Lisbon, Pre-sunrise
My rooftop vantage
Alfama with laundry
Alfama district beginning a new day
Picking my way around at random I came to another junk fair. This one was much more voluptuous than the Barcelona junk fair, spanned several city blocks, and had such a wonderful smattering of pure junk that I was constantly smiling to myself. Some of my favorite items: an old rusty seven foot spear gun, a Native American outfit complete with headdress, an anatomically correct uncircumcised male baby-doll, and a very lifelike taxidermy badger.
Junk Fair 2.0!
So far from home
After I had my fill I jumped on one of the many cable cars that rattle around the hills and was dropped off in the middle of the city center. From there I made my way up into the Barrio Alto district, picked up some more pastries, and sat by a fountain watching the city come to life.
The heavens
Look who's coming to Lisbon!
Barrio Alto
Cool construction site
Back at the hostel for check-out I met Dan, an American student living in Paris traveling by himself. We decided to team up for the day.
We walked down to the water and enjoyed the sunshine before setting out to find the Botanical Garden across town. It was not as easy as we had hoped. Besides stopping regularly to explore churches and museums we walked right by the entrance without even knowing it and completely circumnavigated the garden before finally coming back to the entrance.
Hostel Door
Hostel Street
Sunshine on the face - what a goon
Lisbon Castle - my hostel was just underneath it
Rooftops - and some loser with his fleece around his neck
Museum of Archaeology
Archaeology
There he is again
Dead end
I enjoyed Dan's company very much. We shared views on several subjects and he seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. We talked religion, politics, music, girls, Paris, etc.
Travel buddy Dan postulating
Again...
Who is this clown?
After picnicking in the Botanical Gardens we caught a bus down to the water and headed up towards the castle. We got there just before closing and right at sunset. From our vantage point, facing West, along one of the walls we had a great view of Lisbon, accented by a large cannon.
Enough already man
From the castle walls
Ah that sunset
From the castle we meandered back down to the water, grabbed a beer and I watched Dan eat some seafood. We sat outside on a terrace and I thought about how much I liked Lisbon. It does not have the same feel that big tourist cities have. It is true that the city center and Belem cater to tourists, but it does not have the same oppressive attitude towards selling trinkets that Barcelona has. I felt like I could either partake in the tourist atmosphere or venture just one block from the main drag and be in a totally different world, free to roam. Lisbon still has an authentic heartbeat. The people are great, they greet you with a smile and seem happy to be sharing some of their culture with another human. It also helps that they look a lot like pirates!
Dan munching away
Dan and I picked our way back to the Hostel, I grabbed my bag, bade farewell to Lisbon and jumped on the metro. It took me to the bus station where I caught an overnight to Sevilla.
