No, not entirely like this. more like this!
It was a good day to accidentally find a Tiger store (a Danish dollar-type store where everything is pretty useful and pretty cheap). I needed a pair of scissors and, well, maybe also this bag. 🙂
But I digress.
Today’s adventure started with the Castelo De S. Jorge, which is a big old castle that overlooks the city, located near the old neighborhood Alfama. The views from each of the turrets are unique and beautiful and I really loved just watching the red roofs go on and on for forever. Laura and I really loved it–so much that both of our cameras ran out of battery! oh well. Next time I’ll be better about charging it.
We were lucky it was a clear day–the views were really spectacular. 😀
After walking around the castle–and meeting the peacocks! we walked around Alfama and Graca, and stumbled on another amazing overlook of the city, filled with flowers and tiles and also many tourists.
Then we had lunch at the Nepalese/Indian restaurant Yak&Yeti, which was really delicious and filling (and was extremely reasonably priced–I highly recommend it and would go again). We had Chana Chatpati, Chicken Tikka Masala, Naan, and Palak Paneer. It was good to eat heavily spiced food again, as well–Portuguese food tends to value the flavors offered by the meat/fish/potatoes/other ingredients, and keeps the spices to a simpler olive oil and salt combination (as far as I can tell?).
After that, we wanted to ride the typical #28 tram (which we were warned about for its many pickpockets–because it is the touristy tram that traverses the city, so that makes some amount of sense, but we wanted to go anyway) but the line at the tram station to get on was crazy long and far too slow–a 20 minute wait and the line only really moved about 15 feet, and it was in bright hot sunshine the whole way. Instead we rode the #12E tram that went in a loop around Alfama, which was equally (if not more!) enjoyable, since it was less crowded. We actually (illegally, apparently, but no one stopped us) rode the loop twice because it was such a nice day and the open-window style of the trams made it just a really nice rest.
Then we shopped for a while (got the tote bag!) and sat down near a plaza where people were playing cricket. We watched them play and I enjoyed my espresso to-go (which came in an adorable cup! and was very affordable at only 65 cents! the prices of fruits and espressos never fail to impress me). It was nice to sit and watch the light change.
The cricket players were very serious
(View of the S. Jorge castle from below)
Finally, we met up with another intern at a Vegan Donut and ice cream shop, where I enjoyed a very expensive cup of lactose-free Black Sesame ice cream. Keep in mind, though, we were invited for an “afternoon donut” at 7 pm! that’s later than when I usually eat dinner! hehe.
That’s all for tonight! tomorrow’s another day at work, so it’ll be a little bit less exciting. But maybe I’ll cook something fun!
do they call the espresso also a ‘bike’ (pronounced: bee-keh) in Lisboa?