First Full Day in Lisbon - Portugese Diary

Did sleep late this morning after our night at Rock in Lisboa Festival at the Buena Vista Park.  We had decided for our first morning to go for breakfast to the Hotel Santiago where we enjoyed sitting last September, but by the time we walked round there breakfast had finished so we had a pastry and coffee instead and a chat with the lovely waitress who had lived in East London for 20 years and was now back living just outside Lisbon.  Gillian was joining us today, later on around 4pm, so we wandered down to the Praca do Comercio, a lovely big square open on one side overlook the mighty River Tegus.  It's a buzzing place with music playing, and lots of lovely Cafes which after sitting riverside, decided to  find a nice Cafe for lunch.  We checked with the Zuzabed App which we used last year and their recommendation was the Cafe Populi and there was a table spare luckily under a brolly.  The food sure was delicious and it was interesting listening to an upmarket Stag do in the Cafe next to us the guy in charge giving them instructions of what to do and what not to do.....

I saw on my Flightradar App that Gillian's plane had touched down from Berlin so we finished up at the Cafe, great for people watching and sheltering from the hot sun (it was 30 today!).  We walked to her Hotel Lis and sat in the reception to wait for her coming down.  She had sent a text already saying that she was in a tiny room for disabled people, Room 101 no less!  It was dark and the window overlook a rooftop...  We saw her walking down the stairs but she totally didn't see us and headed to reception to complain about the room.  Very politely I may add.  But the hotel was completely full and she wasn't able to get another room until Sunday!!  She brought us up to look at it and it was tiny with this orange string around the bottom (for a disabled/drunk person to pull if they fell) and the bed was tiny too...

We decided to get out and about to put the disappointment behind her and get on with the holiday!  She needed some deodorant so that was sorted out and we went back to the Populi Cafe to have a good old chinwag as it's been ages since we saw her (Berlin last March)! 

Afterwards, we went out separate ways to freshen up before heading out for our tea.  We picked her up at her hotel and walked uphill, up lots of steps to the edge of the Rossio area to a restarant we were at last year called Babette.  The waiter Carlos advised us of what to eat - which we did enjoy very much!  The English girl at the next table was totally wasted and started being so annoying roaring in a loud voice for the people in the next restaurant down the hill to hear.   Annoying!

We were all really tired so walked back to G's hotel and then us a further 15 mins away in Alfama.  Zonked!