After a very late night, my 10:45 alarm got me up just in time for the last of the 8-11 homemade breakfast. I went for the crepes with Nutella, along with toast, cereal, and juice. A killer start to the day!

My goal for the day was to go for a long walk and check out all the cool views that Lisbon has to offer. Unlike Manchester, Lisbon is ripe with amazing viewpoints, both natural (hilltops and valleys), and man-made (buildings and towers.)

One of the hostel staff members was super helpful, explaining to me the history of the city, and the 1750’s earthquake that knocked out most of the town, save the Alfama area which used to belong to the Moors and lower class. When the city was rebuilt, it was more grid like, and business friendly.

I started just south of the hostel at Lisbon’s Arc of Triumph, paid by €2.50 and headed to the top. The view of Rua Agusta was great, as was the view of the main square full of Euro 2016 garb.

 

Next I walked through the Alfama area. It was a beautiful area to get totally lost in. Lots of small streets to walk through from a time before cars existed. Clothes were drying on lines all over the neighborhood.

Over the next 4 hours I stopped at Socorro, Anjos, Penha de Franca, Amalia Rodrigues Garden, Parque Eduardo VII, Marques de Pombal Square, and Encarnacao. The walk was amazing (I’m excited to see how many steps I took when I wake up tomorrow), and the views were equally spectacular.

Toward the end of the walk I recorded a couple of videos for the AFN final 4 – currently Lauren, Kate, Johnny, Tom, and Jeff. One will lose week 9 and the final 4 will see our encouragement videos. My video from “Seattle” had interesting non-descript European backgrounds and I was wearing the same backpack and clothes for the show – whatever, it’ll be fun to let folks know well after the fact come November or December of my actual whereabouts. Here’s hoping Kate makes the final 4 so she can see my video, but more so because she’s my Ballard/Seattle connection who is so excited about this experience in Norway.

(After the fact talking with Kate she told me, “Yeah when I saw that video it didn’t exactly look like you were in Seattle!)

Back at the hostel I sent my video’s to the Monster folks and checked out Sintra where I’ll be going tomorrow.

Off to bed now – bus leaves for Sintra and a few other spots in just under 8 hours!

 

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