Lisboa adventure! Friday

I woke up feeling warm enough in socks, leggings, wool socks, sweatpants, a flannel shirt, a wool sweater, a sweatshirt, a scarf wrapped around my neck and face, and a down vest! AND I only used 2 of the 3 spare blankets! In fact, I was so cozy I had to delay my alarm! However, not cozy enough to want to take all of those things off and stand under water. I didn’t shower, but wore most of the same stuff all day. Hygenic? No. Cozy? Oh, yeah.
I decided to put my medical card inside my passport belly-pack. It should have been there all along, but I’ve gotten to the point that I feel I may need it! I have hit my head hard accidentally twice now and I had a blood blister on my toe and I’ve got a deep cut on one finger and a baby one on another. I decided these are all signs I should be more careful and be prepared in case careful doesn’t cut it.
Once I did get out my room, I saw a guy my age-ish coming back from the shower. He made me feel safer. There ARE other guests here and they ARE like me!
I got an all-day, all-transportation type pass for the metro and went into Rossio square. I noticed lots of people were carrying umbrellas in spite of the sun. I ignored that and had a carmel muffin and a nutella coffee at Café Jeromino. It was nice enough out for me to sit outside for my breakfast (not that I shed any layers, though!).













I went back to the other half of the square (it’s like 2 squares next door to each other) and looked for tram number 28. I spotted it just as it was leaving to go up the hill. I figured I’d have to wait it out and then I realized I could also take a bus. I looked in my magazine to see what number and then walked around the square looking for the right one’s sign. I spotted the bus first and ran up to it. When I got on, a lady in the back was motioning me to go stand by her. I was weirded out at first, but then decided to go for it. She looked harmless enough and she was motioning that the man next to me was a pickpocket!! A stop or 2 later, the man and his 3 accomplices got off. They’d been called out and knew they couldn’t make a move there.
I got off at the top of the hill, at the castle. It’s called the Castillo de San Jorge. I got through the main gate and had to walk up the hill a bit. I could see the entrance and the ticket collector, but not the ticket salesman. Ohh, in the gift shop! The sky was dripping even though it was bright blue. That ended by the time I had a ticket.
















The first place everyone went inside the gate was to the cliff opposite the tickets. From there, there was a nice view of the city. There were lots of little red rooftops to see and a bridge over a river in the distance. There were hills surrounding the city and I heard someone say Lisbon was built between 7 hilltops. There were cannons pointed out toward the rest of the city.














There were some random sections of wall flanking the view, but no one paid them much attention.















At the end of the viewing strip, I turned up through an arch between the restaurant and giftshop and found THE CASTLE!! It’s a medieval castle, although I think I read it was built recently to match what they think the old one was like.
I read the plaque in the entryway, but all I remember is that it has a weird layout to fool the enemy when they attack. I wandered across the tops of the walls and into the towers and all over the castle. I liked it’s color and it’s odd shape. Inside, there was a man playing medieval sounding music on a flute and with bells attached to his leg. It deffinitely added to the atmosphere of the place. He'd brought his cat with him.





























After the castle, I went to its cafe and got a sandwhich. It was only listed to have ham inside, but I found out quickly that it was also heavily buttered. I also had a pineapple soda. There are lots of variations of those here. The pineapple tends to be subtle, soft. I only had ½ of my sandwich that I'd gotten then. I had only had breakfast about an hour before!
I went to the bathroom and on the way in they had little vending machines. The kind you'd expect tampons to come out of. This one had MAGNETS. I got one. Touristy? Oh yeah. The machine next to it had KitKats, gum, and condoms. Odd collection, I'd say. Here's the view from the walkway in front of the bathroom.













Then I wandered briefly in the neighborhood inside the first gate. I met a sweet little dog with curly hair on the first street. I hardly noticed much else there.





















Then I exited the castle gates. I looked at the street just outside that led down the hill. I KNEW it would probably be unwise to just wander that way. It called my name though. I saw the bus (which I apparently JUST missed) go in that direction and decided I could just catch the next one at the next stop, noting which direction it turned at the end of the street. That was like the "go!" signal. So I went.















I went the opposite direction from the bus because it looked more interesting, being careful to note where to turn when I came back.

















Well, I DID come back, but then I noticed a set of steps. Oh dear, here's a decision. I looked at my map. It can't be TOO far to get to public transportation from where ever I land, right? I went.














As I passed a serene square, I decided maybe I should get some help. I asked a man in a garage who was clearly at work where I could catch the bus. He asked where I wanted to go and I said I didn't know really (true story!). He sent me to a cathedral, saying “you should check it out.” What a phrase for a non-native speaker!
It turned out to be the cathedral I wanted to see anyway, Se Catedral. It was built in the 12th century.


















I went inside and found it was very dark and ominous. It had lots of days-of-olde looking things. Its stained glass windows made interesting shades on the walls. I looked into the various chapels and at the main exhibit.















Then I paid for the other chapels and the cloister. The other chapels had very detailed, fancy altars. I could see why there was a cover to see them.














I went out into the cloister. It had long strings of Gothic arches. It felt very eerie and spooky because there were lots of tombs. Most of them were set aside within an arch, as if they were waiting for something or had been unearthed or moved. They were creepy. period. Also, they had Jesus under Jesus. I didn't get it.














The center of the cloister, which I'm guessing used to have plants was being dug up by archaelogists. Apparently there were Roman and Arab roots in there.














By the other entrance back into the church, there were things waiting to be replaced wherever they belonged. They were interesting.















Then I went back out the main door. I ran after one of the old fashioned trams that I'd wanted to take earlier in the day. It reminded me slightly of all of the old fashioned trams we have in San Francisco. This one seemed like it was from another era too.











It didn't drop me off QUITE where I'd expected, but I could walk from where I was to the Rossio square metro stop, no problem.










I looked at the metro map and found out the station that I wanted to go to wasn't on the normal lines. I decided to go to the info desk, but there was no one there. I went to the end of the line where it looked like whatever other train I needed might connect. I was right. With some help, I got a ticket for another kind of train. I literally had missed it by one minute. I tried to get a drink in a stall, but the lady wouldn't take my 50. I tried to ask if there was another train but the answer was no. I would have had a little tantrum if anyone would have cared. Instead, I ate the second half of my sandwich and just waited for my train to Belem.
TBC...