After very little sleep last night, we hit the ground running this morning. Literally. Lorri, Stevie and I went for a morning walk around Lisbon followed by a workout in the fabulous Four Seasons Ritz Hotel gym.
Located on the top floor of the hotel, the gym has a running trail that wraps around the building overlooking the city.
If this wasn't enough to get the heart started today's activity certainly did. We decided to go on a motorcycle sidecar tour of Lisbon and the Portuguese sea side.
Our guides, John and George cruised in to the hotel drive with their Russian and Italian Motorcycles with sidecars. With some trepidation, we strapped on our helmets and loaded up.
Only two sidecars were available today, so one of us had to ride on the back of the Italian Motorcycle.
With a white knuckle grip on the simple strap attached to the seat to keep my ass from bumping off the back end of the bike, we set off on our tour. Weaving in and out of traffic didn't seem to phase John and George, but it was a harrowing experience for the three novice bikers clinging to the sidecars and seat strap. As we made our way out of town, we settled in and began to enjoy the ride.
John spoke excellent English. George spoke only a few words of English, but that didn't stop him from pointing out sights around the city. We tried to decipher what George was saying, but mostly just politely nodded and said, "Oh, that's beautiful." And Lisbon is truly a beautiful city.
The ride took us along the shore line through many little beach towns until we reached Cascais, where we stopped at John's favorite little coffee shop for a break.
John, being a guide, in the truest sense of the word, would NOT allow us to sit at the lovely outside tables. Those were for "tourists," he said with distain in his voice.
I wonder what the heck he thought we were. But we enjoyed the cute little coffee shop the delicious coffee and cappuccino.
John gave us an historical rundown on Cascais and was particularly proud of a statue of former President Rei D. Carlos, who John undeniably resembled.
After our coffee break, we loaded up again and continued down the coast line to the little town of Guincho for an amazing lunch at Porto ta Maria. Known for fresh sea food, we had Snapper prepared Portuguese style, which was roasted with tomatoes, potatoes and spices. As you can see from these photos, it was incredible!!
After lunch, we headed back toward Lisbon with one surprise stop along the way in the little town of Belem.
The Pasteis de Belem, is an infamous little pastry shop. I use the term "little" loosely. The place seats 450 patrons, has 120 employees and sells over 20,000 pastries daily. Owned by the same family since 1837, the pastry recipe was passed down by monks who perfected it. It has remained a family secret for decades with only two chefs trusted with it. Locals don't come by the pastry shop often, so when they do, they always order at least two of them. Since John was not allowing us to behave like tourists, we had no option but to have two pastries. Yum!!
We finished up our tour of Lisbon around 5:00 - conveniently known as "happy hour" in most parts of the civilized world. Being a civilized group, we quickly checked in with the National Geographic group to pick up our credentials and then headed to the Lobby Bar for cocktails.
The hotel has the most gorgeous display of orchids EVER. It's difficult to describe, so I'll attach a photo of the huge display.
We settled in to the comfy seats in the lobby bar, enjoyed a few cocktails and revisited our exciting day while we downloaded movies and tv shows on our NatGeo issued iPads in preparation for our journey across Africa.
Time to get some much needed rest.
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| Morning walk around Lisbon. |
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| View from the gym. |
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| Trying to out run the calories, Lorri and I hit the gym. |
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| Beginning in Lisbon, we traveled the entire southern route to the western most tip of the European Continent. |
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| Lorri called the side car. I'm clinging to the back seat of the bike. |
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| Stevie hops in John's side car. |
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| We're ready!! |
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| This simple strap was the only thing between me and getting bumped off the bike. Scary!! |
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| Side Car Selfie. |
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| Bijou de Cascais Coffee Shop. |
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| Cappuccino at Bijou. |
John gave us an historical rundown on Cascais and was particularly proud of a statue of former President Rei D. Carlos, who John undeniably resembled.
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| John and President Rei D Carlos. Amazing resemblance. |
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| I have no idea what the heck we're looking for??? |
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| Our waiter explains our choices for lunch. |
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| Local Snapper Portuguese Style. |
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| Local Snapper, Stevie, Lorri and Julie style. So tasty!! |
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| Pasteis de Belem special pastry. |
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| This is our SECOND serving. What a treat!! |
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| Folks patiently wait to place their pastry orders. |
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| Lining up outside for pastries, John says this is a short line. It usually goes around the block. Reminds me of LeVaine's. |
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| Lobby Bar for happy hour. It's the civilized thing to do. |
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| This "tree like" display of orchids is stunning. |
We settled in to the comfy seats in the lobby bar, enjoyed a few cocktails and revisited our exciting day while we downloaded movies and tv shows on our NatGeo issued iPads in preparation for our journey across Africa.
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| See what happens when left unattended for a few minutes. We absconded with the bike and sidecar!! Look out Lisbon! |
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| My turn in the side car with John at the wheel. |
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| Lorri's turn in the sidecar with John. |
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| Lots of picture taking! |
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| Clinging to the back of the bike with George. |
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| Die hard bikers. |
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