All the Colors of the Rainbow in Portugal, Day 4

After breakfast where they served eggs in Amarillo (yellow) sauce, we boarded our coach to start our half day private tour of Lisbon. 

Once boarded I commented to our tour guide, Ainslie (adorable), that she had so many cute looks.  (Cue Aussie accent): “Everything I have is black. I generally go into the store and say, ‘Have you got anything blacker?’”

Our motor coach (smaller than a bus but bigger than a van) took the first right from our hotel street where we immediately encountered Jacaranda trees. These trees turn purple when they bloom. Our tour guide started singing Purple Rain in her sweet Portuguese accent.  

We then boarded the Yellow line on a Red streetcar to begin a private drive to some of the best (known) streets in the city. 

We traveled down the Street of the Pit of Blacks/Negros where the old Lisboans buried their slaves, a rather gruesome history. 

Our guide talked at length about how colorful the buildings are in Lisbon, so painted in order to take advantage of the artistic hues cast by the sunshine. 

She took us then to the neighborhood that used to be their ghetto where there was no heating and all the houses were in white stucco to keep the ambient temperature of the neighborhood cooler. 

Appropriately, we left our trolley to walk along Blue Street a top 5 street in Lisbon where she said one should imbibe the local green wine. 

It was the perfect amount of information and togetherness. We turned in our whispers (who else hates the whispers?) and immediately took off on our own—in other words, girl, you know it…

Color us gone.