Portugal Trip – Day 1 PM – Lisbon
After lunch we rushed to catch our pre-booked a Segway tour. Everyone at Lisbon Segway Tours was friendly especially our guide Gonçalo. He took us outside and we spent about 20 minutes practicing riding the segways in the side alley.
When it was time to leave we manuevered the segways through the crowds on the narrow cobblestone streets, towards the river Teja and into the Alfama district. The Alfama is full of steep, narrow cobblestone streets. I was glad we had the segways as it would have been too steep to walk but it was also quite an adventure to control the segways! Fortunately we only had some minor mishaps where Little Star hit a car and later hit a curb – both times causing me to panic and jump off my own segway. We rode to a few high points in the city where we had great views to see the sights from.
While things were a little harry at times the segways turned out to be great fun and took us to a part of the city we otherwise would not have seen.
After the segways we headed to the hotel to finally get our room and rest. The room itself was quite interesting. The decor was modern and they tried to keep a theater theme. However since the room was so small they had to put some of the decorations on the ceiling!
In the evening we wanted to experience some Fado – the local folk music. We checked out some of the recommend places online but they all seemed very overpriced and commercial. We came across a review for Tasco do Chico which seemed more reasonable and we headed there. We arrived a few minutes before the music started and used the skills we learned riding the tram shoving our way in even though it looked full. After some time the waitress pushed us into a table with some strangers and we shared benches with folks behind us – it got quite cozy and intimate. The singers were all female Fado singers and had amazing voices. We drank wine and sangria – for only €3 each – and had a flaming sausage and of other meats.
By the intermission we were exhausted and ready to call it a night.
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