Portugal | The Undiscovered Country (Part one): 5 Days in Lisbon
I often get asked on this RTW trip, “what’s your favorite place you’ve been?” It’s a simple, straight-forward question and one I can’t quite possibly answer without lying- Because so many places have been my favorite while I was there or they have an incredible moment that stands out or they have a person or people that I became good friends with or… a million things really. It’s an impossible question for me to answer, especially when you’ve done a fair amount of travel.
There is, conviniently, a question I usually like to counter offer when asked the above; One I can answer with full confidence and excitement. This question is a bit more specific and a fun one to reminisce and think about. I also like that the answer immediately comes to me, which is a sign of it being true. What’s this question you ask?
What place totally surpassed every and all expectations you had previous to arriving and then completely surprised you by it’s total and utter awesomeness?
Disclaimer:
First off, let me mention that I don’t like going into any place or situation with expectations. Someone once said, “expectations lead to disappointment.” So, I do try to move forward without clinging on too many imaginary ideas of how things will turn out in the future. But, that’s very hard to do all the time and I still often anticipate outcomes and imagine what it will be like. That’s part of mental preparation for anything, including choosing places to visit. So, everything in moderation.
Portugal: The Undiscovered Country
Yes, Portugal- The country and people I immediately fell in love with and that totally blew me away on so many levels. I would only spend 9 days in total there, but that time stands out as continually impressing me by the charm of all that is Portugal.
Lisbon
Have you ever arrived to a place and immediately felt a good vibe; a positive energy that just lifts you up and makes you happy. It sometimes happens to me. For instance, I had that same feeling visiting San Sebastián, Spain and Asheville, North Carolina. With these places though, I knew they were special beforehand; either by reading up on it or friends telling me it was great. With Portugal, I only had the slightest inclination of where to go and what to expect- and that was a good thing.
When I arrived into Lisbon’s city center and starting walking towards my hostel, I could feel that this city and I matched- like Lisbon and I both swiped right for each other. And it only got better with each day.
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My hostel, Alface Bairro Alto Hostel, was located in the heart of the hip bar and restaurant filled neighborhood of Bairro Alto. That name means “high neighborhood” and they weren’t teasing with the name- you need to hike up steps and hills to get there. This is most likely another reason Europeans are a bit thinner than Americans- all that climbing makes you sweat out the beer, wine and pastries.
I walked a ton, like most cities I’m visiting, but what’s so cool about Lisbon are the varied forms of transportation available. There are San Fransisco style trolleys that take you all over, funiculars that climb the steepest hills, overland and underground trams, buses, and most out of the norm- Indian style tuk-tuk taxis that are everywhere. It may be the most diverse and immense variety of transport I’ve seen in any city.
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Lisbon has a very interesting and beautiful mix of architectural styles that are influenced from both European and Islamic styles. The tiles on many of the building facades are very unique in Europe and give such great character. Kiosks are also being reopened in many of the plazas all over the city and you can see how people are loving this old tradition coming back into fashion.
Something I pleasantly noticed is how friendly people were and how it seemed everyone could speak English; And more importantly, they didn’t mind doing it. This was a stark contrast to my time in Barcelona, as I felt they were annoyed with me and tourists in general. Maybe that was just me though.
I did several tours there and they all were really good: The Free Walking Tour, Pub Crawl, Belem Tour and the Alfama Tour. I learned some of the history of Portugal and never realized how extensive and important it is to the modern shape of the world; I heard some of the traditional music called Fado on the streets; I ate some local food, like pork sandwiches called bifana; and I met some really good people at the hostel and on the tours.
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Yes- Lisbon was unexpectedly awesome. I think it is the most under-valued and under-visited Western Europe country- and that is also a good thing. Did I mentioned it was quite cheap as well? This is an added benefit to being a bit overlooked on the tourist map.
I foresee Portugal, especially Lisbon, gaining popularity as world travel and tourism steadily increase. So, suggestion, get here as soon as you can, before it becomes too popular and then everything costs double.
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Enjoy this here slideshow of some of my favorite images I happened to snap: