What a beautiful place to wake up in, I must say I am falling in love with this city even possibly the hills ( I feel like I have to say that because that they are probably doing me lots of good).

Today we did a walking tour with Walter (for some reason only known to me I thought his name was Martin) and so don’t be surprised if I combine the names at various points. He worked for a company called the Lisbon Walking Tours and whilst possibly scripted in some places I really enjoyed spending a couple of hours with him walking around a city he obviously loves. He is also a musician and this is his side hustle.

Lisbon is really really old with lots of history. Walter provided us with a quick history 101 that went back years and years and years. We covered the Phoenicians, the Romans and the Moors all in about 10 minutes it was absolutely fascinating.

The tour started at Praca do Comerio which a big square down near the river Targas, which incidentally looked quiet beautiful when the sun hit the water.

After hearing about the ancient of times Walter provided us with some context on why Lisbon looks the way it does today. So, way back on 1 November 1755 there was an earthquake in Lisbon, known surprisingly as the Great Lisbon earthquake. It was an incredibly significant event with more than 30,000 people dying due to the quake itself, the subsequent fires and three sets of tsunamis. As well as the human costs about 85 % of the city was ruined.

The date is significant as it was All Saints’ Day and being a holiday King Joseph I and his family were at their coast house and so was miles away. All Saints Day (for those of you who aren’t Roman Catholic) is a big day in the Church and so there were burning candles in churches throughout the city (hence the destructive effect of the fires).

So the story goes after this event although the King and his family weren’t in Lisbon at the time, after coming back to inspect the damage King Joseph I developed severe paranoia and claustrophobia to the extent that he wanted only to live in places not made of stone and wanted to ensure he was surrounded by wide open space. So he decreed that the royal family and the Royal court would be moved. As you imagine this went over really well, for those in Canberra remember when we had a PM that didn’t want to live in the Lodge, I know it wasn’t Batemans Bay rather Sydney – but you get the drift. Anyhow the King put his trusty Prime Minister in charge of the restoration – which he did in a sensible and effective way by all accounts using science to make Lisbon earthquake proof as possible.

Walter told the offical story of the above monument of King Joseph I as well as the “other version”, which was highly entertaining and a little bit mean (so I felt a bit bad laughing – but I did). Happy to fill you in on the details if you are interested, but let’s just say the PM did the heavy lifting in relation to the transformation and this is reflected in the statue above……

As we walked the streets I was struck by the history and beautiful colours of this city (it reminded me of parts of Italy), there are so many buildings covered by stunning mosaic tiles, these walls and cobblestoned roads are a constant reminder that we are thousands of miles away from home. Walter talked a little about the reasons for the mosaic tiles which was not terribly romantic it’s more about cost 😔 but he redeemed himself by “enabling” me to have my first local pastel de nata (Portuguese tart) when he took us to the bakery that won the Melhor Pastel de nata making competition last year – bellisimo! Pastelaira Santo Antonio was so nice we went back there for lunch.

I have so much to say about this place. It was such beautiful day spent with great friends wandering through the town, getting lost, laughing, looking at churches, and constantly stopping to take a myriad of photos of street art and building facades. We even caught Tram 28 that takes you from one side of the city to the other, I’d recommend this to someone who didn’t want to hit the pathway but still wanted to get a view of the city.

After meeting our gorgeous home stay host Doris, we made our way to Faz Frio for tapas, beers and a lovely bottle of local rose. Dinner was another lovely experience but this time in a private dining room that in only one of nine restaurants that has been serving meals in Lisbon for over 100 years, yes pretty special.