Heading Up In The World's Only Mass Transit Elevator

On my way to the top ... in the Elevador de Santa Justa

Name all the places in the world where an actual working elevator is part of the city's mass transit system.

I believe Lisbon is it.  Come with me and ride the Elevador de Santa Justa.

But, first, trolleys!

The Baixa neighborhood is teeming with trolleys.

And other vehicles.

This afternoon was walk over to the Baixa neighborhood, the main purpose being the opportunity, the pleasure, the experience of riding a mass transit elevator.  There were some nice buildings en route.

Not only do I not know what that building is, I couldn't place on a map.  So if I said what it is, I would be lying.

See.  There are other forms of transportation in Lisbon besides trolleys.  The above pictures depicts three.  The little red tourist tuk-tuk.  A city bus.  And do you see the third?  Right there in foreground, the Restauradores metro stop.  The Lisbon Metro, by the way, does not stop in the Alfama neighborhood where I'm staying.  Because it's just too dang hilly.

This is the Monumento dos Restauradores:

Admit it.  In your mind, you translated "Monumento dos Restauradores" as "Monument to the Restaurants."  Or "Restaurateurs."  It's neither.  It's "Monument to the Restorers," a monument to those who bravely fought to RESTORE Portuguese rule from the Spaniards in 1640.

Rating an even bigger plaza is Dom Pedro IV:

That's Dom Pedro himself atop the column in Praca Dom Pedro IV.  Here's a picture of people taking pictures:

And just a half block down from Praca Dom Pedro IV is the Holy Grail of today's walking adventure:  Elevador de Santa Justa.  The only elevator that is part of an urban mass transit transit system.

The Santa Justa Lift was built in the early years of the last century by Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, a disciple of Gustave Eiffel.  It connects the lower land of Lisbon's aptly named "Baixa" neighborhood with the higher grounds of Lisbon's Largo de Carmo neighborhood.

The cars definitely have that "turn of the previous century" feel to them:

It took longer for the elevator operator to sell the tickets and make the change for the ride to the top than it did to ride to the top.  Soon we were on the lower observation deck.

Or, as Acrophobic Me would like to call, the non-scary level:

See all that nice protective mesh keeping up from falling a few hundred feet down to sure death!

Now compare/contrast with the upper observation deck:

It's open air.  I look cucumber cool in this selfie-portrait:

But that's because I've strategically positioned myself in the center of the deck, far far from the dangerous edge that would cause me to fall more than a hundred feet to my early death if I were to get within three feet of that edge.

I'm much more apprehensive-looking in this selfie-portrait.  Because I'm closer to the edge.

From there it was a short walk over to the Largo do Carmo neighborhood.  It's got an aechaeology museum:

And it's got a gazebo.  All cool neighborhoods have gazebos.

Actually, it's not just a gazebo.  It's the Chafariz do Carmo.  The Fountain of Carmo.

Then, after walking through the upscale shopping neighborhood Chiado -- you know me, I'm all about the upscale shopping -- it was time to walk along the waters of Taguas esstuary.

This is Praça do Comércio, which translates to the mundane "Commercial Plaza."

In the center of Praça do Comércio is this statute of Dom Pedro.  We already met Dom Pedro IV before getting onto the Santa Justa Lift.  Here, waterside, is the original Dom Pedro.  Dom Pedro I.

Accept no imitation Dom Pedros.

By this time, it started getting dusky.

In the above shot, looking westward down Avenida Ribeira das Naus, you can spy the Ponte 25 de Abril, remained because it had been named for the dictator Salazar, a dead ringer for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and, speaking of dead ringers, Portugal's own version of Rio de Janeiro's Christ The Redeemer, suburban Almada's Santuario Nacional de Cristo Rei.

And these are the Cais das Colunas:

Translation:  the Pier of Columns.  It's supposed to look Venetian.  Referencing the Italian city, not the Las Vegas casino, I should add.

The purpose is to walk out of the water into the heart of Lisbon.  Trez Venetian, so they say.

And do by As Cais das Colunas was a band playing.

They were quite good, doing their version of Brazilian music.

Time to eat.  Back to Casa da Tia Helena.  This time I had "Meat and Peppers" for my appetizer.

I presume the meat was Portuguese sausage but, sometimes, when you are traveling abroad, it's best not to ask what meat the meat is.  And for main course?

What Bruno at the hotel front desk said I should have gotten when I told him I had eaten at Casa da Tia Helena.  Arroz com polvo.  Rice with octopus, a.k.a., Octopus risotto.  Mmmmmm.  Octopussy,

And for dessert?  Doce da casa.  Sweet of the house.  A chocolate mousse with a white cream sauce mixed in to cut the bittersweet intensity of the chocolate mousse.