The Baixa

Lisbon has 3 downtown neighborhoods. I intended to cover 2 of the 3 today, but since I didn’t wake up until 1:15pm, that didn’t happen. I stayed awake until about 11pm watching BBC news coverage of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawsett’s deaths; even overseas I’m a gossip follower. Pathetic! Anyway, I haven’t slept for 14 solid hours since college. And no, it’s not because I consumed a bottle of wine; it’s because I was dead ass jet lagged. So shut it!

The view out my window at 1:30pm

The Baixa is the neighborhood in the valley between the two gigantic hills that the rest of Lisbon sits on. And by gigantic, I mean HUGE. They’ve even built elevators to take people up to the tops of the hills so you don’t have to climb a million steps. Nice! It’s also the downtown shopping district; lots of Italian stores here, weird. It was an awesome day and the people reaffirmed my opinion of them, super friendly and willing to work with you on the nonPortuguese speaking thing. The waiter at dinner even offered to marry me and teach me the language. Too bad he was about 80 and looked a bit like Mr. Roper from Three’s Company. Our kids are gonna be gorgeous and multi-lingual.

LOTS of steps leading up to Bairro Alto

I began my afternoon with another tasting at the Wine Center. You can only taste a total of 4 wines per visit, so I may have to go everyday to make sure I sample them all. Whatever, don’t judge me. And, I stand corrected on yesterday’s statistic; Portugal is the world’s 6th largest producer of wine, with the most indigenous variety of grapes, over 200 to be exact. See, educational as well as hydrating!
you have to fill out a survey with every tasting.

Then I did some real sight-seeing. Apparently, anything in this district is post 1755 trifecta of natural disasters. The earthquake (estimated to be about a 9.0) hit on All Saints Day when most of the population was in mass. Almost all of the churches crumbled on the people in them. Those who got out ran for the river and boarded boats to escape the city, which turned out to be a bad decision. A 20 foot tsunami came up the river, capsizing boats and crashing about 800 feet into the city. As if that’s not bad enough, all of the cooking fires and candles that were overturned by the ground shaking started a massive city wide inferno that burned for 5 days. It’s estimated that 90,000 of the 270,000 people living in Lisbon died in that mess. I’m not just being a history dork here; it comes into play when you look at the architecture of the city. The guy who took charge of rebuilding used military engineers and everything is very squared off and military-like, even the few churches that were permitted to be rebuilt; they are almost impossible to find on the street. Apparently, some thought the earthquake may have been paybacks for the mass killings during the recent Inquisition.

aaaah, artistic sepia photo of Praca Municipio

entrance to parking in Praca Municipio

Arch of Triumph leading onto main street of Baixa

view back to the river

cool crystal lamp caught in the sunlight in Church of St. Nicola

monument to honor the city's tile makers

Elevador de Santa Justa up to Bairro Alto neighborhood

Praca da Figueira (Fig Tree Square) site of huge hospital destroyed in trifecta natural disaster, that was not rebuilt. Now home to skate boarders planning anarchistic revolution around the monument to Portugal's King John I. Whatever.

Traditional salted cod fish shop. That smells soooo bad.

Inside of Church of Sao Domingos, rebuilt out of the ruins of the church from the earthquake in 1755. Its crazy how much of that church came down on people attending mass.

Outside of church and Largo de Sao Domingos, the square that housed the palace that functioned as the headquarters of the Inquisition, and also the site where locals massacred the town's Jews in 1506. The Star of David monument, on the left, was erected in 2008 to mark the massacre. Good times in Largo de Sao Domingos.

crazy tile work in Rossio that makes the pavement look rippled. Its perfectly flat. Trippy!

Rossio, Lisbon's historic center with the National Theater at the far end and a column that honors Portugal's King Pedro IV and emperor of Brazil.

Statue of King Sebastian on the front of Rossio Train Station. The young soldier king was lost during a crusade in Africa in 1580. Since Sebastian left no direct heir, the crown ended up with Philip II of Spain, who became Philip I of Portugal. He promised to return the crown to Sebastian if he ever turned up. Ever since, the Portuguese are hopeful of his return and their restoration to national greatness. Even today he is their symbol of being ridiculously hopeful!

Casa do Alentejo, cultural & social center for people from the traditionalist southern province of Portugal. Very Moorish!

After all the educational sightseeing, I was parched. So, I decided when in Rome (or Lisbon, whatever, you get the idea). . . Ginjinha is a favorite libation in Lisbon. It’s sweet liquor made from sour cherries, sugar, and grappa; and, sold for 1 euro a shot. There are all these little holes in the wall where you just rock up and order one with or without berries. I went to the original one across from Lisbon’s most active church. Makes sense in my world. I’m not gonna say I’m a fan of this stuff, but I will say it’s get you stupid pretty quick. The guys serving the stuff found my solo self interesting and each bought me a shot on top of the sample I bought myself. Then the local guy joined the fun. None of these guys spoke English, so I can only imagine the conversation they had at my expense. Whatever, I was warm and fuzzy and headed down Rua das Portas de Santo Antao, otherwise known as “Eating Lane.”

The original Ginjinha joint in Lisbon

Let's give her another one and see if she falls down!

Escaping outside with shot #4

After being accosted by every waiter from every restaurant on this street (can you say tourist area), I settled on Restaurante Milano. Don’t be fooled by the name, nothing on this menu was Italian. In keeping with the spirit of doing all things Portuguese, and mostly because I was marginally plastered from the 4 shots of Ginjinha, I ordered a plate of little snails. The waiter had to show me how to get them out of their shells using a toothpick. He pulled the first one out and handed it to me with its little snail face staring right at me. Thank god my brain was doing the backstroke in booze or I would have had to leave. I forged ahead and actually enjoyed the slippery little suckers, as long as I didn’t make direct eye contact with them. After that, my waiter took me in the kitchen and explained all the desserts and let me pick the one I wanted. It was after dessert that he proposed to me, which was so appropriate since I stumbled across my wedding dress on the Rua Augusta!

A shitload of tiny snails that have faces & Vinho Verde

My wedding dress. In addition to lots of heinous whatnot all over it, it is SEE THROUGH on the top. There are strategically placed feathers to cover necessary naughty bits. All for the low low price of about 2900 euros! Now that, that is classy!