Living like Royalty in Lisbon June 5, 6 & 7 /2022

I went to bed last night utterly spent and not feeling right in the leg. I’d had a great day yesterday. After eating at the Brazilian restaurant I took a walk with the intention of getting dessert, but, I reasoned for the good of my waistline, only after the Museum of Marionettes. While debating the uphill walk or bus I noticed the guy who had bee having lunch across from me. Now, I’m out of the habit of picking up men, but hell, I’m on vacation so I walked up and began to chat with him about the food, once done with small talk I asked did he want to see puppets and eat ice cream. I have no shame, obviously.

There was a language difficulty, not because he spoke Portuguese, no, he was Chinese. I do not speak any Chinese dialect, save ordering food, but luckily he spoke some English. I talked slowly, enunciating carefully. I had mentioned puppets and ice cream, he wasn’t certain about the former, but being good natured, agreed to go. So we did, slowly walking (because of the incline) and talking, (because of translation).

It was fun – the museum holds a wide variety of puppets, masks and decorative items, from Asia, Africa, and Europe though none from the americas or down under. We chose to first guess the origins of various displays then read the actual descriptions, laughed at our inaccurate guesses and stayed just long enough to see the current exhibit. We grabbed a bolt to Nannarella…possibly the best ice cream I’ve had in Europe (the USA?). I had a cone with one gigantic scoop of cafe’ and one of limon. Did I also want whipped cream on top? Yes but I declined…I mean really? I ate it all voraciously while Wei allowed his to drip down his arm before consuming his. Me=crass. Him=Comical.

Being of royal blood myself (Jewish American Princess), I was of course reminded by the Queen’s Jewbilee, i figured this place might just suffice. I checked to see the price, location, and any reviews. Good. Good and good. It was a no brainer. I then did the necessary stuff, like reservations, gave name of first born (kidding) and consigned my bank account to the establishment.

Monday morning? I was a slug…slow to rise, then quick to pack, preparing to move. The stress of traveling with someone I barely knew got to me and probably her. Compound that with a leg that is currently not my best friend either after a mile of inclined walking…needless to say, but I’m obviously doing so…it was time for a change. I decided it last night when I let my fingers do the plunking on booking.com and found an interesting place, the former palace of a viscount. Palacio do Visconde is a brand new hotel in a very old building that has been refurbished. It’s hood still on an incline but public transport is a hop and a limp away.

I called a Bolt (cheaper than Uber) and away I went.

My room is divine. Spacious, clean, humongous and has an oh so comfy king size bed, fridge, coffee, a mirror in the space where once there was a heavily carved doorway…the carving still there. I could go on…maybe a bit longer? Okay. Original hardwood floors, monstrously tall ceilings with embellishments up the wazoo. I have a slight garden view from the bath and a street view from the bedroom…The 28 cable car does go past the place…but the room is fairly well insulated. Were I staying longer and feeling flush I would opt for a suite in the main building, which I viewed first. Alas I am still kicking back letting my body heal, luxuriously, as it is.

Its Tuesday now. I ate steak last night at the restaurant around the corner. It was delicious, expensive (but not nearly as much as the USA and way too much food for one person traveling without their dogs. I considered a takeaway box only briefly, knowing I’d have to find a hungry pooch. I opted for my comfy bed and returned to it after waiting an eternity for the check. Things go more slowly here in Lisbon. Waiting to pay the bill is only one of them. I don’t mind this at all.

I went to sleep listening to meditation sounds. Zzzzz. Snore. Dream. Repeat. And woke this morning early enough to hear the birds before I heard traffic. I made coffee in a tiny cup. Drank. Yawned. Went back to bed until it was time to get ready for my appointment with the chiropractor. I opted again for a Bolt to carry me.

Yesterday morning, while waiting for the Bolt to bring me here I did a quick, half hearted search for a DNFT Chiropractor. It was only half hearted because I really didn’t think there’d be somebody here that practiced this non-force method of adjusting one’s body. But lo and behold there was one. Dr. Duarte Portas of Chiro Clinica Quiropractica is a multilingual magician when it comes to adjusting my ailing skeleton. I made the appointment, got a treatment, bought some fresh fruit, had a snack at a nearby vegan spot (making up for my carnivorous ways) recommended by the doc and called for the chariot to bring me home to the palace.

I’m now resting. Attached to the hotel is Cafe Negrita (yay coffee roasting women!) I’ll have a tour there at 2pm today and come back to do more lounging. I have to be in good shape to travel to Madrid tomorrow.

The tour of cafenegrita.pt was superb. I took pictures… too bad they weren’t smell-o-vision. The aroma was divine. I bought some bags of coffee to lug home eventually. Thank goodness for suitcases with wheels.

Tonight I promised to eat my fill of grilled sardines at the small cafe close by, recommended by Palacio staff member extraordinaire Daniela. Why such high praise? Because the dear soul went to battle for me with Iberia airlines after they proved themselves unwilling to either help me via their “customer service” chat line nor In the process respond respectfully in English since my Spanish is not airline lingo proficient. In the end I got my boarding pass. So all is good.

The cafe is nothing to write home about but it lacks tourists and affords me the opportunity to interact with the few local characters and the sweet proprietor/cook who served me my plate of fish, salad and fries. I’m going to attempt a walk around the flattish block then hit the palatial sack .

Tomorrow as I probably mentioned already, I fly to Madrid.

Boa Noite