Another beautiful day in Lisbon…a few clouds may cool things down a bit.
Another nice breakfast – though predictable – at the hotel buffet. I got the scrambled eggs when they were fresh. Today, there were chocolate donuts on the buffet – special. The solution to the coffee is simple – just get the cappuccino.
After yesterday’s marathon journey, the plan today is much more conservative – a short walk in the other direction to the Saldanha Neighborhood in search of the shopping malls and ultimately, a nice place for dinner. This walk took us past the Supermarket and to the “Radio Burger” Restaurant.
Radio Burger Restaurant
The menu had pizza and salads and we decided we would return here for dinner later.
We continued up the hill through a construction area and emerged at the Praca Duque de Saldanha located at the Avenida de Republica. The Duke’s statue adorned the center of the Praca.
Avenida de Republica
Praca Duque de Saldanha
Surrounding the Praca were two Shopping Malls, one of which was the Saldanha Mall. The mall had a food court but the venue was hot and the food expensive and unappetizing. Down the Avenida was a McDonalds – the first we have come across in Lisbon – and a quick look at the menu revealed that the Fish Sandwich was about 5 Euros and the Cono was 1.60 Euros. The McDs looked brand new and had a very nice McCafe section. You could also use a kiosk to order your food, pay for it, and pick it up at the counter (like Jason’s Deli back home).
We also came across a pet store that sold the usual animals but also sold chickens for 45 Euros – these chickens better be laying golden eggs for that price.
Pet Chickens for Sale
We returned to the hotel where I had to finish up some business for our next cruise – I was able to take care of everything using my smartphone because my T-Mobile plan now offered free international texting and data.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in the lobby of the hotel, where the chairs are comfortable and there are plugs.
At 5 PM, we started out for the Radio Burger for our much anticipated Pizza and Salads. After sitting down and going over the menu with the waiter, he informed us that they only served burgers between 4 and 7 PM and that the rest of the menu would be available at 7 PM if we wanted to come back. Seriously?
Our best bet now would be a restaurant in the Saldanha area. Looking down the side streets off the Avenida de Republica,we could see plenty of restaurants.
Side Street in Saldanha
After a few blocks of finding nothing and asking people in local shops where pizza might be found, we actually stumbled on what looked to be a bona fide Italian Restaurant – the Ristorante Italiano Lisbona.
There weren’t a lot of diners so smoking wouldn’t be a problem so we ate Al Fresco.
We ordered Salad Mista (lots of different veggies including corn), Spinach Salad (turned out to be sautéed spinach), pizza marguerita, and pasta with salmon in cream sauce, and a small beer.
Our Dinner
The dinner was terrific – everything was perfect even the strange (but good) spinach salad – the total tab ran 28 Euros and we took half of it home for lunch the next day.
It was dark when we headed home – there were lots of people out and it was still warm.
Tomorrow, we start our cruise.
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