Lisbon

The hop-on-hop-off bus provided us with a way to see a fair bit of Lisbon with its many public parks and the combination of old and new architecture along steep narrow streets and wide avenues, but Greg and I opted for a tram ride and walking after a while. There are more up-market areas in Lisbon and more fashion shops and shopping malls, as well as more interesting little shops that have existed for 150  years or more. We had a terrific lunch at a bakery on the corner of Rua d Loreto and Rua d Misericordia, where they served either a salad or sandwich combo and we had a large bowl of carrot soup, a roast pork roll and freshly squeezed orange juice for only €8 for the two of us. Later in the day we found A Brasileira, one of the famous old coffee houses at Rua Garrett 120, Chiado, where we had the most delicious Portuguese tarts, with perfect light pastry filled with creamy lemon custard. Rua Garrett is one of Lisbon's ritziest shopping streets and off that street, in Calcada do Sacremento, we discovered the perfect place for dinner - Sacremento. So after meeting Anne, Richard and Bob for drinks at Praca do Comercio (a huge square on the river bank), we walked back to the Chiado area to Sacremento and enjoyed excellent food and wine with outstanding service in a building that was once the home of a Marquis.