Where do I start for almost the end? I suppose I will start at the beginning of the near-end.
Breakfast was in a cafeteria-style setting which was not at all like a small family-run hotel. This hotel is nice, but had it not been for the 40th 'anniversary' of having been here when I was young, I would have stayed somewhere else. This is a big city hotel with a huge constant flow of people coming and going. Breakfast was decent though so I was happy.
I got even happier when I headed out for my little walk that ended up being a 17 km odyssey all over the place - and I am not much of a walker and never have been. Cycling is my thing.
I knew I wanted to walk down Avenida da Liberdade, but I let the GPS select my route - and was very pleased that I did. Rather than busy commercial streets, I was taken down back streets which had the odd business on them, but they all had towering leafy trees running down the middle so the walk was absolutely beautiful. Then, of course, once I got to Liberdade - again, trees all leafy and flowers all newly-planted. Awesome!
I just set the GPS to guide me to Marques de Pombal square and was happy to be guided through an archway and then down a number of tree-lined streets like this one. -- Lisbon, Portugal
Wikepedia: "Oliveira Martins is considered one of the key figures in the contemporary history of Portugal." This was along my walk down tree-lined Avenida da Liberdade. -- Lisbon, Portugal
Rossio Square was not that busy and when I wandered to the far end, there was my little cafe/bar and it was open again today. All of a sudden I had ordered a capp (wayyy to early for a glass of Port) and was sitting at a table looking across the square for my 'adieu for now' drink.
Obrigado, Portugal. At my fave little spot at Rossio Square. I have said 'until next time' to Portugal a few times in this spot with a glass of Port Wine. Today I did it with a capp. -- Lisbon, Portugal
Wikepedia: The Baixa (Downtown), also known as the Baixa Pombalina (Pombaline Downtown) is a neighborhood in the historic center of Lisbon, Portugal. It consists of the grid of streets north of the Praça do Comércio, roughly between the Cais do Sodré and the Alfama district beneath the Lisbon Castle, and extends northwards towards the Rossio and Figueira squares and the Avenida da Liberdade (Lisbon), a tree-lined boulevard noted for its tailoring shops and cafes." -- Lisbon, Portugal
Next, I went walking through the Alfama district with its winding streets, hills and steps. And more steps. And more staircases! Very interesting and very picturesque. Approaching lunch time, I started to look for a little local restaurant that I knew about and always have a hard time locating. When I finally did, I found that it was closed. Apparently not permanently, but until October for some reason. I just sstopped for a snack elsewhere and headed back toward Rossio before heading north to Av. Amirante Reis, back toward my hotel, and with a quick stop at a Pingo Doce for a container of iced tea (I was SO thirsty, maybe because it is 29 C and I had been walking for hours), a Milka chocolate bar, and a couple of rolls of plastic wrap to secure my bike box. I learned this in Vienna in 2019 and will do this from now on. It works as well as the airport wrap and does not come off without a knife struggle.
Miradouro das Portas do Sol, overlooking the Alfama and the Tagus River was busy but not terribly so. -- Lisbon, Portugal
Wikepedia: "The Praça da Figueira (Portuguese: [ˈpɾasɐ ðɐ fiˈɣɐjɾɐ], Square of the Fig Tree) is a large square in the centre of Lisbon, in Portugal. It is part of the Lisbon Baixa, the area of the city reurbanised after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake." -- Lisbon, Portugal
Back at the hotel it was so nice to sit back and put my poor tired feet up to rest! The next while will be taken up with sorting the last of my things into the 'luggage' pile and the 'carry-on' pile and then closing up the former and hoping the latter has what I need for the next two days!
Today's ride: 17 km (11 miles) Total: 621 km (386 miles)
