First things first, this is our 100th post!!! Calls for a celebration.
This is a continuation of our first day of travel in Lisbon, Portugal. We pick up this post from our visit to Belem Tower that ended at around 6 PM as dusk was setting in. The main Lisbon attractions that are open after dark are the two elevated viewpoints we visited, the Arco Triunfal da Rua Augusta and the Elevador de Santa Justa. Right off the bat, we should state that we loved the Arch as a viewpoint more than the elevator for reasons we’ll state. But lets share our last picture on the way to the city centre that shows off how beautiful any random street in Lisbon looks like.
The colours of Lisbon are beautiful & ever-present
First look at Praca do Comercio
The arch was located right at the picturesque “plaza of commerce” that is lined with cafes, bars and restaurants. The whole area is very popular with tourists with good reason. Plus as it is a transport hub, you will most likely visit this area multiple times (like we did). We took a few shots of the plaza before making our way to the arch.
Lisbon @ Dusk
Viewpoint 1: Top of the arch
We got tickets on showing our Lisboa card and took the elevator to the clock tower. The clock faces the other side of the arch and hence not visible in the pic above but it is as traditional a clock as you can get. We loved to see all the gears moving about every second 🙂
We then took the final set of stairs to the top to be placed right behind the statues at the top of the arch. The views were beautiful and you can see the statue’s details from up close. The clocks bell is also in the rooftop area so you’ll be treated to loud gongs at the top of the hour (we didn’t witness that). We wish we had enough time and sunshine to see a sunnier Lisbon from this viewpoint!
One of our favourite things about these night pictures is how the streets are illuminated and the many rooftops dark creating pathways of light.
Tip: Bring your low light gear along to be able to do justice to the views at dusk (we don’t have any such gear).
A wonderful dusk scene
Behind the scenes
That muscle detail!
Lisbon under Moonlight – winner of the best picture Oscar
Viewpoint 2 : The elevator after dark
A couple of mishaps happened on the way to the second viewpoint. Firstly, we did not know where the official ground level entrance to the elevator was and we wrongly followed the map to a place near the top of the elevator. Luckily for us, a bridge connects the top and a restaurant on the street level so we literally just walked straight to the top (that is possible). Secondly Dalek dropped our battery pack rendering it unusable. Travellers will know how scary that situation can be (luckily for us, a quick wall charge fixed it).
The best part of the elevator view is the straight line view of the castle. But the cons are that it is more expensive and crowded in a smaller area. Both attractions are free with a Lisboa card but if you’re trying to save money and want to see a viewpoint, go to the arch.
This is the money shot for which the elevator is famous
The Rossio square looking especially nice
Vertigo
Steak Dinner
So our AirBnb was close to two restaurants we had looked up, the other one being a famous steakhouse called Carvoaria Jacto. This place is famous for service a Portuguese cattle steak called Mirandesa. We also ordered a classic Lisbon starter of Azeitão Cheese with pumpkin & walnut jam (which is a Portuguese delicacy and a really delicious combination). The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare and the beef was packed with flavour! Plus it was topped with garlic. There was so much cheese that the starter became our dessert 🙂 Went back to our flat after this lovely meal (30 EUR for 2 people, cash only).
The Mirandesa steak, it was defo medium-rare inside
Lisbon sheep cheese & jam
Lisboa card cost benefit – Day 1 Savings
1-day public transport pass : €6.15
Jeronimos cloisters + Tower of Belem : €12
Rue Augusta Arch : €2.50
Elevator : included in 1-day transport pass
Total day 1 savings : €20.65 for 24 hours (out of €31.50 for 48 hours)
© 2017 Beyond Our Horizons
Oh my god 30 EUR for a meal for two people? Including an appetizer (and dessert for you guys)? AND one meal was beautiful steak? That’s so cheap! Lisbon just got 50x more attractive haha.
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Well we weren’t super hungry so we shared that block of cheese & the steak was a 2 people portion. But yeah we were stuffed with a beautiful yet inexpensive meal.
Here’s the catch, this wasn’t our best meal in Lisbon. Our lunch next day was 18 EUR for 2 people with the best pork dish we may have ever eaten. And we were stuffed with the massive portion! Follow our blog to get the full scoop in the next 2 days. 😀 😀
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Wow you’re living the dream, haha. I’ll be waiting for that post 😁
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My Lisbon is amazing! The Posta Mirandesa comes from a special breed of cattle in Mirandela region, northern Portugal. Its grass fed cattle and the texture and taste of the meat is just amazing. I am happy you enjoyed my city. The pumpkin and walnut compote is called doce de abóbora e nozes and the combination is indeed great. Did you visit Cascais?
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To say that we have enjoyed your city is an understatement, we were blown away! Our 3 main meals of seafood, steak & black pork were culinary gems 🙂 We picked Sintra over Cascais for our day trip as the weather was questionable (turned out fine in the end). Looking forward to blog about our other 2 days and a second visit to Lisboa! 🙂
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