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Stop #1 - Geneva,
Switzerland
Stop #2 -
Barcelona, Spain
Stop #3 - Day 2 in Lisbon, Portugal
Stop #4 - Zurich, Switzerland
From Barcelona, Spain, I went to
Lisbon, Portugal to "almost" complete my Western Europe tour. "Almost"
because the only 2 countries that I have not visited in Western Europe were
Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.Upon
arrival at the airport, I took
Aerobus
that dropped me off in front of the
VIP Eden Hotel adjacent to
Restauradores
Square. Since I already had a wound as big as a dime at my left
sole due to blister, I had to take the Drop-On/Drop-Off bus and minimized my
walking. The stop was also in front of the hotel and the cost was
EUR18 for 2 days of unlimited hop-on/hop-off.
I planned my first day in Lisbon towards the
eastern part where the famous
Belem
Tower was. Nearby the tower was the
Discoveries
Monument and across was the
Jeronimos
Monastery. From afar, the
Monument to
Christ and
25 de
Abril Bridge were very picturesque. The Monument to Christ was a
smaller version akin to the
Christ
the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I was not really surprised
with the similarity since Brazil was colonized by Portugal in the 1500's.
While walking towards the Monastery,
no one will miss the famous Pasteis
de Belem which has been serving custard cupcakes since 1837. Every
tourist was drawn in the freshly baked custard cake. For those who are
interested in museums, within the area was the
Centro
Cultural de Belem.
From the Belem area, I took the hop on/off
bus back to downtown Lisbon and got off at
Rua du Comercio
(Commerce Square) which is in the
Baixa area. The monument in
the Commerce Square was basically the southern starting point of Rua du
Augusta which is a street of stores and coffee shops. Rua du Augusta
was like a mini
La Rambla in Barcelona. The northern end of Rua du Augusta was the
Rossio Square.
Before reaching Rossio Square, on the left side of Rua du Augusta was the
Santa Justa Lift.
I do not know the purpose the elevator in the middle of the park, but it
served as another tourist attraction for Lisbon.
Going further north was Avenida de Liberdade
which was the main road in downtown Lisbon. From Rossio Park, was
Restauradores Park and the VIP Eden hotel was on the left side of
Restauradores Park. The walk around downtown Lisbon was very easy
since it was a small area with lots of accessibility.
In front the hotel, parallel to Avenida de
Liberdade was a street full of restaurants. Lots of seafood to choose
from. The best and most famous beer in Lisbon, Super Bock, was not
really spectacular just like San Miguel in Barcelona.
After dinner, I called it a night and
prepared for the second day of my adventure in Lisbon.
Stop #3 - Day 2 in Lisbon, Portugal
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