A new city for us!
Welcome too..LISBON!! A totally new city for both of us! This hasn’t happened in a while (where neither of us have been to an area) and it was really exciting to discover Lisbon’s greatness.
Lisbon, Portugal
I’m in love with Lisbon. Looking at all of these pictures again (two weeks after visiting) it’s clear again how fantastic this city was/is! I can’t believe that more people don’t flock here every time they set foot in Europe.
Belem Tower, just on the edge of Lisbon.
There is gorgeous architecture, the coolest stone streets (and squares), red tiled houses (backed by the sea), and tons of history. Not to mention the ideal weather and general beauty of being so close to the water. Lisbon was fun for a couple days, but I could definitely see staying longer.
Street music with a view.
Busy street corner.
Wall of graffiti near the port.
Just an all around fun, old-town atmosphere. And in April it wasn’t really too touristy! or at least they were easy areas to escape.
A little curvy street of Lisbon.
So, so many little alleys like this, with apartments on either side.
We bought a “Pau” bag from this little old man.
Loved all the window cats. :)
And of course–the sea. I think it might have been something more technical, like an inlet/bay/harbor/etc…? But I am calling it the sea.
Looking out over the water toward “India”…errr….
When we arrived from the airport it was early morning and our AirBnB hosts weren’t ready for us yet. One of the first things we did was wonder into this “Jardin de Estruela” nearby. It was gorgeous! We were ready to just move to Lisbon and live in this park.
The gates around Jardin de Estruela
Inside the park
This old lady might have ACTUALLY moved into the park.
Sleeping or dead….sleeeping or…dead?
Anyhow–we made our way into the city after a quick stop by our lovely AirBnB hosts home. How cute is this little room? and for $25/night!
We love traveling with Airbnb!
We ended up just walking and walking as much as we could. We went to the main port area, which was SUPER cool. Imagine being on a ship hundreds of years ago, pulling up to this city, and walking through these cool gates?
Alex with the city gate.
Check out the cool old street cars behind me.
Alex standing on one of the old city streets that leads in from the port.
We stayed in two different areas of the city (one night each). It was worth it to see two different sides of the same small city, even if it meant carrying our bags around while we waited for check-in times. This was one of the few times that Alex was carrying my camera around, and it must have put him in photographer mode. I ended up in a lot of pictures.
Modelin’ on the street outside our AirBnB spot.
We rode the street cars once. It was easy but a little slow and we kept being told to watch for pick-pockets.
Alex waiting at the tram stop in the city center.
Souvenirs from Portugal
So in the past we like to rent a car in a new city and see it from every angle. In Lisbon we just enjoyed being able to walk to nearly every corner of the city. It’s very hilly and there were a few times we felt a little lost!
Alex, the ever-faithful guide!
But every street would have new, interesting things. Even just the little back side streets in the residential areas felt overwhelmingly COOL. Not just quaint, or old, or charming–COOL. :)
Carrying all of our belonging,everywhere.
This is a city of HILLS.
They even had a mega-elevator built ages ago that would connect two of the main neighborhoods. So neat!
Alex looking up at the massive elevator
Oh yeah–and I added to our belongings. Oops. I don’t know if there’s anything I have learned how to do better in the last two years than spot treasures being put out in the trash. Seriously, some of the coolest souvenirs we have from our time in Istanbul were free on the side of the road.
So when I saw these guys digging through this shamble of broken furniture, I knew there was something calling my name!
Me and my two new friends in our trash pile treasure hunt!
Yep.
Me and my Lisbon tennis racket :)
Alex is a saint for putting up with me, and carrying my tennis racket. He’s storing up HIS treasures in heaven ;)
On that note–We went inside one old cathedral/monastary.
Gorgeous, yes?
Those ceilings…!
Some of these old buildings are just unreal.
This is another one…
Old churches, everywhere. Sorry for not knowing the names!
And one more.
Also didn’t go in this one…oops.
And I can’t forget, these special “Belem Pastries”. Apparently all around the world they are named for this one special pastry shop. We lucked out with it being off season, I guess the line can wrap wayy down the street.
Almost everyone who walks in orders one of these 1 euro pastries.
Imagine eggy-custard inside a mini pastry shell.
His and Hers
This might be the first every dessert that I liked LESS than Alex did! He thought they were the greatest ever.
Alex loved it!
Alright, I gotta go so I’m wrapping up here with my favorite.
Just a couple of Portu-geese.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures– I’m out! :)
Lydia
this turkish life 