A Few Days in Lisbon- Day 1
A visit to Lisbon was a last minute decision for us. Since it is fairly close (I guess relatively speaking!), compared to the rest of Europe, that is.. we decided to go for it. We couldn’t get a direct flight and were scheduled to stop over in London for a couple of hours. Regardless, we would be in Lisbon the next day quite early.
Well, as we all know, traveling can be quite unpredictable, especially when one is departing from Newark! Our plane was cancelled due to mechanical problems. Instead of getting on another plane to Heathrow, we were redirected to Frankfurt and then to Lisbon. We were to stay at Frankfurt airport for a few hours. We were quite disappointed but we didn’t have any other options- so much for getting there quickly! Good news about Frankfurt airpot- the food was amazing! I had the best sandwich and cappuccino there! It was a spicy salami sandwich with fresh arugula, olive spread on the most delicious olive roll ever! I was starting to feel better about this long journey and thought- it could be worse.
Well, it did get worse! We landed at Lisbon airport to find out our luggage didn’t accompany us. We unhappily headed to our hotel. The first thing I look forward to doing when I arrive in Europe is to take a shower and change my clothes- well, that was not going to happen on this trip! We got to our hotel and the lovely man at the front desk promised to call the airport to inquire about our luggage- in the meantime, they sent a bottle of red wine, grapes and cheese to our room. I took a shower, got in my robe, relaxed and had a glass of wine… the phone rang and they told us luggage was on the way!
Things were looking up again! We unpacked and headed for dinner. We happen to be in a very central area- walking distance to most things including lots of restaurants. We decided to go to Cafe Buenos Aires. The reviews on trip advisor were really good and the steak on the menu looked yummy. We walked over and found a very modest looking space with a strange looking door that was locked. We could see people inside the dimly lit room but we had no way of getting in. After trying all sides of the corner building, we realized the door was locked and we had to ring the bell. We finally got in and sat down in this very tiny room. We ordered drinks and our food. The shrimp and steak were delicious. I tried the local favorite- bacalhau, which is reconstituted dried cod. It was served with some cooked greens and potatoes. The highlight was a chocolate cake with homemade caramel. It was the most delicious, melt in your mouth caramel I have ever had.. the chocolate cake wasn’t so bad either! Dinner was a success.. I walked back to the hotel looking forward to the next three days in Lisbon!
