Plucky Survivors See Europe Day 57: Lisbon

It was a beautiful morning, so I headed out fairly early to explore the city by visiting some of the lesser-known attractions and museums in Lisbon.

I started with Quake, an interactive, multi-media “experience” that examines the 1755 earthquake, tsunami, and fires that pretty much destroyed Lisbon.  Up until that point, the city was one of the most important in Europe, perfectly positioned for shipping and trade with riches pouring in from all points of the globe.

The earthquake, which is estimated to have been at least a 7.7 on the Richter Scale, hit on November 1, the Feast of All Saints Day.  This is important because people had lit candles pretty much everywhere to honor the saints and when the quake hit, Lisbon went up in flames.

The Quake experience is very well done.  It’s got lots of scientific information presented in a hands-on way, a history of other major quakes (San Francisco and Fukushima, specifically) and some “adventure” elements in that you are asked by a scientist to retrieve some important papers and then “sent back in time” to do so.  There are immersive rooms that explain what Lisbon was like before, during, and after the quake.  And there are things that shake you – hard.  Warning, the church pews they have you sit in to “experience” the quake are not very forgiving on the back.

The problem is that it is very structured.  You go into a room to do things in a prescribed amount of time – 10 or 15 minutes – and if you do the things (or aren’t interested in doing the things) in that room before that amount of time is up, you have to stand around and wait for the doors to open to the next room.  The entire thing took about 90 minutes, but it felt longer because I read and absorb info quickly, so I was standing around a lot.

Right next door is a museum dedicated to carriages, but I decided to skip that one and go to MAAT, the Museum of Art, Architecture, and Technology.

Before I went inside, I went to check out the dramatic viewing platform next to the museum that offered some pretty incredible vistas of the river, the big bridge, the port, and the city.

MAAT is located in an old industrial power plant right on the river and is a mixture of, well, art, architecture, and technology so they named it well.  A lot of the art on display has some sort of interactivity or tech angle to it.  For instance there is a rotating metal carousel of ceramic dogs that you can make move and then crash into each other, breaking them in the process. 

A big chunk of the facility is dedicated to the power plant part of things, so you can wander around and see how they made Lisbon run for a time.   There are also gardens and a separate art gallery.

It’s a big, lovely, well-run facility but it felt a little sterile and cold to me.  After the drama of the Volklingen Iron Works exhibits, this just didn’t move me the way I wanted it to.

From there I walked entirely too far.  I wasn’t paying attention to the distance when I started walking and by the time I figured out my error, it would’ve been too embarrassing to call and Uber so I was committed.   I had a bit of a fever dream realization on the way… historic town, river, tall bridge, port, former power plant turned into something else, and an ugly ass Hyatt Regency that doesn’t fit in with any of the building around it.  Someone tell Mayor Van to get on the horn because I think Savannah just found itself a sister city.

My destination was LX Factory, a 19th-century textile plant and other industrial buildings right by the bridge that have been transformed into a hip creative playground with galleries, boutiques, shops, record stores, book stores, tattoo parlors, bars, and restaurants.  It’s really cool and funky in the best possible way.

I explored some of the stores and was tempted to buy things but then remembered that my suitcases already weight 11,000 pounds, so I restrained myself. 

I did get lunch at a little Mexican joint called Restaurante Ni Michi Cocina Latina.  I had a cheese empanada, a chicken empanada, and a chicken quesadilla.  The empanadas were very good but the quesadilla was fantastic – tender, shredded chicken and loads of cheese with the entire thing sitting in a bowl of melted cheese.  As someone who is often stunned by the scarcity of cheese in restaurant quesadillas, I considered this to be nothing short of genius.  They deserve an award.

I explored LX Factory some more and almost performed a rescue mission.  I was walking past a tattoo parlor when a young American man said to his young, presumably American, girlfriend, “let’s go get matching tattoos.”  He was totally serious and started pulling her that direction.  She was clearly days away from giving him a harsh lesson in reality about why matching tattoos are a terrible idea.

She looked right at me and I said, “I’ll create a distraction and you run.”  She laughed but didn’t take m up on the offer.

After exploring LX Factory some more, it was well into the afternoon, it was hot as balls, and I was tired of walking up and down hills so I took an Uber back to the hotel, collected by dirty clothes, and walked up a hill to a laundromat.  Clearly didn’t think that one through.

The place was tiny – four washers and three dryers – and there were a couple of employees of some nearby hotel in there washing guest towels… hundreds of them.  The washing part was quick, but I had to wait a long time for a dryer because they were using all three of them.

One interesting note… when I had my first trip to a laundromat in Berlin, I was totally lost and got instruction from one of the other patrons.   I have now done enough laundry in enough laundromats in European cities that I am the guy that helps people.  I walked one young American woman through the process and helped a French couple understand the payment system.

The American girl was from San Francisco, had just arrived in Lisbon because “my friends told me come,” hated the food, was staying in a hostel because she has been out of work for a year and a half, and told me I need to visit Asia.  “There are some really cheap hostels there,” she said.  “My idea of a hostel is a hotel without a rooftop pool,” I replied.

Laundry complete, I walked back down to the Chaido district for dinner and was shocked how crowded it was on a Monday night.  There were lights at most of the restaurants but I found Tacho de Lisboa, which had a table available (should’ve been my first clue) and an eclectic menu.

I started with a samosa, flaky crust with curry, and then had Alheira frita, what I thought was going to be Portuguese sausage with egg and rice.  It was that, sort of, but the sausage casing was bread that was lightly fried.  It was… different.  But hey, at least I’m trying new things.

It was a beautiful warm night, so I took another walk up another hill to the top of Eduardo VII park, which had a pretty stunning nighttime view of the city.

I then walked all the way back down – a total of 8.75 miles and 9 flights of stairs today.

Tomorrow, I plan on storming the castle.  And by storming I mean calling an Uber to take me up the hill.