Lisbon - a wonderful tone-up for the calves

The noise of a tram hurtling along beneath the window woke me at six (after 4 hours sleep). Feeling a tad hungover I reached for the paracetamol. Two and a half hours later waking again I felt slightly more human and pleased to see the sun streaming through the window and glinting on the estuary of the Rio Tejo in the distance.

Lisbon is built over seven hills - most of which we walked up (and down) yesterday. My calves feel taut and tender - fingers crossed for buns of steel after this trip!

A late breakfast in the apartment consisted of homemade fruit salad, bread rolls, cheese and tomatoes, then onto Castelo de São Jorge.  Annoyingly I lost my €7.50 ticket within minutes of buying it and had to purchase a replacement. The castle was just ruins, so not a huge amount to see - though we were pleased to spot another coordinated hair and handbag combo - this time in a tasteful rosewood tone.

Lunch on the terrace near the apartment was a simple affair of sangria, omelettes and sardines - though the cute little 'free' cheese that can with the bread turned out to be a hefty €4 each, on top of the cost of the bread itself.

Lunch was walked off with a brisk walk to Cais de Sodré station to catch the train to Belém - the home of the pastéis de nata. We queued up to enter Antiga Confeitaria de Belém, where they make a staggering 15,000 tarts a day - you can watch them at work in the kitchens and take photos though the windows of the quality control section. The bakery has been trading since1837 and the café can seat 2,000 but we took ours to eat in the park where the temperature nudged 30', whilst the tarts digested we dozed in the sun and read.

After a short nap back at the apartment we headed back to Baixa for spit-roasted chicken and fries at Bonjardim. The meal started well when we were offered a complimentary white port as an aperitif. We studiously ignored the goats cheese, having been caught out earlier but we couldn't resist the fish croquettes. The waiter took my order and then disappeared without asking the girls what they wanted - after much laughter and confusion we caught his attention and confirmed that food was on its way for all three of us. The meal was delicious and when the bill arrived it was less than €10 each - basically we had shared a single meal between three, though there was more than enough.

Lisbon on a Sunday night is not lively so after a further trek up and down hills, we were ensconced back in the apartment with a bottle of red and some olive oil crisps before 11pm.