Africa - Lisbon, Thursday, February 23, 2017

Today is Tuk Tuk tour time.  We really enjoyed our sidecar trip yesterday, so we decided to double the fun today with a Tuk Tuk tour.  Our driver, Miguel was waiting for us this morning right after breakfast to take us on a Lisbon tour by Tuk Tuk.  Now I've been in Tuk Tuks before, but this was the "limo" of Tuk Tuks.  It was a very clean, neat, six passenger Tuk Tuk WITH seat belts.  

Tuk Tuk Time.

Stevie Tuk Tuk touring.

Tuk Tuk-ing along.

We set off in search of interesting Lisbon sights.  Miguel took us to several beautiful overlooks in the city.  Lisbon consists of seven hills.  I think we covered all of them today.  

One of our first stops was to visit the Jewish Quarter.  However, it was so small ... we renamed it the Jewish Eighth.  Puleeeze!  No offense intended to my wonderful Jewish friends.  It was lovely, just small!!  

Our visit to the Jewish Quarter was a bit underwhelming.  But a worthwhile stop.  

While wandering through the small Jewish Quarter, we found a "farmer's market style" tent.  This is where Lorri drew "first blood," purchasing candied ginger and fresh almonds.  Ladies, man your purses and let the shopping begin!  

Shopping at the farmer's market.

Even though the Tuk Tuk was very nice, it was still a bumpy ride on the cobblestone streets of Lisbon.  My head is still vibrating from the jolting ride.  

One of the seven hills scenic overlook.

Another one of the hills.

Lori and the Tuk Tuk

Just because I can.

Relatively new to Lisbon, this is now Tuk Tuk Territory!!

We also stopped at "Time Out," which got rave reviews from other members of our group.  We found it to be a not so "upscale" food court and vegetable market.  The most interesting thing was the vegetables.  They were HUGE.  This head of cabbage is larger than Stevie's.  They must have some powerful fertilizer in Portugal.

Have you EVER seen such a large head of cabbage?

Time Out vegetable area.  The veggies were HUGE!

Miguel dropped us off at Bairro do Avillez, a lovely restaurant owned by Michelin Star Chef, Jose Avillez.  Avillez has the market on fine restaurants in the area, owning five other fabulous restaurants:  Mini Bar, Belcanto, Cantinho do Avillez, Cafe Lisboa and Pizzaria Lisboa.  Wish we had time to try them all!! 
 

Bairro do Avillez Restaurant

Bairro do Avillez was very inviting with fresh hams hanging over the deli bar, high ceilings and lots of sky lights to let in natural light and beautiful plants hanging throughout the restaurant.  The food left no doubt as to why the chef was awarded a Michelin Star.  Quite tasty.

After lunch, we decided to walk back to the hotel.  Using Stevie's iPhone map, we ventured across Lisbon, up the hills and down the narrow unmarked streets until we finally found our way back to the Four Seasons Ritz Hotel ... conveniently just in time for happy hour.  

The elevator was on auto pilot to the Lobby Bar.

Stevie and Lorri hard at work in the Lobby Bar.  Nice office, girls!

It's really bad when the bartender says, "The usual, ladies?"  Well hell YES!

Tonight, we had a welcome gathering and dinner for all the members of our National Geographic expedition at a beautiful museum which used to be the home of a very wealthy Portuguese gentleman named Antonio de Medeiros E Almeida. 
 

Antonio Almeida

The home was incredible.  The man had no children, so when he died, he donated the entire home and all of it's contents to the city with the understanding that NOTHING could be sold.  Everything had to remain in the home.  He had an amazing collection of watches that surprisingly surpassed Stevie's.  I didn't know that was possible!!

Didn't know ANYBODY had more watches than Stevie.

Two musicians entertained as we wandered through the home.  Since Jac and Jeff gave me a guitar for Christmas, I've been practicing my skills and of course jumped in to play a few tunes. 
 

I hit a few sour notes (like ALL of them) but had fun.

Check out the back side of this guitar.

I was playing a Portuguese guitar.  It had no back and twelve strings.  The sound was similar to a banjo.  And, by the way, I had no clue how to play a 12 string guitar.  So thank God nobody noticed me attempting to play.  I quickly returned the guitar to it's owner and moved on.

Oh come on.  You know what we're saying here!!

AND here!!

Almeida's dining room.  He entertained many dignitaries here including Princess Grace.  Looks just like Stevie's dining room in Houston.  

The game room at Almeida's house.  Where's the tv?

Almeida's office/library.  

Cloak display.

Just cutting up.

Because we can.

Grand Staircase to the dinning area.

Stevie's new clock.

After dinner, Lorri and I decided to walk back to the hotel instead of taking the van.  It was only a ten minute walk to the museum from the hotel, but the return trip took us 45 minutes.  We were so engrossed in conversation that we missed our turns and ended up on the wrong road.  

Lost in Lisbon!!  We look very scared!!  NOT.

It reminded me of the time I got turned around in Central Park, in the rain, in the dark, and wandered for hours before finding my way to Jacqueline's house.  But here in Lisbon, I finally pulled out my phone, turned on the data roaming, and map quested the hotel to get directions.  That'll likely be an expensive mistake. But we made it back in time to get our suitcases out for pick up at 10:00 and one more visit to the Lobby Bar.  Sounds like that's all we've done here, but not really!!  

More conversation than drinking!

Tomorrow, we leave for Tanzania.  With an early 6:00 a.m. "bag call," and a 7:00 departure time, I better wrap things up with this blog and get some sleep.  

The wifi in Tanzania is less than stellar, so I may not be able to update this blog until we move on to another spot.  So please be patient and check back often.

Love to all.