Rain has stopped and Lisbon rocks!

Lisbon got a thorough rinsing on Thursday, but Friday it cleared up and we explored the city.

We started at Cafe Pois for lunch. High ceilings, tons of natural light, comfortable sofas, and great food:

This is the main square in Lisbon. It is right on the banks of the Tagus river. The arch is the "gateway" to the city;

This is the square where the king of Portugal was assassinated in the early 1900s:

This is a pubic lift. Not many of these left in the world:

The lift takes you about 5 stories up and you get to walk along this catwalk that crosses several streets:

Logs of bustling outdoor cafes:

Colorful tile walls:

This is the tile we are going to use for our bathroom (some day);

More tile:

There is a tile museum in Lisbon that is supposed to be incredible. We didn't have time to go so we just took shots of our favorite streetside tile:

We had some of te best gelato of the trip at Santini's:

Barrio Alto is the neighborhood you go to for the bar scene:

The streets are relatively quiet during the day:

Over in Alfama, we strolled past open air cafes with the smell of fresh, oily sardines on wood burning fires wafting through the air. Sardines in Portugal are a national delicacy and are nothing like the canned sardines we think of in the States. They are usually about 8 inches long, meaty, and clean. The flavor of fresh sardines off the grill is to die for:

We popped into a wine bar that had 150 Portuguese wines by the glass:

The Alfama district is old and charming. Easy to get lost in. Even I got lost in the Alfama. Yes, Jon Siracusa, human GPS, was turned around in this place. Here we are walking down one of the the hundreds of narrow stairways in Alfama. I'm sure the neighbors sticking their heads out their windows are wondering why this couple of Americans are walking by their window for the second time in 10 minutes:

This is the the part of Alfama we stayed in:

Our Air BnB apartment was facing the Pantheon:

Lisbon was a great time. Interesting city with lots to explore. We feel like we only scratched the surface on this trip and would definitely go back for more.