Lisbon Day 4 - Europe 2023
FYI: If pictures aren’t showing up in your email blog post, try the website. I’m on a train so internet comes and goes.
Another adventure day planned for this last full day in Lisbon. This time with bikes and beaches. We heard good things about biking in Cascais from our new expat friends, plus there are several beaches there, so that was the destination.
Off on the train again.
Our first stop in Cascais was at Specialty Coffee where we fortified for the ride and used the restroom that was down steep steps in the basement. Two little British girls were down there with their mom. After they used the “tap,” they asked me to tell “Mummy” they’d gone upstairs. I was glad to oblige.
(Okay, my bad. Upon talking with my companions, its name was actually Fabrica Coffee Roasters and the “Speciality Coffees” on the side was to entice people. 😆😆 It worked.)
After coffee fortification, we found a place to rent bikes. The e-bikes were supposedly all rented out (We strongly suspect there never were any e-bikes.), but we found five bikes and helmets that worked for each of us and off we went.
The three would move ahead and find a fun spot to wait for Yessa and me. We spent a little time at this oceanside playground.
We rode and rode and then stopped at a rocky outcropping for another break.
Yessa could tell her cheeks were getting sunburned and tried the sun hat under her bike helmet.
The cactus succulents and flowers all around the bike path were amazing.
We finally got to the beach we’d read great things about. The reviews for the shack restaurant on the beach were superb, but we had our doubts and checked the other two fancy restaurants that were nearby.
Prices matched the fancy tablecloths so we decided we were more shack restaurant patrons. 😆
Plot twist, the shack on the beach produced fantastic fresh food and their dining room cannot be topped.
We dined and some tried out the water and all loved relaxing and the beauty of the day.
Then we mounted up and ro de back. As is often the case, the ride home was so much quicker.
Another stop at Speciality Coffee for espresso and fantastic juice drinks, then the train back to Lisbon.
After we stepped off the train, our group of three meandered our way home by way of Time Out Market, another big tourist spot. I’m glad we went to experience it, but wouldn’t need to return.
Walked by pink street on our way to our actual next adventure.
Tram 28 is the most famous tram, but it is packed with tourists, so we decided to try out Tram 12. We were waiting for tram 12, when a tram 28 cruised by, packed with tourists, and it got stuck turning a corner and trying to head up a hill. Bob has fantastic video we’ll share later, but you can get the idea in the stills here.
We stood and watched the drama unfold for over 30 minutes. The electric connection overhead was bursting into green and blue flames each time they tried to move forward again. If you look very closely, you can see someone else’s Bob sticking out of the window out the side of the tram. Not really Bob. Probably Bobbino.
Finally they told all the tourists the ride was over, backed the 28 back down the hill and parked it off to the side, allowing our #12 to come on down.
After our tram ride, we hopped off and made our way toward home, planning out where to dine.
We passed by this canned fish store (That’s a thing here.), where you could buy birthday year gifts.
There’s also a back room of assorted fish.
Dinner took awhile to pin down. Two sushi places wouldn’t work, and we went into a tapas place and sat down and then decided that was not what we wanted for our last night in Lisbon. We ended up sitting outside a restaurant that had Fado singers, so we got some exposure to that, but not too much.
The food was only okay, but the company was fantastic.
It was a good ending to Lisbon.
