II. Lisbon

Lisbon topped the list of favourite places in Europe – matched perhaps by Granada and a specific cave tour we took there. Lisbon was charming, and I tried desperately (without much success) to get Jono to connect to his Portuguese roots and buy a beautiful mansion on a little cobblestone street. The hostel we stayed at was actually a renovated mansion and a really cute place to stay at. The city has a lot of really steep roads, which were fun to walk up and down and also navigable by the many trams that cross the city. Being on the tram was part theme park, part public transportation, and a whole lot of fun. On the first full day we were there we went to the Thieves Market, which was a sprawling flea market that had absolutely everything from doorknobs to broken Barbie dolls. It was great fun to peruse the wares and make sure we weren’t being pick-pocketed, and as we walked back the hostel in the evening we stopped by some gorgeous big churches.

It’s really difficult not to stop by gorgeous big churches in Portugal, because they are literally on every street corner. These are not your averagely beautiful churches, but instead really ornate, gilded, and impressive. We meandered our way through the little streets that suddenly became a series of low, broad steps with benches and pretty flowering trees punctuating the way, so you could just stop for a while if you liked. The little apartment buildings on either side of the streets were adorable with their red tiled roofs and narrow doorways. As we reached our hostel we heard the bongo drum playing hippie crowd gathered on the grassy area that overlooked the river and the continued curve of Lisbon’s skyline.

One of my favourite things about Lisbon was the tile they used on the building facades. Each building was so unique and beautiful, and when several of them were lined up next to each other they really presented character – almost like a line of friends with very different personalities holding hands. Another highlight of Lisbon was the San Jorge Castle, which has been built on the top of a hill and therefore awarded a splendid view of the city. It was fun to wander around the ruins of the fortress, the gardens, and imagine what it would have been like when most of the town lived within the fortress walls on the hill. On the last full day we spent in Lisbon, we went on a bit of a hike and walked all the way to the suburb of Belem, which was the place where the ‘Age of Discovery’ apparently began. It’s the port from which Vasco de Gama sailed to India, and it sports a massive monastery where de Gama’s grave lies. We also walked along the park to the Tower of Belem, but were a little too late to make it to the top. Although we somehow managed to miss the famous nightlife of the Bairro Alto – although we went looking it was a Sunday night – we spent some night-time at cute bars in the park. And as we explored the city during the day we tried to make it to the top of each of the seven hills that the city was supposedly founded on, taking time in between to eat picnics in the park and – you guessed it – visit more pretty churches.