Lisbon: Baixa, Chiado Walking Tour

We started our morning packing up and moving from our Airbnb to our Hotel. We had a great coffee and Custard tart while waiting for Priya. Once she arrived we walked to the start of our tour. Rodrigo was our tour guide. We went to the most of the squares in the Chiado area, we saw the tram that goes from lower to upper Baixa. It is a very steep street. We visited a Moorish church, a church which supported the inquisition such as the execution of witches and Jewish or other people who would not convert to Christianity, as well as the church for which the Pastor supported all people of color. We saw the location of the execution of King Carlos and his first son, the location of the first newspaper and the park named after the inventor of newsprint. We saw the locations of Free Masons and the effects of the 1755 earthquake. We learned of the gold and silver streets with the Roman Galleries which were escape tunnels. The Jewish homes also had escape tunnels from under their homes and many buildings had these as well. Near the Santa Justa Lift (created by a classmate of the creator of the Eiffel Tower, thus why it has a similar style) was the abandoned Convent (now has a museum inside) there is a famous Portugese poet who wrote his poems from his balcony. Our tour guide sometimes plays him for special events because of his likeness to him!!Read more