Lisbon, Portugal – day 2 | alison richards | graphic designer and artworker

After the hectic day of walking everywhere yesterday, I decided to catch a bit of public transport today.

My plan was to catch the 28 tram, known as the tourist tram because it goes to all the nice places in Lisbon, early in the morning. I got on at the start of the tram journey and was happily bumping along in the cute old tram. However, all this quickly came to an end with news of an accident on the road (as cars and trams share the same road), so the tram was on diversion and everyone had to get out. They didn't have any electric signage either so I walked past people standing at the tram stops waiting for a tram that wasn't going to come (and I can't speak Portuguese so couldn't tell them!).

The things you see wandering around Lisbon… 2CV!

I walked around a bit trying to work out what to do, then decided to head to Belém. It was still really early so I walked down to a station and caught another tram. I messed up the first one and ended up veering off the route, so quickly got off and on another one. I got there eventually and headed over to have a look at the tower.

The Belém Tower is a really pretty building that was built in the 16th century in a mixture of styles including Portuguese late Gothic and Moorish. Specific to this style is a lack of symmetry and incorporating depictions of naval elements like rope, anchors and shells into the stone carvings.

My next stop once I'd evaded all the gypsy women at the Tower was the sculpture called Padrão dos Descobrimentos, which was built in the 1960's. As far as modern statues go, I quite liked it. Usually they are ugly and overly modern, but this sculpture was fairly classical looking.

It was morning tea time and I was not going to miss going to the famous Pastéis de Belém cafe for some pastéis de nata, those delicious custardy tarts.... This was the start of my personal project in Lisbon: to find the best Portuguese tarts in the city! I ordered three from this cafe and scoffed them at the counter.

Fed, and feeling rather full, my next port of call was the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. It had similar architectural features as the Tower of Belém and both are UNESCO Heritage-listed sites. I went inside at about 11am, not the best time as it was peak tourist time, but I couldn't do anything about that. I did manage to find some quiet places inside the building, as not everyone is as fascinated with architecture as I am and kept passing me by.

The crowds of people waiting to go inside

The monastery complex is made of this church and the monastery itself. This was free to enter

The monastery was paid entry but so worth it. It was beautiful

This girl was using the self timer on her phone to take photos. She’d set it up, check it then redo it.

The view from the balcony over the church

By the time I came out of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, it was almost time for lunch. I was keen to visit one place in particular for lunch - the Time Out food market in Lisbon! I caught a tram that went that way then wandered in. There were so many amazing looking food places. In the end I went with a pork belly burger which was delicious, and ordered myself a lunchtime tipple. The seating was all shared so I found a spare stool and sat down. Soon this French couple came to sit down next to me and we had a bit of a chat. It was all very fun and friendly.

The next place I wanted to visit after that was a shop called Sant'Anna which was not too far away from the market. This shop has produced azulejos tiles since 1741, and still does today. I absolutely could have bought up the whole store, but settled on a couple of pretty tiles that looked like the ones that I had seen around Lisbon. While walking around there, I stumbled upon the Bica Funicular. Wish I'd known... I walked up the hill!

I checked my map and the next place I wanted to go to was another spot for azulejos, a place called Loja Viúva Lamego, apparently a shop but all I saw was a building covered with amazing tiles! I jumped on the subway and zoomed there. I had bought a ticket today for unlimited travel, hence why I was trying my best to cover off a lot of ground by using the public transport system. It worked really well too!

I couldn’t get a good angle of this, and of course I forgot my wide angle lens… so it’s a little distorted but this is what the building looked like from the front. Pretty hey!!!

The building next door was also really nice!

From there, I hopped on the 28 tram as it trundled past. You'll remember that I tried to take this tram in the morning around its route, only to be foiled by a car accident blocking the tram lines. This tram was a LOT more crowded than in the morning but it was a fun ride. I went all the way over to the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, bought a ticket and went inside.

Apparently lots of tourists go to this monastery, look around the front and don't bother to go inside because it was really quiet inside. I think there were only a handful of people looking around... That was alright with me! It was a really pretty place, with some amazing details...

Inside the chapel. It was VERY decorative!

Lots of azulejos telling stories all around the monastery

I found this tombstone both interesting and creepy. I thought it was a person at first!

You could go onto the roof. The view of the roof was, I think, better than the view from there

Also on the roof, this amazing window and tiles.

From there, I had a bit of a wander around back to my Airbnb, where I changed and got ready for dinner. I had dinner near my accommodation, then head back - I was getting up early tomorrow so I just wanted a quiet, early night ready to go at the crack of dawn.