The Events of Thursday, April 14, 2011

                Early this morning, I woke up and our room was pitch black. After sitting there for a while trying to figure out why I had woken up, I realized that I really had to go to the bathroom. On the way back from the bathroom, I had just reached the door of our room after stumbling across the dark hall, when I heard a door screeched open behind me and someone say “Lindsey.” I don’t know why, but that completely freaked me out and so I whispered, “Yes?” as if I were going to receive my death sentence, only to hear, “Go hop into the shower when you hear me finish, okay?” Good morning, Mom.

                I went back to bed only to wake up about ten minutes later and hop into the shower. Mom wrapped my ankle (which by the way is healing well), and then we all sat down to a breakfast of cereal, strawberries, and oranges. Everyone slathered on the sunscreen (today is supposed to be hot and sunny, highs in the 80’s) and we set out of the Lisbon House, walking across the highway on a pedestrian bridge to the Metro station. Daddy tried to buy tickets from the machine but it didn’t except his credit card, so he and Abby went to the information counter. The lady didn’t speak English or Spanish, but somehow they managed to get 6 all-day passes without too much trouble and we were headed to the entrance to the Metro. Because of my ankle sprain, I was walking a little slower than everyone else and was the last one to reach it. I placed my ticket on the labeled pad. It beeped angrily at me. The doors didn’t open. I tried again to no avail. Meanwhile, my family was slowly disappearing down the stairs. I yelled at my family to stop, tried again, and I still couldn’t get it and then a hand took my ticket and fled. I thought, ‘Oh no, now I’ve been robbed!’ But no, it was the lady from the information desk, she went back to the desk and then handed me back the card and let me go through on her card. Deep breath out.

                We rode the Metro to Figueira Square, where the sidewalk was designed in an odd pattern that made you feel like you were walking on top of waves. Mom got seasick. Abby led us to a TI or tourist information center. This TI had internet access (yay!), so we got some information about Lisbon and thirty minutes of bliss online. We walked back to the plaza and caught a bus-van that took us to the highest point in town, Sáo Jorge Castle.

                After passing under the Gate of Sáo Jorge Castle into a small plaza, we had a very interesting experience. Ben was walking and suddenly a man selling jewelry came up to him and asked, “You American?” Ben nodded. The man laughed, “Oh, ho, ho! I love American. Me likes Obama!” He noticed Mommy and I standing there and asked, “You American, too? Oh, ho, ho! Me likes Obama! I’m from Kenya! Me likes Obama and America! Here, here, me gives you bracelets for Obama! Oh, ho, ho! No money. ‘Cuz I likes Obama, here you go! This one here made of coconut and leather. (Looked like plastic to me). Oh, ho, ho! Me likes America!” After going on for a little bit about how much he liked Obama and America, the topic of conversation took a turn. “Now, I sell other people these bracelets for ten euro, but I give it to you for five.” Um, no thanks. Daddy, Caitlin, and Abby had joined us. “Oh, ho, ho! You America too? Me love America for Obama! Here I give you bracelet, too. Now, I give you all six for ten euro.” No; we started handing the bracelets back. “You no like? I like America and Obama, see? Now, I give you all six for five.” We handed them all back, but he insisted that we at least take two. “For free, for Obama. Okay. Okay.” A very persistent salesman.

                We put away the bracelets and walked up to what we thought was the lookout. Well, it was the lookout, but it costs 7 Euros per person, so we decided to pass. However, Mom really had to use the restroom so we asked the guard and he let Mom, Caitlin, and I in for the WC’s. After we thanked the guard, we exited and walked down the road a little bit and then up a long staircase to a free viewpoint, with almost as good of a view. From here, we walked down to Largo Santa Luzia where the walls surrounding the courtyard are covered in elaborate tiles. After Daddy and Abby poked into a nearby shop and purchased 6 fresh buns, we ate lunch under the shade of a flowering tree nearby and then caught the #28 trolley, the most vintage of all of the Lisbon trolleys for a joyride through Lisboa, as the Portuguese call it.

                Lisbon is like the San Francisco of Portugal; the sea, the trolleys, the hills, the color. Instead of brightly painted houses, Lisbon’s houses are covered in bright and colorful tiles, making a quilt of different patterns across the whole street. Every so often, if you stuck your head out the window, you would see kids hanging onto the outside of the trolley for a free ride. However at times, the streets were so narrow, that if you stuck your head out the window, you would get it knocked off by a stone wall. Our trolley ride was probably the best part of today.

                Upon our return to Largo Santa Luzia, Abby, our tour guide in Portugal, took us down twisting staircases on a walk through the pedestrian section of Lisbon with flapping clothes on drooping clotheslines, cozy cafés, and views of the river and 25th of April bridge at every angle. At the end of our descent, we arrived at the Museum of Fado. Fado is a form of music, a mournful singer called a fadista accompanied by a Portuguese guitarra, which originated in Portugal. Fado songs reflect Portugal’s bittersweet relationship with the sea; “fado” means fate. The songs are sung in a minor key and are very mournful and full of longing. Our visit took us through the history of Fado including the making of guitars, Fado performances on tape and an entire exhibit devoted to the Elvis Presley of Fado, Camané. Our tickets came with an audio guide, which was helpful. After we had seen the museum, we got directions from the very helpful receptionist, walked to a nearby bus stop, and rode to Belém.

                Here we found Pastéis de Belém, a pastry shop. At the entrance of the shop stood a serious security guard, who asked us, “Standing or table?” “Standing, please.” The security guard gave Daddy a challenging look and said, “Why?” Um. We ended up following this security guard through the maze of a restaurant to a table. He was like Moses and the waters of the Red Sea, the crowds of people parting to let this tall, big, buff security guard through. It was quite enjoyable. The specialty of this pastry shop is pastel del Belém, a yummy, cream-filled tart. On our table were two shakers of powdered sugar and cinnamon. We ordered six pastel del Belém and piled on the cinnamon and sugar and it was scrumptious!

                The Belem monastery has such an elaborate and beautiful exterior that they have mechanical clicking machines to keep the pigeons away. After staring at the different scenes and saints depicted on the walls, we walked into the church. We couldn’t get past even the last row of pews unless we were a member of the church, so we had to just make do. The floor plan of the church is definitely smaller than most churches we have seen, but the height forces your eyes up and up and up. The décor is somewhat sparse and the whole church is dark, but this draws your eyes to the four stain glass windows on either side of the church and altar, through which the sun is sending colors dancing in every direction. In the back of the church is the tomb of Vasco de Gama, Portugal’s famous explorer and a memorial to Os Lusíadas, a famous Portuguese epic poet.

                Then, we walked through manicured gardens with a huge fountain to a view of the 25th of April Bridge and the Cristo Rei statue. Here on the plaza stood a huge monument to the sailors and ships of Portugal looking down on a map of the world on the plaza’s ground. We stood on California and Portugal, taking pictures of the views. Once we had finished, we rode the tram to the metro stop at Figueira Square and then rode the metro home. Then, we split up. Abby and Daddy went grocery shopping and the rest of us went home to prepare dinner. Abby and Daddy came home to a “desperate dinner” (we wanted to get rid of all of our refrigerated food, because our next stop has no refrigerator) of noodles with a lot of cheese and two bags of frozen peas that we had to refrigerate here in Lisbon because we have no freezer, a salad with croutons made from bread that we got in Florence, Italy that has turned as hard as rock, and fofos, croissant shaped bread that tasted like Hawaiian bread. After dinner, we packed up in preparation for our early departure tomorrow morning and went to bed to dream of tomorrow’s destination, Leon, Spain.