Em Lisboa: Day 2

Our second day here -- and our first full one -- saw us one quite a trek. We headed from our home in the Bairro Alto and walked down to Belem -- a little over five miles. This would have been fine if it weren't so hot, and if all of us brought proper footwear (I have some really lovely and ginormous blisters!). 

When we finally arrived, it was definitely time to eat.  We found a nice outdoor cafe, and proceeded to wait to order...and wait...I always forget I need to pack my patience when dealing with service in various European countries. I think it wouldn't be so bad if I had a drink, but often times we're just sitting there, hoping someone will finally stop by our table.  When we were finally able to order, one friend & I got our meal super quickly, while the other two didn't get theirs until after we were done eating (we were starving and couldn't wait).

We made sure to stop by Pasteis de Belem after -- these tasty pastries were a favorite of mine last time and they definitely did not disappoint this time! 

Rather than walk all the way back, we hopped on the 727 bus to take us back to Centro. It was getting a bit desperate for us to find good shoes! Of course. It was El Corte to the rescue!

Later that evening, we had the most fun of our dinners so far, at El Gordo Bar 52. We'd passed this little tapas restaurant several times, and thought it looked fun and a little different. Despite being in a heavily tourist neighborhood, the place had a ton of locals...one of whom, after telling us how sexy she thought Jack Nicholson is (there was a pic of him on the wall), became our best friend. Kristina is a proud Lisbon native, an expert on the town, and I would say she was rather drunk. Her husband tried several times to get her away from our table, but was not successful. Instead, she gave us her number. 

It was soon about midnight or later, and the party was just starting in our hood. It felt a bit like we were in the marina, if it closed down the streets to traffic; the folks were so young and so drunk! We, too, decided to join in for a bit -- when booze is this cheap it is hard to pass up! We somehow found our way home around 2am...I had some important business to attend to!