Day One – Lisbon Portugal – New Friends, A Walking Tour, a Foray through the Alfama District and Dinner at TimeOut

A few months ago, I went to Lisbon, Portugal for a three-day weekend. I had been there once before but it was many years ago and I didn’t remember much. It was Dave’s first visit.

I had gotten a good airfare deal on TAP Airlines. The airline flies out of Terminal 5 at JFK (see flight review, HERE).  We went to the Airspace Lounge at Terminal 5 (free entry with Platinum American Express card) and we met a couple who were going on the same flight and also staying at the same hotel, the Sheraton Lisboa (see, Hotel Review). We were inseparable for the next 2 days and have remained friends since.

Our flight landed Saturday morning. The passport control lines were not short, but they were civilized and moved fairly quickly.

Nice airport:

We shared a taxi to the hotel (note: we were not happy with the taxi drivers or taxi prices in Lisbon, but were happy with our Uber experiences). We checked into the Sheraton and then hopped into an Uber to go for a free walking tour of Lisbon.

I really enjoy the Sandeman New Europe Tours, and this was no exception. I find Lisbon to be beautiful and it’s a perfect city to walk in (even if it is a tad hilly). Here are some photos, beginning with the meeting point of the tour:

As is typical with Sandeman tours, near the end of the tour we stopped in at a small restaurant where we could buy refreshments or sign up for other tours, such as pub crawls, with Sandeman representatives on site. This place was pretty cool.

And then we continued on. Since I love street art, I stopped and took this photo (For more photos of Lisbon street art, see THIS POST).

After finishing the walking tour, the four of us went off to explore Alfama, a historical district of Lisbon. First things first, we stopped in at a cafe for some well-deserved beverages. These rock-n-roll inspired beer signs were pretty cool.

We walked around the maze of winding cobbled streets of Alfama.

It was getting dark so we hopped back in an Uber to our hotel. Later, we went for dinner at TimeOut Market, which I highly recommend.

Sea Me was probably my favorite!

So ended Day 1 – not bad for a first day after an all night flight.

Stay tuned for the Day 2 post – a visit to the town of Sintra and the storybook Pena Castle followed by dinner at a Michelin Star restaurant (recommended by the Flight Deal) called MiniBar.