52 Weeks, 52 Half Marathons - Stage 18
Lisbon - Downtown-Uptown
Saturday, May 18, 6:12 AM
I just heard on the news that this year, Portugal is bound to break the record for the number of incoming tourists. This comes as a surprise to me, as I did not think we could have more tourists than what we have been having. I feel like a stranger in my own home.
All are welcome, the Portuguese are know for being good hosts, and today my plan was to become a tourist guide in the most touristic spots of Lisbon.
I am also trying not to repeat myself, in routes, and writing. Writing is hard (but fun).
For a change, today I start from the top, Amoreiras, again, with my Dallas landscape behind my back I head for the fine neighborhood of Campo de Ourique.
This time of the year is becoming my favorite, there is daylight around 5:50 AM, perfect for doubling my days. Another bonus from my runs, is getting to learn a lot about the geography, road names, and history of the city. I am just about ready to become a local taxi driver with no GPS - London style.
Campo de Ourique was approved for construction in 1878, and I read on a blog post someone calling it “the most beautiful village in the city”. That’s nice.
The sidewalks are good for running, but, I preferred to glide down the rails for a while and enjoy a rare view of the empty street. There are plenty of local unique stores that make it extremely agreeable for living and working. Everything seems to be within walking distance, even more, if you are running.
The local market has been given a new life with many restaurants attracting visitors and locals. I am always hungry, I wonder why, and can’t stop from drooling for a tasty meal as I run by.
I looped around the interesting church square at end of the first mile (I am writing for the US tourists today) and follow the rails down to Jardim da Estrela. I am keeping a lively pace without much of an effort, saving my energies for the challenges ahead.
Arriving at Basilíca da Estrela is a stunning view.
I had hopes to run inside the Jardim da Estrela but it was too early, they did not want me to wake up the local birds. I managed to get a shot between the entry gate bars, it looks gorgeous.
Not a tourist in sight, not a local in sight, my city. I dive down to the parliament area, this is old Lisbon, following my way to the visitor’s hotspot. The postcard trams are running empty, but my tank is still full, and I am looking forward to planting some flags around some Instagram spots.
It was a good dive to the S. Bento street where we start the first climb of the day, which, coming from the castle ascent, is a piece of cake (I shall swallow-back those words later on). The road ends at Largo do Rato and from there we take the Rua da Escola Politécnica on our way to the crowds.
These have been the easiest 2.5 miles of any my runs so far. Running on these empty streets is borderline creepy, my running shoes model name is Ghost, appropriate.
Príncipe real is a little square with a garden that rotates a number of markets of all kinds. In the area, there are also some interesting stores, and restaurants, as we are at the edge of nightlife mad-town quarter, Bairro Alto.
From now on, we will going through the punch list of every Lisbon tour guide. The road is uneven, and so is the narrow sidewalk. We fly down rua da Misericórdia to get to the first item on the guide - Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara. Arriving, as planned, at sunrise, it is quite a spectacle. I fire some shots at the castle almost conquered last week. It fights back, breathtaking the runner.
The place is also a spot for occasional street sales and all kinds of tourist souvenirs. Now that I think of it, it is strange that a single couple was sitting at the benches enjoying the sunrise. I own the city but I don’t mind sharing the moments, please come!
We run by the top of elevador da Glória, and to avoid overlap with a previous route, we detour into madtown quarter, Bairro Alto. This is where all the action takes place at night, and this early in the morning one can tell, the Bourbon Street scent. Not the best air to inhale this early in the morning. My sense of smell is particularly good early in the morning, not helpful. Thankfully I am going down.
The streets in Bairro Alto are appropriately arranged in an slightly drunken grid. I pick some random streets to take me down to Largo de Camões where I finally find the first tourists of the day - drunk. I am flying on a runner’s high, a totally different kind of drunk.
We keep heading down to the tourist peak, Chiado, a different kind of climb for a change. On our punch list, we have the statue of Fernando Pessoa, the bookstore Bertrand (the oldest in te world), and many other buildings and stores for all kinds of taste. Interestingly the lack of people makes the place look a lot smaller.
We keep sliding down the empty slopes. From Chiado we make the mandatory left turn into Rua do Carmo, it feels like I am living in a surreal dream. Lisbon is pampering me today with these easy descents, exhibiting all it’s jewels for my eyes only. Eiffel-inspired Elevador de Santa Justa is alone, I can pick whichever angle I want to shoot it, today I am spoiled, an only child.
We roll down the street to Praça do Rossio, high, on all the lists. It’s hard to capture a good photo on the move, and I immediately take the busiest street of them all, Rua Augusta. A monumental tourist trap, mostly in a good way, that goes all the way to the river. We are now running on flat ground and set target on the marvelous Arch of Rua Augusta. I could not ask for better conditions to capture the moment. I collected a nice sequence.
It’s still early in the game, we are only at the mile 4.5, but we have to take a peek by the riverside, to observe the morning light shining on the bridge.
We have been getting all the trophies for free, Lisbon is calling a truce, after last week’s assault on the Castle. It’s now time to work hard, and we will have to climb back to get those miles for the rewards. I had my eyes on one of favorite’s streets, Calçada de São Francisco.
I love the curved buildings following the street upwards. It’s approximately 500m of climbing, at a decent rate, that I honestly did not feel, infatuated with the scenery. We run by Faculdade de Belas Artes from the Lisbon University, that holds a special place in my family. My wife, my sister and my older daughter got their degrees.
Time to puff our way to the Opera, Teatro de São Carlos, where the local connoisseurs congregate.
Hold that pace on vibrato, we still have to scale further up to Largo do Carmo. It’s time to find a backroad to an encore, Elevador de Santa Justa. It is possible to get to the top of the Elevator without waiting on the lines down below. I fire one last shot at the Castle, and hit the bull’s eye, as the sun explodes behind the fortress walls. Pure luck.
It’s not even halfway, everything went too fast, but the cherry is around the corner. Time to go down at 15% to collect the miles from the Lisbon loyalty program. Calçada do Carmo ends by a back door to Estação do Rossio, where our gift begins…
Welcome to Calçada do Duque, the human version of Elevador da Glória. I drool, and start counting steps. The steps are well sized for running up. I counted 240 steps.
As I was reaching the top, air became thin, the Sherpas forgot to warn me about bringing oxygen tanks, counting became harder. Later I checked and 240 is about right.
Unbelievable, my legs were shaking weak at the top. It was glorious!
Time for another incursion into Bairro Alto, we have to earn back the miles we just used.
We go to a lower altitude to access richer air, so that we can run along the complete Rua de o Século, bottom to top, back to Príncipe Real. A feisty climb, ~300m @ ~10%.
We have at last reached halfway, 6.6 miles at the top. I navigate down some unwanted stairs, the kind with steps that are too small, and run downhill to Praça da Alegria, what a pleasant surprise.
We are now in roller-coaster mode, and the next 1.25 miles are a long climb, starting at 10% and then easing out to 5%. It goes along two well known streets, Rua do Salitre, and then the famous Rua Castilho, known for fine hotels, and more recently for a kerfuffle with a house from Cristiano Ronaldo. It’s a wide road that goes along the majestic Parque Eduardo VII.
The road is embellished by Jacaranda trees, hard to capture the beauty with the phone while running. It’s still early, the top is at mile 8.5, we can “rest” those legs before going down to Bairro Azul. We run by the Palácio da Justiça, a major judicial complex in Lisbon. Hardly a palace, and not so sure that so much justice comes out of it either.
Bairro azul is a fine residential neighborhood, and like other fine ones in Lisbon, the pre-requisite is that it lays below the approach path from airplanes. Finally, this week, they have decided on the location of the new airport outside of town, 10 to 15 years from now…
Next on our list is a wide loop around the Lisbon Zoo at mile 10. We go through Praça de Espanha, again a nice surprise with bike lanes and lots of green areas. So much has gone by that I find it hard to believe that the long loop is just 3 miles.
The fact that I have doubts about the distance is not a good presage, and shows how important our mindset is during running. In reality, I know in advance that the next section is not at all comparable to the stupendous tourism of the first 10 miles. The long streets of Rua das Laranjeiras followed by Estrada da Luz don’t catch my attention and that shows in my pace. It’s an easy route and I struggle. Amazing.
The route is moderately flat with good sidewalks for running, there’s not much to be seen from the Zoo. I hope all predators are well secured inside, I am too battered to escape. There are a couple of interesting skyscrapers on the way back
Unexpectedly, it starts to rain and ruins my hopes of catching a nice picture of the aqueduct. The last mile is going to be a long climb.
Arriving with the rain enhances the feeling that a full day has gone by since the beginning of the run. I have been doing my runs at a moderate pace, close to 6:00 per km (9:40 per mile) to try and stay injury free throughout the year. The abrupt change in the weather conditions makes me feel that I arrived on a different day.
Still, this run was fabulous.
Enjoy your runs!
-APF
PS: On the day after I tempered my body with a nice MTB ride in Sintra, again. Sintra is absolutely gorgeous
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Lovely ride with wow pictures and inspiring writing :)