Tuesday 16th July 2024

Woke around 0800…dozed on for another hour before getting up and dressing. Made my way downstairs for breakfast. Nice airy room with open doors onto terrace at rear of hostel. Part buffet, with nice bread roll, cheese and cuts of meat, and part cooked to order…I had scrambled egg and mushrooms. Cafe au lait was good. Returned to my room for a shower. Walked into the city centre and sought out a cafe famous for their pastel da nata. Had a coffee (ordered a galoa, a kind of cafe au lait served in a glass) with it, standing at the narrow bar. The locals apparently consider this the best pastel de nata in town...I can attest that it was very good! Walked on down through the southern side of the city, initially following the famed No.28 tram route, then cutting across the north side of the Praca do Comercio, then walked along the riverside to Santa Apolonia railway station. Picked up a bottle of water on the way...it was getting hot. Plunged down into the Metro station, and travelled to Oriente, where Aki was due to arrive by train at around 1430. I found my way up out of the underground, and into the railway station concourse, built in time for the 1998 Expo...it's very modern looking, but the far end seemed to be populated by scores of homeless people. I escaped up to ground level, and found my way to a little cafe beneath a modern office block around the corner...our planned meeting point. Sat and had a coffee, but didn't fancy eating lunch there, so wandered across the road and found a self-service canteen. 

The lady behind the till pointed to the last of what looked like a croque madame, so I ordered that, and found a seat...when she brought it over she had added chips, and a beer based gravy. The cheese was flavourless, and the toasted bread soggy with gravy...it was most unpleasant, but I managed to get it down me. I sat at a table outside afterward, with a drink, and awaited Aki's appearance. She duly arrived, and ordered a drink...she looked well, despite having spent several days rowing down the River Douro. She showed me some photos of her trip...the locks they had had to pass through were enormous! We headed back down to the Metro station, and surfaced once more at the bottom of the Ascensor de Gloria...we stood there for about 20 minutes awaiting the funicular, but nothing turned up. 

We noticed a lot of people walking down...it turned out the funicular drivers were on a lightning strike...so we had t haul Aki's luggage up the steep cobbled street in 30C heat...we weren't happy. I booed the driver, still sat in his cab halfway up the hill. We got Aki settled into the room, then went up to the roof bar for our free welcome drink. Great view across to the castle on the eastern hill. Walked up to the little park at Principe Real and had a beer at another of the little stalls there...managed to find table and chairs. Decided to eat in the vicinity, having found a little traditional local tasca...wandered in and were immediately served with a round of baked cheese to share, with some thin slivers of toasted bread. Aki ordered the octopus for her main, and I went for the veal with rice and potatoes. It was OK...but didn't blow us away. Wandered back down through the Biarro Alto afterward, and on to the square in Baixa for the free concert. Got there at 2130, hoping we might be early enough to bag a seat, but it was already full...in fact the concert began at 2130, not 2200 as I'd been misinformed yesterday. We were surprised to see the 75-piece Gulbenkian Orchestra take to the stage...they performed some Portuguese contemporary classical music, which wasn't too exciting...we lasted about half-an-hour, then decided to head back up the hill to the hostel for a shower and bed...