Lisbon, Portugal - Sept 2024
Participants: Tam & Kev
After our time in Serta we headed to Lisbon for 4 nights. We drove to Lisbon airport to drop the car off, which was very easy and then took an Uber to our hotel. Ubers were very cheap, in fact I almost felt sorry for the drivers at times. The traffic and the small streets meant that journeys could take quite a long time for very little money.
Our hotel was called Upon Angels and was adults only. It was very pleasant, the rooms were plenty big enough for the 2 of us and there was a little courtyard with a small pool. It was always quiet and we had no problems. It was a little way from the centre and we weren't too sure about the location at first the street had lots of litter and looked a bit grubby, but half way through our stay they cleaned it all up and it looked a lot better. It was also close to the tram network - more of that later.
The bar area was nice although we never used it. It was always shut when we came home at night.
We dropped the luggage off and went out to explore. Lisbon is built around 7 hllls, each of which has great views across the city. The centre is fairly walkable if you don't mind doing a few miles and you can get around most of the sights on foot. If not the public transport (buses, trams and trains) is cheap and efficient.
Oh man we loved the trams. The oldest line ran close to our hotel and most evenings we rode it back. It was so much fun, an attraction all in itself. It was like stepping back in time.
This is the Alfama district and is probably the prettiest area.
The main square looks out onto the River Tagus. As you can see from the blue sky we had glorious weather for our stay although it cooled off in the evenings and so was very comfortable at night.
You could ride this old elevator for a few Euro although we had to wait a while. I'm not sure I'd bother again as you can enjoy looking at the structure without going up.
Our first evening in Lisbon was spent visiting 3 different wine bars and having tapas in each.
Tam's got a bit of side eye going on here, not sure what I've done wrong.
I enjoyed this a lot. I'm happy grazing whereas Tam is more of a sit down meal kind of girl.
Of course we had to get the tram back. My photographic memory tells me it was a number 28. This is the oldest line and many people ride it from one end to the other (as we did the next day) for the experience. You honestly wouldn't believe some the tiny narrow streets it goes through. People have to squash against the wall as the tram goes by.
We visited the botanical garden which didn't cost much to get in and was nice enough, but I think you could miss this if you had limited time to explore.
We caught a bus out to the Belem Tower.This was built to protect Lisbon from attacks from the river.
We stopped at a pop up stall selling 2 for 1 margaritas. We probably shouldn't as they were rather watery and tasteless. The monument in the background is a tribute to all the mariners and explorers from Portugal's history.
This rather spectacular building is part of the monestary. You can't really get it into one photo.
In the evening we stopped at this cocktail bar full of all sorts of curious things.
We did find this display a little disturbing though!
And here's our old friend the tram to take us home.
Our last full day we went on a boat trip. We had pre-booked using a company called Lisbon By Boat. We had a 2 hour sail along with 2 drinks and nibbles for just over £77 for 2 people.
It certainly wasn't crowded. There were 6 Americans sat together on the front of the boat leaving us to lie out and enjoy the trip.
Here's the monument from the sea.
And the Belem Tower. You get a different perspective from the water.
There's a guide who brings round the drinks and gives a commentary as you sail along.
This was a great trip and Tam particularly loved it. It's definitely very good value for money and so much nicer than being crammed onto a boat listening to a recorded commentary.
We were amazed at how the cruise ships dock directly in the Alfama district. I think it's fair to say that the guide was not the biggest fan of this and I can see why, but it must be great to arrive in Lisbon on a cruise and have that lovely view. No need for buses to get into the city centre here.
The guide reckoned that this statue of Christ The Redeemer is only 6 feet shorter than the one in Rio de Janeiro.
On our last evening in Lisbon we went to a cocktail bar in a hotel that had a rooftop bar overlooking Alfama before heading for dinner.
We'd looked at lots of reviews and picked this one. We certainly weren't disappointed, it had a nice atmosphere and the food was excellent.
I can't remember exactly what it all was, but it was lovely.
Ooh, ooh ... I do remember this one .... it was pork belly and flippin' amazing. I'm not always a big fan of pork belly, but this was lovely.
Tam ended with dessert and I had the cheese board, which was plenty big enough as you can see.
So our time in Lisbon came to a close. I must admit the first day we arrived I wasn't too sure about it, but the more time we spent wandering around and exploring the more we enjoyed it. It's not too expensive for a big city, easy to get around and there's plenty to see and do.
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