The Alfama

Wednesday, our second day in Lisboa, Ruth and I explored the Alfama area - the old part of the city which was once an upper class Moorish residential area and one of the oldest part of the city. It was one of the areas most spared in the earthquake of 1755 which destroyed much of the city and ended an era of extreme Portuguese prosperity and global influence launched by da Gama's discovery of a passage to India and sustained later by the discovery of gold in Brazil, then a Portuguese South American colony.

The Alfama is a web of extremely narrow streets, maybe better called walkways, that wind up and down and around with some small open areas, occasional areas overlooking the expanse of the Rio Tejo and Lisboa's excellent harbour. There are lots of stairs and of course the quaint, to us, homes of those who live in the Alfama.

Exploring the Alfama is physically demanding so after over two hours climbing and descending hills and stairs we worked our way back to the Rossio Praca (plaza or square) and had an outdoor lunch at a small Loja de cafe.

In the afternoon, after a rest and nap we strolled around the main city squares (or Pracas), took some photos and visited the information shop and the Fnac (a store that sells english language books among other things including a multitude electronics, music, movies and almost anything you would like to buy).

Had snacks in late afternoon and then off on an adventure to a Fado (Portuguese folk music and singing) restaurant in the Bairro Alto - another maze of very narrow streets, steep hills and harrowing taxi rides through place you would not believe a car could go, and at speeds that strongly encourage the use of seat belts. The taxi driver left us at the wrong place so we had to negotiate our way through the maze to find the restaurant with the help of some local Portuguese women.

The Fado performance was entertaining, the food expensive and uninspiring and the taxi ride home even more interesting than the one that took us to the restaurant.

A few photos of the Alfama and one of one of the 4 Fado singers.