Monday 9th May.
Seville Apartment: http://www.vrbo.com/403813ha#
The rain had returned today which meant we missed taking our early morning walk. This was a pity as it was our last day and I would have liked to get in another walk along the waterfront before heading to land-locked Seville. Although granted, there are some rivers and our apartment isn’t too far from one of these.
With no real plans for the half day until leaving for the airport, we simply wandered up and down through the Bairro Alto area. This is an old neighborhood region of Lisbon made up densely packed apartment buildings overlooking narrow cobbled lanes. Everyone would certainly know each other’s business in this area! The area is purported to be fairly quiet by day but lively at night so we’re probably not seeing the area at its liveliest. Note to self: if ever back in Lisbon check this area out in the evening.
We were starting to get a bit peckish so we decided to head back to the cafe we went to on our first walking tour. This cafe, Navegadoors, had great coffee served hot and, in my opinion, had the best of the Pasties de Nata that we had sampled in Lisbon. Yes, even better than the Pasteis de Belem! Mark was in need of a small backpack and a hat so we spent the next hour or so looking around the shops for these but soon gave up. We decided to head home and stopped off one last time at the Ribeira Markets to have some soup for lunch. This place is clearly the place to be as it was packed again with people enjoying gourmet food, beer and wine.
Our flight didn’t leave until 5.30pm but we made our final farewell from our lovely apartment at 3pm and caught a taxi to the airport. The rain has started up again which only helped us to make this transition from Lisbon to Seville.
Lisbon is a wonderful city and we had enjoyed a great five days despite the weather. I’d urge you all to add this city to your ‘to do’ list and sooner rather than later. It is a great city for tourists because there is so much on offer and all within easy walking distance or a fairly short train commute. A word of warning though. The cobbled footpaths and roads are most uneven and hard on the feet requiring good quality walking shoes. Also, bring an umbrella. However, the effort to get here will be worth your while with such amazingly interesting history, wonderful sights, friendly people and great food, wine and craft beer. What more could you want?
We made it to the apartment by 8pm and went out to buy some milk and supplies before walking to a local tapas place for dinner. Again, lots of young people seem to dominate this University town.
