Discovering Portugal: Lisbon

My boyfriend and I love travelling and we cannot let a summer pass by without visiting a new city – preferably in another country. Our destination in 2015 was Lisbon, which wasn’t a hard decision to make at all, as we had previously already fallen in love with Portugal. Portuguese people are just too welcoming and they rock when it comes to speaking foreign languages.

We stayed in Lisbon only 2 nights. I really wanted to enjoy the city for a longer period of time, but unfortunately my boyfriend was right in the middle of his thesis-writing process, which made him busy basically through the whole summer and it was already a miracle that he could get a couple of days off.

Before starting to tell you about our experience in this magical city, I want to note that we don’t like to make extensive plans on what touristic places to check out; we prefer to be spontaneous when discovering a city. None of us likes to spend the whole day walking but to take it easy and live the moment. Well, the truth is that even if we had wanted to do some planning in advance, it’s very likely we would have got lost anyway.

Why do I say that? Because Lisbon’s central area, specifically the old part is a giant maze that is impossible to solve if you have not been living there for a while. The narrow streets of Alfama, taking you downhill and uphill continuously, will exhaust you within a blink of an eye, and you will easily find yourself considering to give up on the trip. So two things you will need for your Lisbon discoveries: patience and physical endurance.

Day 1

We left for Lisbon from the South of Spain and therefore arrived through the Vasco da Gama Bridge, which is, with its length of 17, 2 km, the longest bridge in Europe. It was the perfect first date with the city!

Afterwards, we had to park the car somewhere and find our accommodation. We booked a cute little studio flat on Airbnb, located in one of the oldest part of the city called Alfama. Our arrival was not seamless as we had trouble finding the address; and when we finally did – after an hour of walking on the cobbled streets in the company of our luggage, it looked like no one was waiting for us. While trying to reach the landlady through phone, the temperature reached 40 degrees, which made the whole process highly challenging. But luckily, soon afterwards we were befriending our cozy accommodation and the housekeeper, Marieta, who came to show us around in the flat. She gave us some instructions regarding what places to visit, where to eat, etc.

After taking a little nap and having a big shower, we were ready to start our adventure! Following the advice of Marieta, we decided to find the Sain’t Georg Castle, which was completely visible from the distance, and one of the many viewpoints (in Portuguese "miradouro") of the city. However, despite our effort and hours of walking, we never found the castle! But we did find the Miradouro da Graca and a range of beautiful hidden places that made us forget about the castle very quickly. At the Miradouro da Graça, we sat down for a good 15 minutes to admire the breathtaking view of Alfama and its colorful streets, but you can also see the river from this point. The atmosphere was simply perfect: youngsters and tourists of the city were gathering around with a glass of wine or cameras, while street painters were capturing the picturesque moment. Somewhere along the way, we had something to eat, and then we continued our discovery.

Our next destination was to visit the centre of Lisbon, the Praça de Comercio and its surrounding area, which has many shopping streets, bars and restaurants. At the end of the pedestrian street, you can admire the triumphal arch of Rua Augusta, of which construction started in 1755, right after the Lisbon earthquake, as a celebration of the reconstruction of the city. And finally, at Praça de Comercio you have the opportunity to sit down on the stairs of the river, which feels a little bit like being at the edge of Europe.

I can’t recall exactly how it got dark, but I remember that we were trying to find our way back to our flat for hours without success. With the map in our hands, we were trying to inquire from pedestrians, taxi drivers and shop assistant, but no one could really tell where the street we stayed was located. So it was a miracle that we arrived at all.

Day 2

Learning from our mistakes of the previous day, we were taking mental pictures of the surrounding area of our flat so that we make sure we wouldn’t get lost again. Not having high expectations, we only planned to reach two goals: to hunt down the famous bakery where they prepare the best Portuguese egg tart pastry called Pastéis de Belém, and to find a beautiful beach somewhere.

For the Pastéis de Belém, we needed to go to another district of Lisbon and take the tram. This first challenge went quite easily: short afterwards, we were sitting in a park on a bench tasting the expensive but delicious and fresh from the oven Pastéis de Belém. The story behind the pastry is that it was created by monks until the 18th century and according to a secret recipe. However, following the extinction of the religious orders, the recipe was sold to a sugar refinery, whose owners later opened the bakery that you can buy from today.

While taking a break in the park, we discovered two amazing landmarks: the Monastary of Jeronimos and the "Padrao dos Descobrimientos" (Monument to the Discoveries). For both of this amazing buildings, it is worth to leaving the centre and paying for the public transport. The latter monument is located on the Northern bank of the river of Lisbon, the Tagus. This is the point where ships departed from to explore India and the Orient. I would suggest you to climb to the top, where you will encounter a fantastic view. As far as I remember, we had to pay a small entry fee, but what we saw on the top was not comparable to the price!

After spending quite a while up there, and taking thousands of photos, we decided to go for the second destination of the day and find a beach. Marieta showed us some nice once, we just had to choose. All of them were very far from the centre, and we had to take the train. Unfortunately we weren’t juggling time well, and we arrived around 6-7 o’clock, so I didn’t have the opportunity to take a bath in the ocean. I was a little bit disappointed because of this, but the place was still very beautiful. We had something to eat in one of the bars on the coast, had a peaceful stroll in the setting sun and then returned to our flat.

My boyfriend had to work on his thesis for a while, but I didn’t mind it a bit, as we were both very exhausted but with an exciting dinner plan ahead of us. As we were in the capital of Portugal, we had to experience what it is like to eat in a fado restaurant. Especially our area, Alfama, is famous for housing millions of them. Fado is a music genre characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, performed by a singer led on a Portuguese and a Spanish guitar. We were lucky to pick a place with incredible performers and delicious food. I also remember that our table was on a slope and I was the one sitting on the side, so it might not have been the most comfortable place ever, but I guess that wasn’t even the point, because it was a truly unforgettable evening that left us absolutely impressed. Therefore, this is an experience that no one can miss when visiting Lisbon.

Day 3

After such an amazing night, we were already satisfied with our stay in Lisbon, so we decided to remain close to the centre. We didn’t have much time anyway. Therefore, we went to a nice bakery to have breakfast, bought some souvenirs and took a last look at the river from the Praça de Comercio. Then, we returned to the flat, said goodbye to Marieta and to the place as well.

I cannot describe how much I would like to go back to this magical place!

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