and awful lot like prosciutto. We were at the factory for about 45 minutes then hit the road again, making a unnecessary pit stop after crossing the border (and actually gaining that hour because we entered a new time zone), then another 90 minutes for a lunch stop and then finally another hour and 15 minutes before getting to Lisbon. I had taken an extra sandwich from the ham factory for my lunch and had some other snacks I had previously purchased. I figured when we got to Lisbon if I wanted to explore and not want to rush back for dinner to do my own thing tonight, I'd save some

money on a mediocre lunch.

Before going to the hotel, we made a quick stop at the Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Rei) statue at the top of a hill entering the city of Lisbon. I had read about it being here and that its an exact replica of the one in Brazil. It was pretty spectacular. I have zero idea of the significance but it was definitely cool to see. The hill that it's on offers amazing panoramic views of the city and the Tagis River. It was an awesome stop to make offering great photo ops. The 25th of April Bridge (25 de Abril) which goes across the river looks so similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. From where we were standing, one could have just assumed me there as to that bridge view. There was also the option to go to the top of Cristo Rei which of course I couldn't pass up. For five euro, I was able to take an elevator up to the top for even higher views. It really was an awesome place to quickly visit before finally getting to the hotel. Once there, I grabbed a map from the front desk, organized my notes that I took on Lisbon (using my trusty iPad and bus WiFi) earlier and set off on my way. 

The walk down the main avenue, Avenida Da Liberdade (which is like Fifth Ave) was so nice. The sidewalks were wide and with lovely cobblestone in designs. I made the walk pretty quickly taking in the sites of the city and was just kind of hoping to stumble across the things I wanted to see. This happened with the first one, the Elevador de Santa Justo. It's this huge old ancient elevator that overlooks the city with an awesome panoramic. Yes, another aerial view! I waited in line and then paid my 5 euro again to ride to the top. I looked around in awe and then made my way down to the exit. From there I just kind of looked up the hills to see what I could see and wandered, hoping to make it to my next destination, which I really had no idea what would be. What I didn't expect was how hilly this city would be. It's like a combo of 65% Seattle and 35% San Francisco when it comes to the inclines and street organization. Oh yeah, and there are cable cars too! And surprising to me, all the sidewalks are uneven cobblestone. Not a single sidewalk is paved; I almost bit it twice. I made my way over to the Plaza del Comercio, a huge square on the water that begins with the Arco de Rus Augusta which was also on my list. It is right near the water where I walked down to and got a great view of Cristo Rei and the 25 de Abril bridge again across the water. Seriously, it looks like SF! From there, the next goal to visit was the Castelo de São Jorge, yet another castle. On my way there, I passed the Sé, which is one of the cathedrals (yes, another one of those too) I had on my list. I walked in, and it was big, but compared to all the Cathedrals I have seen this trip thus far, this one was disappointing. It wasn't ugly by any means, just not massive and detailed. I was in and out and kept on my way trekking all uphill on cobblestone (thankfully the heatwave isn't here!) to the Castle. When I arrived, I knew I really didn't want to go in anyway; I had just wanted to see it and check it off my list. On my way out, I asked a cab driver for directions to the other things I had wanted to see and he asked if I went in the castle. I told I didn't and he said all that was good was the view so I didn't miss out. Since I had the Cristo Rei and Elevator view, I was okay with the choice I made not to enter. He had also told me the other things I wanted to see were way far away so perhaps I'll tackle them in my free time tomorrow.

I didn't feel rushed at all and decided I would head back to the hotel for dinner. Dinner was soup, salad and a fish cake. It was pretty good but I skipped dessert because I wanted to walk to one of the squares to catch the sunset. It was a mild pink one, nothing too spectacular, but I loved it anyway!! I sat in the square and just watched it set over a statue. It was pretty great! I'm hoping to catch some of the sunrise tomorrow morning if I can during my run. (I even set my alarm a little earlier than I needed to so I can see it. Fingers crossed.) I plan to run down the Avenida Da Liberdade to the water and run along then ocean. I'm actually pretty excited to do this and get in my Portugal run. I have to get a run in in every country so tomorrow has to be my day here. 

After the sunset, I walked back to the hotel to do my laundry yet again and then just relax and hopefully head to bed at a halfway decent hour for me here (that means before 12:00. Who am I?). 

There's a lot on the agenda for tomorrow and I already am really liking this city a lot. It's clean, diverse (it's all relative to what I've seen so far in Europe), pretty, and seems to have a lot to offer. Bring it Portugal!!