That was the aim today, so off we set with a belly full of croissants.
A successful negotiation of the bus driver and bus ticketing swiftly got us on our way. And what a way to enter Lisbon. The driver would give our good friend, rally driver Julian Wilkes, a run for his money. There were some raised eyebrows and a good deal of clenched fingers around anywhere that seemed fixed! He had a certain 'gung ho' quality about him as Murray Walker would say.
We were therefore glad to arrive in Lisbon. From what we made out on our entry, it all looked very charming indeed, but quite hilly in parts. First port of call was the tourist office. We are, after all, becoming more accomplished tourists now. On our way there we entered into the glorious river fronted square of Praca de Comercio, the former site of the royal palace with it's marble steps leading into Lisbon from the river. I got rather excited though and dashed on ahead, as leaving down the Tagus River/Rio Teja was a submarine. A perfect reminder that you have 3 days for your Das Boot homework!
Following this we booked a tram to get us around the city. We aimed high and decided to let the old tram from Rossio Square take us up to the Castelo de São Jorge, a large fortification high above the town.
Before we did this, a rumbling was heard, a dangerously scarey rumbling. So I listened to my tummy and we headed for a lovely restaurant for lunch and a beer. The view was quite fantastic, all the old houses narrowly packed together with a 1,000 TV aerials poking up in all directions.
It was delightful..... Until the other threatening rumbling took over. A huge bolt of lightening struck out in front of us and the deluge followed that seemed to bring a certain river quality to the place we were in. A short subsidence in the weather allowed us to get on. We walked the "as has become Portuguese custom" cobbled streets and purchased our castle tickets. Initially we found stunning views out above the packed streets and hilly town. We could even see as far as the large statue of Christ the King on the opposite river bank, and the Golden Gate Bridge look-alike joining districts of Lisbon together.
As we turned to leave the views to the walk around the ramparts, we were greeted with the view of people streaming off the ramparts with a real air of them being chased by the storm. And so it was, this grey downpour rapidly approached us and we dived for appropriate cover. This photo shows the impending doom coming in from the right.
Unsurprisingly everyone had the same idea, so there was a certain damp quality as we all fought for space. I'd like to say the rain departed. But no, it increased in severity, velocity and quantity. We then decided, in order for the day to progress we really needed some help with our weather protection (we had no coats, no umbrellas, etc). I therefore went to buy a couple of quality emergency brollys from a street vendor. I did some mediocre haggling, probably still losing out but feeling better that I had had a go, and went back to the castle with two lacklustre umbrellas. Now, with a renewed vigour we felt we could embrace the weather. Umbrellas up, two of us tucked inside each, off we went to have a quick go around the castle ramparts, getting increasingly wet, but having a fun time, enjoying the weather and taking on the rumbles and the zig zags. 
The optimism that we had done the last section had a real fun about it. Sadly, the fun left us when we sat to wait for our return descent on the tram. We waited, and waited, but sadly no trams came. It was decided, just as the rain returned for another go, that we should walk back to the main part of town. Thankfully, no trams came. We subsequently found out that the storms had knocked out much of the tram system, flooded the metro system and wreaked havoc across the city. And there we were having a jolly brolly time up at the castle in blissful ignorance.
Upon our return to the town, we followed our noses and went to find the Elevador de Santa Justa. Our noses were rubbish though, so a kind man from one of the museums gave us a nod in the correct direction and then we found it. The Elevador de Santa Justa is an elevator linking one lower district to a higher one. It's quite a fascinating building with a lift, built in 1901. Once again, the views from this height were super.
It also shows the topography of Lisbon to great effect with their being such great differences in height from one district to the other. We decided to take it to descend to the lower district of Baixa, in order to get our bus home. However, the lady said that it would cost €5 each. The shock on our faces must've made her rethink. As we told her our sob story about the failed trams and the appalling weather, she let us on for free. So thank you to Deanna the lift lady for helping us along!
A late bus brought the weary travellers home. And so here we are, all calm, all is quiet, as is the weather. A good day, although we have the niggling feeling that we didn't quite see enough of Lisbon as we could've. A beautiful place, and once again, Portugal has shown us caring and helpful people.
Ed
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