Overbays All Over Europe

Surprise, surprise...we actually got up this morning and had the "free" breakfast at the hotel. That is definitely a major accomplishment for Team Overbay. Haha.

We went back to the room to get some sort of [Overbay] plan for the day, which usually never gets finalized. Haha. Anyway, we started our walk and ended up on Rua Nova do Carvalho (the Pink Street), a pedestrian street located in the neighbourhood of Cais do Sodré. For decades, it has been considered Lisbon’s Red Light District: sailors, thieves, drifters, guys looking for problems, and of course… prostitutes. Now with the efforts of the urban rehabilitation “Pink Street” project in 2011, everything has changed for good. The edginess and decadence on which Lisbon thrives still remains and is highlighted by dominant pink pavement, used on the entire street. Live music venues, burlesque clubs and tapas bars began to pop up with astonishing frequency, and soon thereafter, Cais do Sodré had upstaged Bairro Alto as Lisbon's most happening nightlife district.

We finally arrived at our place for lunch: Macado De Ribeira. The now indoor food market's roots can be traced back to the 13th century, and it was once one of the most famous fish markets in Europe. Many of its traders have been selling fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and flowers there for decades and now brings together some of the city’s most loved names in food and drink. I picked Café de São Bento: generally acknowledged to have the city’s best sirloin steak. It was delicious!

After lunch, we hopped on a train and headed down to the Belem area of Lisbon. Here we walked along the avenue and go to see the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Statue built in 1940 to mark 500 years since Henry the Navigator's death); the Belem Tower (Landmark medieval fortified tower on tiny river island with rooftop terrace offering estuary views); and Jerónimos Monastery (Late Gothic Manueline-style monastery housing an archaeology & maritime museums in its wings).

Finally...arriving at our dessert destination: Pastéis de Belém: the only true 'Pasteis de Belém' contrive, by means of a scrupulous selection of ingredients, to offer even today the flavour of the time-honored "secret recipe" Portuguese sweetmaking. The natas (Portuguese custard tart) were lip-smacking good!! Learn more: www.pasteisdebelem.pt/history_EN.pdf

PS: We're gonna weight 300 pounds when we return from this trip!!!!

Afterwards, being too full of food and dessert to walk, we took a cab up to Rossio Square: created in the Middle Ages, it is the most lively and beautiul square in Lisbon. It is adorned by the Statue of Dom Pedro IV, two monumental Baroque fountains ( In 1889) , National Theater, and Rossio Station (Lisbon's central railway built in 1887).

And did I mention the Portuguese Pavement in Lisbon!?!?! It's incredible! I can't describe the whole thing, but you should definitely read about it here:
http://www.thebarefootnomad.com/europe/portugue…
You can see it in alot of my pictures. Just amazing...and it's EVERYWHERE!

It's been a long day...Goodnight Lisbon.

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