1st full day in Lisbon

Last night I went to bed early due to jetlag, woke up at 10:30p ish, went back to sleep, woke up again around 3a, must've fallen back asleep because my alarm went off at 8a. 

Got myself ready and went down for breakfast. They had a nice spread of yogurts, fruits, cereals, cheese/meats etc. I did yogurt, fruit, some chia & flax seeds, cup of coffee with hot milk. The dining area is open to the courtyard, quite nice.

I decided to take in some sites in the Chiado area. First on the list is Carmo square and museum. The museum is located in a half destroyed convent church. The main apse area is roofless and the walls are filled with artefacts while the center had modern art pieces. Quite an interesting juxtaposition. 

in the intact rooms in back are additional artefacts of various kinds. There is also a room showing a video of the history of the building, including the earthquake in 1755 that destroyed it and how it came to be preserved in its present state. Neat re-use of an old bldg. 

From here, I walked a short distance to the Santa Justa elevator. There seems to be a few of these in the city. This one is closed for renovation (as is so much of the city) but it's interesting to see. 

Next stop is Praca Rossio where I grabbed lunch nearby, rice with salmon & shrimp, before heading to Igreja Sao Roque in Bairro Alto. The interior is quite elaborate with a painted ceiling and niches with important statues, art works and relics. 

In the evening, I'm taking a boat cruise so I rest at the hotel in the afternoon. There are many lounge areas and there are snacks laid out for free in the breakfast room. 

In the late afternoon I head to the dock area to catch the boat. It's quite a nice dock area with a stretch of restaurants, a bridge that looks like a mini Golden Gate bridge and views across the water to a sculpture inspired by the Jesus statue in Rio.

Our boat is a catamaran and most of us find seats in the front. The sky is very overcast so I'm not expecting to see much of a sunset. But I enjoy catamarans for how smooth they are. I happen to be sitting next to a couple from Orange Cty so we chat a bit. We are offered wine or juice, I took a glass of rose. The main deckhand, Maria every once in awhile pops by to tell us about some sites we are passing. There are other boats on the water - yachts, sail boats, rowing shells, etc

We sail up the Tagus along one bank then turn around to the other bank. Maria points out a maritime sculpture & the Torre de Belem. By the time we are heading back to dock, the sun has fully set and it's windy so we're all huddled under blankets. It's a lovely way to spend an evening. I grabbed an Uber to get back to my hotel, and wound down for the night.