27.1.15

{Lisbonne}

There is no way I can sum up Lisbon in one post. While France is the country of my dreams and Bordeaux is what I have dreamed of my entire life - Lisbon has something that France doesn't. An abundance of flavor. There are bright colored buildings, covered in elaborate and ornate designs and graffiti. Red rooftops, clothes are hung on clotheslines everywhere you look. Our flat has flyers hung up on a box spring from a mattress. I bet they didn't even use pinterest for that. Bright yellow is a regular color here. There are trollies and cobblestone streets everywhere you look. Outside of our window is an adorable trolley style lift that I would take if it wasn't an unreasonable 4 euros. People don't give you dirty looks for speaking english. I had my first rice since arriving in Europe. Men have just the right amount of facial hair. The style here is more casual, everyone doesn't look like they just stepped right off of the pages of a magazine. You flush the toilet with a lever. It's possible to leave the house without dressing for an arctic freeze. I find it so amazing that in less time than it would take to fly from Washington to California, you can fly to another country in Europe with a completely different culture, language and way of being. We haven't seen many of the touristy things yet, just the night clubs and neighborhoods we've seen while exploring. But I have never seen anything more picturesque than the every day life in Portugal. I am so happy with my decision to visit Portugal. I'll admit it was because I was being cheap - but now, I would do it even if it was more expensive. It's just a bonus that all the wine here is less than 4 euro.

This is directly outside of our air bnb flat. We got lucky enough to be right in the center of everything for cheap!

 

The next 3 photos are of a view in Lisbon called Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara. We sort of stumbled upon it at sunset and it was actually the first time a view took my breath away. It made my heart hurt a bit because it was so incredibly beautiful. Not to be a huge sap, but it made me feel so lucky to be alive and be fortunate enough to see this part of the world. When in Lisbon, this is necessary!








I have only ever had red sangria, and the other night we tried white sangria as well as sparkling sangria! It was fancy too, with berries inside and our waiter even poured it for us. Probably the first time in my life I've had "real" sangria & it was amazing! We also tried "green wine", which comes from Portugal. Just a warning, if you order "Vinho Verde" in Portugal, don't expect your glass to be St. Paddy's day green like I expected. It's not that the wine itself is green, it's because the grapes are "younger" grapes, so you can get a white wine that is "green".


Lisbon has already been such an amazing surprise, can't wait to see what the next few days bring. Has anyone visited Lisbon & found secret little spots, cafes, meals, or other hidden gems?!

2 comments:

  1. Ahh la jalousie!
    I had a chance to maybe go to Lisbon and stay with a friend at the end of my travels in Europe later this year, but the timing didn't work out and I'm a little bit heartbroken (though, really, being in Europe in the first place is no reason to be heartbroken haha)

    Sounds as though you are having the time of your life!

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  2. oh yum, sangrias! I love those, so refreshing :)

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