The Portuguese came to Australia, long before the Dutch and English. They were great seafarers and visiting Lisbon and it’s major waterway, I can understand why.

The weather has been perfect for walking. Yesterday we walked to Belem, near the mouth of the river where Vasco da Gama, amongst others, sailed forth into parts unknown. There is a fabulous red bridge, similar to San Francisco’s and looking over the city is a huge statue of Jesus.

There is graffiti everywhere! some of it is beautiful. Evidently the council just gave up and decided to embrace it…in my opinion the city looks very messy, as a lot of the graffiti is just tags…not very exciting!

Lisbon is built on a number of hills, so there are steep and narrow streets to explore. There are also trams (elevadores) which take people up and down the streets…but it seemed to be mostly tourists. We walked up the stairs…slowly, slowly!

There are hundreds of young people around. Drinking in the street and parks is the norm. On Friday, when we arrived there were so many people just hanging about, enjoying themselves after work.

This is another place where most people don’t eat until late! We have found that quite a challenge!