The Alfama & Cascais

It rained its ass off until about noon today. That put a crimp in my plan to go to Sintra; it’s been rescheduled for tomorrow. So, after a leisurely coffee in my neighborhood bar, yes, I now have a neighborhood bar in Lisbon, I walked through the last big neighborhood, the Alfama. It’s the only neighborhood (could I use the word neighborhood one more time) that wasn’t destroyed by the earthquake, so it still has that medieval tangle of narrow streets. They also really really really like floral streamers; they are everywhere. History also still reigns in this part of Lisbon. When a woman’s husband dies, she wears black for the rest of her life; yup, saw some. I would do well as a widow here; black is my go to color! They also don’t seem to have private bathrooms or laundry facilities; communal baths are still common. Imagine spending your life in the shower flip flops we all wore in college. Nasty.

That's a lot of festivity

That's even more festivity

awesome terrace that looks out over the city and river

ooooh

aaaaah

flowers and such

Ok, I get all the streamers around the Alfama, but this, I have no idea. Take a closer look. . . there are a few of the seven dwarves hanging to the left of the window and a plastic leg with flowers sticking out of the top to the right. This might actually classify as swag!!

this square is a restaurant at night

more streamers and a random old woman on the steps. I'd take a load off too with all the hills and steps in this neighborhood.

you can NEVER have to many streamers in a Praca!

Gorgeous building at the bottom of the Alfama

I also took the train west to the beach town of Cascais. It’s a quaint and allegedly upscale resort town. There were lots of designer boutiques and Brits, posh indeed!

one of the beaches

tiled street signs

oceanside square

another beach

private residence . . .damn!