Girl's Day Out.

Today we decided to have a girl's day out. Fernanda invited Vivian and I to spend the afternoon with her exploring her neighborhood, Santa Engracia as well as Graca and Alfama. We made our way to her place after stopping in to pick up an apple cake and were greeted with one of my favorite dishes, chicken stroganoff, Brasilian style. We enjoyed an afternoon cheers of Sagres and an after lunch Ginja which is a liquer made of ginja berries. Mmmmmmmm. Top that off with a cafezinho and some apple cake and we were ready to go. 

We made our way over to Graca where Fernanda showed us her favorite new miradouro (viewpoint) that she had just stumbled upon, Miradouro da Senhora do Monte. It was an absolutely stunning view of the city with views as far as the eye could see. We could even see the bridge which closely resembles the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco right next to their own statue of Christ which is modeled after O Cristo Redentor. We then started making our way down to one of their favorite neighborhoods, Alfama which of course became one of my favorite neighborhoods. It was really the essence of nooks and crannies with some alleyways where you could literally reach from one window to the other across the way. There were tons of little restaurants and cafeterias scattered and we even went looking for Maos de Tesoura (hands of scissors), a town barber who Fernanda says can be found in nicer weather, cutting hair outside in a town square. His only decorations? A chair, a mirror and a handmade sign. I have the impression that he will be one of my favorite things when I meet him and can't wait to get my hair cut but him! Alfama was also laced with oodles of places announcing Fado which is one of the must dos here. While it's sadder than sad, I can't imagine not sitting in on at least a handful of performances, though Fernanda had us cracking up when she told us that one performance she went to was so sad that she couldn't take it and had to walk out! Hahahahahhaha. Needless to say, girls day out was fantastical and I have met yet another part of the city to adore. Ate logo Lisboa!