Another day, another discovery

Friday, March 10
Just when you think you have seen all there is to see in Lisbon, you wander up a hill and, voila, here is another place you have not visited. This time it was two places - the National Pantheon of Lisbon and the Santa Apolonia Train Station.

But I digress. After our trip from Madrid we had a leisurely morning. The day was sunny and warm, so we set off to wander bit. At lunch at Paco Real - a very busy cafe frequented predominantly by locals where the food is good and the prices are low - we met a couple from Germany who had lived all over the world, including White Plains, New York and Beijing, China. But they had never traveled much in Europe and this was their first visit to Lisbon. During our conversation we told them about our favorite Lisbon restaurant, As Velhas, recommended they call for reservations and use our name.

After lunch we walked down to the river at the Praca do Commercio where we sat on the wall and listened to a wonderful combo featuring a guitarist who had played with Cesarea Evora and the singer who is so much like her. We have been entertained by this group before and even bought their CD.

While sitting there we spotted a cruise ship and set off to see what it was. Lisbon is building a new cruise ship dock - still unfinished but now able to at least allow ships to dock there amid the construction. The ship was the Norwegian Ventura.

From there we headed up the hill into the Alfama district. On the way up, just past the Fado Museum, we spotted a "memorial" photo of a now deceased resident on the wall of one of the buildings. This is common in the older sections of the city as a way for families to remember loved ones who had lived in a particular building for many years. They are more common on the other side of the hill in the Mouraria district across from our apartment.

Building memorial to a common man.

Up further we came to a lovely overlook from which we watched the cruise ship sail away.

Short rest stop on the way up the hill

Watching the cruise ship sail away

After a further climb we started back down the other side and encountered the National Pantheon of Lisbon where many notables are entombed, including Amalia - Portugal's most famous Fado singer.. We had viewed the top of this building many times from the apartment of our cousins, further up the hill, but had never been near the entire structure. Now, here we were - by accident!

And behind the building is an entire wall of modern tiles depicting scenes of Lisbon life. Beautiful!

Selfie at the National Pantheon of Lisbon

Tiled wall behind the National Pantheon

Over the hill and back down towards the river we came upon the Santa Apolonia train station. This is one of three train stations in Lisbon - the Rossio with trains to Sintra, Oriente, the newest, and Santa Apolonia where you can catch trains to such destinations as Porto, Madrid, and Fatima. There is also a metro stop and a bus station there. Built in 1865, this is the oldest railroad terminal in Lisbon. While we have mastered the Metro, bus, boat and trams, we have yet to try the trains. Maybe next year.

Next to the Santa Apolonia is the Museum of the Military with a spectacular sculpture over the main entrance. Again, a new discovery!

Military Museum entrance behind me

That evening we went to As Velhas and our usual table and guess who was there - the couple from Germany we had met at lunch. Also there was a tour group from the US. Judging from there accents they were from somewhere in the south. This table for six not only ordered separately, but insisted on separate checks. One man complained that his octopus was over-cooked, yet ate it anyway in addition to the replacement plate, thus getting two meals for the price of one. He also cut the "suckers" off of the tentacles. People like that make us embarrassed to be from America.

It was a long, and unexpectedly eventful, day.