24 February 2025
My wife and I flew down to Portugal on Saturday to spend the better part of the week in the Algarve with family (who came in from Canada and Switzerland), but first we wanted to get an initial ~48 hour taste of Lisboa (Lisbon). And, by taste, we do mean the food (see below) as our primary tourist activity. As a counterbalance to that focus, we racked up lots of steps traipsing the intricate Portuguese cobblestoned streets, up and down the many hills of this stunning city, taking in all the sights we could, such as the many murals large and small …
We didn’t go in the Banksy museum, but I thought the message outside was very appropo for Masters Swimmers.
Of course, I swam on Sunday morning at the Complexo Desportivo do Clube Nacional de Natação:
Being used to London's mongo-crowded public swims, I was a bit skeptical about all the comments on the Places2Swim that referenced it being "never crowded," but I found exactly the same experience after I paid my €10 entry fee and got on deck. It's a well-kept, tile-bottomed eight lane, 25 meter tank with a depth ranging from probably a bit more than a meter to easily two meters at the end with the starting blocks. Throughout my 3,500 meter workout, I split the lane for most of it, but did have about 20-25 minutes during my warmup where I had the lane to myself.
I have been wanting to try my 400 IM Test Set for awhile now, but needed a setup like this (e.g., passing people while swimming fly is really hard), so I went for it after 1,250 meters of standard warmup sets. I wore my Finis Smart Goggles to record my times:
8 x 50: on 0:55, odds cruise, evens fast: was 36.0, 39.1, 44.0, 35.6
1 x 50: on 1:40, easy
4 x 100: on 1:40, descend IM, was 1:28.2, 1:25.4, 1:21.6, 1:19.0
1 x 50: on 2:00, easy
2 x 200: on 3:10, descend IM, was 2:58.2, 2:45.0
4 x 50: active recovery on 0:50, 0:55, 1:00, 1:30
1 x 400: on 6:00, IM fast, was 5:45.1
7 x 50: active recovery, 1 on 0:45, 2 on 0:50, 3 on 0:55
I will call this my new baseline performance on this set ... and I'll resist looking back at my times in the 2012-2016 era when I was in heavy 400 IM training mode, but I know I used to get under 5:00 from a dive in those days! So it goes.
As for the food ...
Da Noi - is a tiny little restaurant tucked away in a neighborhood, a place so small you might bump your neighbor's elbow, but, when you do, you'll get the best local recommendation for which appetizer to choose (which we did from the nice Lisboetan gentleman next to us). This was creative food, attentive service and a very cool vibe.
Zunzum Gastrobar - was a surprising find along the seafront, near ferry terminals and across the street from the Milk Station / Museo de Lactario. All done up in this retro-mod furnishings that felt like comfortable set pieces were there ever a live-action movie made of The Jetsons, this restaurant was high-end cuisine (with an emphasis on seafood) and "comfort food" at the same time.
Time Out Market - If you don't want to commit yourself to one restaurant, but are able to somehow commit to choosing from amongst many great food stands, this is the place to go.
The city, the food and the pool was a great start to the week, but I do hope to come back someday.
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