We enter thru this portal which also features fantastic acoustics so there's usually someone performing here. Inside the wall are a couple of small pedestrian streets lined with shops, many of them with interesting handcrafts, or food or the usual tourist trinkets. There are a lot of ginginha shops because the sour cherry liqueur is from here. Every alley, window and doorway is beautifully decorated or has lovely plants around it.
The town features a church you can visit as well as a couple of stairs to access the wall. There are no railings and the wall drops abruptly off on the town side but features beautiful views of the surrounding countryside.
After some time to stroll around town, we meet to have a ginginha tasting. The liqueur s typically served in a chocolate cup and is quite delicious.
After a delightful morning, we hit the road again for Lisbon. The hotel we are staying at is in the Rossio neighbourhood near some busy squares. Unfortunately there was some issues with the hotel regarding rooms for some of us and they handled it poorly. Because of this I didn't have time to take a few minutes breather before we headed out for our orientation walk. Gerardo takes us all over Lisbon, covering some places I had seen already but also many I hadn't and providing history that I wasn't aware of. The walk involves a lot of uphills and steps and is frankly exhausting. We stop off for pastel de nata to revive ourselves a bit.
They are delicious with the traditional cinnamon on top. Then its back to walking and learning.
In the evening, because it's Gerardo's birthday, we stop at a Mexican restaurant near our hotel and have drinks/snacks. The evening ended up with tequila shots compliments of the restaurant!
Tomorrow is a free day when most everyone will be doing their own thing so this feels celebratory.
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