We had about 3 hours layover at JFK so we went to a restaurant where new ordering protocols required us to scan the qr code, order and pay for food for someone to deliver. Mediocre food for $40 but they didn't kick us out when we sat for another hour before going to the gate. The flight was packed. Few people wore masks but, of course, everyone had had a recent covid test. Masks are required in the Lisbon airport so flight attendants distributed a few to people who shouldn't have come to Portugal if they didn't know the rules. Starting tomorrow, you don't have to wear them on the street or anywhere outside but they're still required everywhere inside except when eating. The screens weren't working at all the seats on the plane but most were fixed by rebooting. Except mine. Finally, they gave me 5000 miles, proving Delta must be trying to improve customer relations. Except for the food.
We had a pickup at the airport.7 people, 7 bags. $40 total. Cheaper and more convenient than multiple cabs. The driver talked nonstop about everything we should do in Lisbon. She even made us learn some Portuguese. Much too perky for people who'd been traveling for hours but we appreciated the information. Our condo rentals are fab, located in the center of old town. Fully equipped kitchen with espresso maker, dishwasher, and most importantly, washer/dryer combo which will be discussed thoroughly after we use it. They had two of the rooms ready when we got there and it was only a 45 minute wait for the other. We were able to unpack and take short naps before 2.
After naptime, we walked to the main square Praca do Comercia or Commerce Square. It faces the Tagus River. It's wet and rainy here today but the rain isn't constant so we were able to stroll around the pedestrian streets and window shop. Joyce did real shopping for chocolate. She succeeded. We had to get a few things for breakfast and found a small store close to us. About an hour later we were still wandering around trying to figure out which containers were real cow milk. The first thing I picked out turned out to be strawberry milk. We finally asked the clerk on our way out. He speaks perfect English so he could have helped us sooner if we had asked.
Most restaurants open at 7 for dinner. We went to one we had seen earlier and got seated because we went early. Our table of seven and another table with eight people almost filled the entire restaurant. They locked the door to keep people out and only opened it when people left and they had an empty table.The food was fabulous. As an appetizer we ordered garlic shrimp, whole shrimp swimming in garlic butter. We had ordered butter for the bread baskets, extra charge, but ended up dunking the bread into the garlic butter. We ordered baked octopus, cod, sea bass, pork cheek stew. Everyone's entree was perfectly cooked. We chose white wine grown in Central Portugal since we'll be going to wine country in the Duoro Valley. We all tried 3 desserts--lemon merigengue pie, chocolate mousse, creme brulee--and agreed the pie won the dessert contest.
I just slept off and on for 10 hours. This morning we have a tour which involves taking the famous tram 28 up a mountain for a view of the city. Then we'll walk down with our guide who will explain the history of each neighborhood.
Blogger had always been difficult to figure out how to add and label pictures and I'm tired so I won't try editing. The pictures at the top are of the main square and Mickey's sea bass entree.
No comments:
Post a Comment