There is a train strike in Portugal. Any plans to venture out of Lisbon are on hold. Because we are in town for a month, we don’t feel much pressure. The day will unfold as it will. We take the metro to Restauradores and try to find Foz Palace. From the outside it looks like any other building so we keep walking to the Ascensor Gloria. The little funicular is covered in graffiti. We board and await the ascent up a hill that seems to go on forever. It is fun to look down the steep incline behind us.

We arrive at the Miradouro Sao Pedro de Alacantara. It is a beautiful little park with breathtaking views of the city. I smile immediately when I notice a man playing and accordion with a dog sitting on his head. The dog clearly likes to climb. He lives in the right place. There will always be hills to climb in Lisbon. A local artist shouts that I should get a job because I seem too happy. I answer, “retirement is a beautiful thing.” I could not tell is she was joking, but it made me laugh. Children nearby are playing in the fountain and laughing. I add my laughter to theirs and am thankful for my life.

After some time spent sightseeing from the Miradouro, we decide to walk downhill to the Igreja Sao Roque. The church and museum are full of treasures. The church was built and dedicated to Saint Roche in the reign of King Manuel I. He thought having a relic and church dedicated to Saint Roche would protect the city from the plague. Over the years, the society of Jesus used the campus as a headquarters. Today it houses an impressive collection of religious art and artifacts. I sit in the church and feel at peace. My eyes roam the ceiling and the walls. The chapel of John the Baptist is ornate, but I love the painted ceilings. I stare upward while saying my prayers.

We enter the museum to find unexpected delights. Paintings and silver work are here, but also relics and statues. A glass case claims to hold a thorn from the crown of Christ. There are finger bones of Saints and dresses for baby Jesus.

Just when we think there can’t be any gold or silver left to see, we encounter more opulence. We take our time. We have nowhere to be.

I decide I want to visit the Jardim Botanical managed by the University of Lisbon. We walk through hip neighborhoods, past the park and the artists selling their wares. When we reach the garden, my husband rebels. He has had enough of aimless walking. He wants no part of another hike. He decides he wants to sit and watch people. I buy my tickets and press on alone.

After a quarter mile, I am glad he didn’t come. The garden is wild and unkempt. The terrain is difficult and steep. There are plenty of hills to climb. The garden is built on a hillside and is accessible only by stairs and impossibly steep paths which sometimes lead to dead ends. Twice I have to circle back because the pathways are closed due to fallen trees. While I am glad I came, I do not linger.

I check in with my guy, but he is happily playing word games on his phone. So I head off to the Museum of Science. The historic laboratory transports me to another time. The adjacent lecture hall is straight out of movie. I imagine Dr. Jekyll or Sherlock Holmes sitting beside me. I thrill at ancient telescopes and am a little saddened by the stuffed animals in the collections. I climb stairs and giggle that an exhibit on the landscapes of Portugal requires me to climb an artificial hill within the building.

I make energy waves with my hands and watch sea life on camera. I encounter extinct animals like a triceratops and a giant Moa. I study Medicinal plants and terra cotta warriors. At some point I realize that my feet are numb and my heart is full. I have climbed enough hills for one day.

I collect my husband from the park and we take the tram to the river. We still need to walk home through Alfama. The haunting sound of fado drifts through the twilight. I am a little slower on the stairs tonight. The last hill before home seems the steepest…and the sweetest.