Walking along the river

About 10 mi/15-16 km seems to be a good afternoon walk for me after teaching. Today I took an Uber to Belém, out along the river about 5 miles from the center, and I started walking at the Tower of Belém. The Torre was under scaffolding and it looks like they are giving it a good cleaning, so it will soon gleam white. The other Belém attractions are all along the way back to town, the Monument to the Discoverers, the Jerónimos Monastery (also being cleaned to a brilliant shade of white), and the Pastéis de Belem store, where the most famous pasteis de nata are sold. I think the hype is a bit much, because you can get a delicious pastel de nata in so many little places that make their own. So I didn’t wait in the long line, but went to a little pasteleria a few blocks down and got a perfectly yummy pastel de nata without a 25 minute wait!

Lisbon has cobbled together a good walk that extends all the way back to the center along the river. This has been a relatively recent development, but for whatever reason, the city has decided to definitely “embrace” the river. Lots of esplanades where people can sit and soak up the sun at water’s edge on a day like today. The path does go through some of the working port area, but nothing dangerous. I was glad to have my Camino friend AJ’s tracks on my phone, because there are lots of places where it’s not clear which way to go. Yes, I know, the obvious thing is to keep the river on my right, but there are docks and fences and piles of containers that sometimes block the way. With the tracks on my phone, I just got a beep if I went too far off-route. No need to be looking at my phone every few minutes.

From the central Praça do Comércio on the waters edge, it’s hard to find new routes back to my hotel. I did take a little detour off of one side and was happy to find three of the restaurants that we have enjoyed over the years that were still open.

I’m going to a friend‘s house for dinner in a few minutes, and I’ve known their kids since they were small. Now one is working on her Ph.D., another is a law student, and the third is almost done with high school. Not that that makes me feel old or anything!

I’ve had some really good walks this year, and maybe I’m so motivated to do it because I’m wondering if this might be my last year coming to teach. I’m trying to soak up as much of Lisbon’s charm as I possibly can.Read more