Lisbon, the city of seven hills, is an amazing place, yet it definitely lives up to its name. Being one of the oldest cities in the world and oldest in Western Europe, it holds a lot of history all contributing to how the city came to be. Our tour guide mentioned that Lisbon is like a lady's fan, like the ones that fold out when you want to use it. And it is so true. We'd be walking along a narrow stone path surrounded by big buildings and then all of the sudden we'd turn the corner and the city would open up to us. It was a spectacular sight!! Here are just a few of the stairs on one hill. This walkway continues down with many many more stairs, don't worry we walked it more than once.
A renowned poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publisher and philosopher, Fernando Pessôa, has some deeps roots within this city and can be described as one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century. During our tour, our guide mentioned a lot about this man, even quoting some of his work, which of course I had to use one of them for the title of this post.
"Life is what me make of it. Travel is the traveler. What we see isn't what we see but what we are."
- Fernando Pessôa
This quote rings true throughout all our travels. Its not so much as to what we see along the way, but how it resonates within us, challenges us, and ultimately changes us after experiencing it. After every day, I am no longer the person I was when the day started; its hard to imagine how much I have changed since beginning this journey.
"To live is to be someone else. Feeling is impossible if we feel today as we felt yesterday: to feel today the same thing we felt yesterday is not to feel at all-- it's merely to remember today what we felt yesterday since today we are the living cadaver of yesterday's lost life." - Fernando Pessôa
There is so much beauty is this city, everywhere you go, there are amazing views overlooking the city, and keep in mind, if you ever plan to visit Lisbon, the best views of the city are absolutely free.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it is always pickpocketing season, the host at our hotel mentioned it, as well as our tour guide. Fortunately, we were not targeted, but we definitely took precautions against them. Saw this sign near one of the lookout points just as a reminder.
Remember the story I told you about our quest to find a bifana and how we thought we had tried one while in Évora. Come to find out that was not a bifana, I'm still not sure what it was that we had, but it definitely was not a bifana. This is a bifana...
It's simply a slice of pork steak in a roll of bread. Combine that with some piri-piri sauce and it is absolutely delectable. I think I had one everyday for lunch while in Lisbon it was so tasty. BTW, more french fries, haven't gone a day yet without fries being served with whatever we ordered. Another delicacy from Lisbon, and the coastal region of Portugal is grilled sardines.
Me, knowing that they probably were not my thing, never ordered them, but Ray did and so I am proud to say that I did give them a try. Only a few days ago, Lisbon had a huge festival dedicated to celebrating the important saints. Apparently, the streets were full of beer tents and bbq's serving up sardines.
There were still decorations up all over town hinting at the parties and stories from the weekend's festivities.
There were many brightly colored sardines hanging from the balconies...
There were many things to see as we walked around town... Here is a cool fountain that was right near a lookout point close to our hotel.
And the Rua Augusta Arch that overlooks Praça do Comércio.
The oldest bookstore in the world, with the Guinness certificate to prove it.
Rossio square that has cobblestones in patterns to mimic waves, its said that some people even report getting seasick when in the plaza.
Along the way, we made a stop at a little lady's house to grab some home made ginjinha, a cheery flavored Liquor. It definitely tasted a bit like cough syrup, but it was still pretty good. S
One of our first nights in Lisbon, we went out to the area known as Bairro Alto, or the upper district. This area of Lisbon is especially known for its nightlife, I believe there is somewhere around 250 bars. We stumble into one called Arroz Doce and are the only ones there... I guess we went out a little too early for the rest of the crowds. We start talking with the bartender/ manager, Bruno, while enjoying some cervejas. He was really cool to talk with and learn more about Lisbon. He even poured us a shot, some mixture of vodka and Portuguese mint liquor, which was actually quite good.
He gave us a recommendation of where to go eat, a local spot just down the road. We finish our drinks and head to Cantinho Do Bem Estar. The place was rather small, with only a handful of tables that of course were all full. The host tells us to go to the bar across the street and that he will come get us when it is time. We both thought, "Sweet! This is the way it should be". And we were so glad that it turned out this way. We go into the bar, that I actually don't even remember the name of and meet mother and daughter team Maria and Suzana. They were fantastic! We chatted with them with our limited knowledge of both languages and had an amazing time. Here's us with Maria.
The next day we putted around the city more, riding on the famous Tram 28 through the Alfama.
We rode it up to the Se' and walked around inside. It was absolutely beautiful! Pepe even found some mini pastel de natas (just his size)!
I loved just walking around the city and catching a glimpse at all the sights. Even spotted an artist in the act of painting some of the buildings. It was really cool to watch him paint.
And of course some fancy street art...
Here's us touching the castle walls, dating hundreds of years back.
We then decided to ride the lift up to catch some more of the city views... Note to self, it cost 5 euros to ride the lift just by itself, but if you have a public transportation bus/ tram pass, you can ride it for free. We figured we'd take advantage of having the tram pass. The lift was actually designed by students of Mr. Eiffel himself. It doesn't quite fit with the rest of the city, but still cool nonetheless.
We then of course made our way back to the Barrio Alto and back to visit Suzana and Maria. They were so excited to see us. We chatted with them, got some recommendations of where to go tomorrow and even convince Suzana to take a shot with us. I think the picture below shows what we thought about that shot...
After visiting with them for a bit, we hit up Bruno's bar one more time on the way back. He was also super excited to see us again. We happened to walk in right when the live music was starting. We grabbed a table and some cañas to enjoy the music. The musicians were spectacular!! One guy sang and played guitar, while the other one played the violin.
We had such a blast there, hanging with Bruno and listening to the music. We even got a chance to talk with Rafa, the singer, during one of their breaks. Arroz Doce definitely became one of our favorite places! A great location, cool atmosphere, and super friendly people. We definitely stayed out way later than anticipating (with such a busy day ahead of us tomorrow), but we couldn't seem to tear ourselves away from all the fun.
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