Lisbon, Day 2.

Blech, jet lag sucks. I haven't been able to sleep for more than 2-4 hours a night for the past four days now. 'Till when is this going to last?

Lack of sleep of course does nothing to invigorate one's energy levels, so spent most of the day catching up on errands, phone calls, emails, etc. Oh, by the way, I finally got me my very first ever mobile phone (a spiffy Nokia 6030--dual band with web browser, instant messaging and all that good stuff, cool huh?)! If you'd like to contact me, send me an email, and I'll forward you the number (just mind the time difference).

In the evening, I strolled to the river and wandered about another section of Bairro Alto before settling for a delicious albeit rather salty grilled sardine dinner near Chiado (note to self: if the fish you're served isn't gutted, avoid eating the insides. They're exceedingly bitter and rather unpleasant). Remembered it is supposed to be Easter week here, so good excuse to sample all the richly-varied seafood dishes of the city. While you wait, they come by with bread and little apetizer thingies, like cheese, or fish patè. The Patè de Atun was quite good, a bit like the vitello tonnato sauce, but without the capers and maionaise flavor, and a tiny bit more "livery". Need to try the sardine patè next time.

By the way, it seems that the "blend in with the locals" project is going along just peachy. Why, this afternoon a couple asked me, in perfect Portuguese, for directions. To which I replied, in perfect Portuñol (i.e. half Spanish, half my guess as to what Portuguese ought to sound like), that I was a tourist and had no idea whatsoever (by then I had aready ditched the maps, and I had a very, very vague notion of where I was located, let alone where the people who asked were going).

Oh, and remember I told you the Portuguese drive on the left side here? Well, no, actually, they drive on the right. They only drive on the left side on some 2-way streets but not others (the one right behind the Youth Hostel in particular), but as to how they know this in advance or what system exists to bequeath said streets with this unusual privilege is something I've not yet been able to discover.

Anyway, pictures here.