Lisbon, Portugal Day 4
Augusto Lisboa was a nice brunch spot that J found. I don't know the exact location because I was just following J, but I guess it was on the top of a hill behind the castle hill.
We both had a mixed fruit juice made of orange, strawberry and something that I forgot. I remember it was refreshing.
I tried banana bread and I LOVED it. I could have two slices easily. Maybe three...
J had Bacalhau toast and scrambled egg as a side. The large fillet of cod looked cooked beautifully.
We were stuffed and it was time to walk. Our destination was Museu Nacional do Azulejo, or the National Tile Museum in English. Shortly we found the Church and Monastery of São Vicente de Fora on the way.
The church didn't open its door until 10am. We were too early. We just saw the exterior and briefly visited the church's backyard. The National Pantheon was seen from there.
We made a quick detour to get close to the National Pantheon. Again it was still closed. We walked around the huge building and got back on the way to our original destination.
Actually we arrived at the museum but J wanted to see some street arts around the area first. We walked further and saw the street arts. Then we went back to the museum. It was a nice extra walk to see a new area of Lisbon even though there weren't much too see.
Here was the National Tile Museum. It's situated in the building of Madre de Deus Convent, built in 1509. The museum presents the history of craft-making of Azulejos, traditional Portuguese and Spanish painted ceramic tiles.
Our self-guided tour began at a special exhibition to celebrate the 175 year anniversary of Viúva Lamego, one of the first ceramics factories in Portugal.
The museum's permanent collection includes items from the 15th century to present days. No matter how old they were, the tiles were still bright and lively.
The Madre de Deus church was a part of the museum, which was decorated in Portuguese baroque style, with gilded and carved wood, paintings and classic blue and white Azulejos.
The tour continued to the upstairs...
The High Choir was located on the floor and had a window at the end that overlooked the church.
More tiles... small and large panels.
We had a short break at a patio before leaving the museum. The museum was far away from the Lisbon city center but I was glad that we could visit it during the trip.
We came back to the city center and visited the Carmo Archaeological Museum. The museum was set in the ruins of the 14th century Church of Santa Maria do Carmo. The church was seriously destroyed by the 1755 earthquake and the following fire. The reconstruction began in the Neo-Gothic style later but stopped in 1834 when many monasteries and convents were closed after the Liberal Revolution. In the mid-19th century, the rising popularity of ruins and medieval monuments has preserved the appearance of the unfinished church instead of finishing the reconstruction.
The Neo-Gothic pillars and arches of the nave created during the reconstruction period were dramatically exposed to the sky.
The museum was installed in the ruins in 1864 as the first museum of Art and Archeology in the country. It was kinda small but neat.
Lunch time! We came to Time Out Market, a large food court with around 50 food stalls offering Portuguese and international cuisine. Too many good-looking things to choose!
We started with appetizers, two kinds of croquettes from Croquetaria, the first and only restaurant to specialize in croquettes in Lisbon. One was 'Alheira' - traditional Portuguese smoked sausage and the other was Cozido - traditional Portuguese meat, sausage and vegetable stew. Both tasted somewhat similar but tasty.
It was hard to decide the dishes for lunch somehow. We jumped to desserts... Pasteis de Nata from Manteigaria, another popular Portuguese egg custard tart specialist of the city of Lisbon. Their tart was good but didn't beat Pastéis de Belém.
At the end Chef Susana Felicidade's shrimp and bean stew with cilantro rice won our hearts, well tummies. Flavorful and satisfying.
Savory, sweet and savory. Next should be sweet. We headed to El Corte Inglés Lisboa to appreciate Landeau Chocolate's chocolate cake again. It was about at least an hour walk distance, but we happened to choose a longer and tempting path which included a steep uphill along one of the city's famous funiculars as well as antique Azulejo shops that we couldn't help but stop by. When we were at about a half way point, we used an Uber to reach the divine chocolate cake promptly.
It was definitely one of my most favorite chocolate cakes. Superb!
We bought some Portuguese canned seafood to take home with us. Sardines, cod, tuna, mackerel, octopus, squid, mussels, etc, in olive oil or a traditional sauce or flavored with herbs and spices. There were various kinds of products from several factories. I wish I could sample all except one with spicy chill peppers.
The weather was still beautiful. We had a nice long walk back to our hotel. It was another lovely day.
To be continued...
