Portugal - Day 11
September 18, 2025: Today we had a few special things planned: 1) Take the famous Tram 28 to Campo de Ourique Market; 2) Follow the footsteps of Phil Rosenthal from the 2018 Lisbon episode of Somebody Feed Phil and visit the São Bento area where they have three restaurants one corner he visited - Wurst, Nannarella. and La Pizza di Nanna; 3) Take a Sunset & Wine Catamaran Cruise on the Tagus River.
The Tram ride was packed! It is very popular for tourists and is also used by locals to get up the steep hills. We got to Campo de Ourique Market as it was just starting to open up. Many of the stalls were still closed and most of the stalls were fresh fish, fresh fruit and other produce. There wasn’t anything we really needed and it was too early for lunch so we headed to the Basilica of Estrela and Jardim da Estrela (Basilica and Garden). We got tickets to go to the roof of the Basilicia and were able to walk around on top and get some great views and pictures of the city. Then we walked through the beautiful garden and stopped at a coffee shop. Next up was heading to our Somebody Feed Phil stops. First we went to Wurst. The woman working there was great. She said they get many visitors who have seen the episode and like us, stop in because of it. She told us about the owner who is from Austria and the sausages. She is actually from Brazil. She helped us select what to try and Jimm even got some sauerkraut. The sausage had cheese inside and it was so delicious. Then we headed across the street to La PIzza di Nanna. The kid working there was not so excited to interact with us. I think he has also heard the story many times. They sell pizza by the gram, so we selected some to try. They were good, not great but we still enjoyed trying them. Finally, we went to Nannarella for some ice cream. I had the salted caramel and bourbon vanilla (both perfection) while Jimm had the coffee and tiramisu. We got them in cones so we could walk and eat. We heard we should walk through the Bairro Alto streets to see the street art and cools shops. We didn’t really see much street art, but the architecture was very interesting. It is one of the older areas of the city that was not destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami in 1755 because it is located on higher ground. The great Lisbon earthquake of November 1st, 1755 was an estimated magnitude of 8.5-9.0 and was the most destructive earthquake in European history. In combination with subsequent fires and a tsunami, the earthquake almost completely destroyed Lisbon.
After our walk about, we arrived back at our apartment and got ready for our boat trip. I booked it through Viator which is know for its quality tours. We had to take a train to the meeting location. We ended up on the boat with 5 other couples and there was plenty of room to move around the huge luxury catamaran we were on. Jimm and I ended up sitting on the roof of the boat where they had sun beds. It was perfect for watching the sunset! We were able to get so many beautiful shots of the coastline, sunset and bridge. The wine was flowing. Bruno, our host, made sure our glasses were never empty. They served us a little snack of crackers, salami and cheese about halfway through our journey. It was a two-hour cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I would highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in Lisbon!
After getting off the boat, we stopped back at Time Out Market and found a pasta bar for dinner. They make it right in front of you and it was really good. Exactly what we needed. We took the tram back toward our apartment and then made the short walk from tram stop. I think it was the first night we were up until 11:00pm. An exhausting but wonderful Day 11!