Like most European cities, Lisbon’s beauty is not conventional beauty, a bit more Amy Winehouse than Rachael Hunter (but we still love cousin-Rachael!). Yes, the huge buildings and monuments are crumbling and yes there are beggars and homeless on every corner (though, surprisingly, not nearly as bad as they were 6 years ago), but none of it detracts from the surprises that lie around every corner.
There were three of us in total who made the journey to Lisbon. Charlotte, birthday girl, Jake, official translator and myself Camp Leader. Lucky for us, Jake is conversational, if not fluent, in Portuguese, which at times made our trip much easier!
We set off from my house around 9 in the morning and headed to Hammersmith to catch the tube straight to Heathrow. It’s so wonderful to fly out of Heathrow, just jump on the tube and 30-minutes later, you’re there! So, around 10, we arrived at Heathrow, checked in and found our flight had been delayed, possibly due to stormy weather in Lisbon (ah, not great start). Chins-up, we sulked around in departures until we were finally boarded on to our plane… to sit and wait for another hour. Yes, this is where Heathrow has its drawbacks. Being the busiest airport in the world means that if you miss you take-off slot, you may wait a long time till you get another one. And we did. We waited, and we waited and we waited. Then, three hours after scheduled departure, we were in the air.
We landed in Lisbon around 5pm with most of the day gone and grey clouds hanging over our head. We dropped our bags off at the hotel. After a short stint our hotel room, which was barely big enough to contain enough oxygen to support three guests, we hit the streets. Charlotte had found a restaurant in the Lonely Planet that she wanted to try, so we headed there. True to the Lonely Planet’s description, we served huge amounts of food for next to nothing. All three of us practically rolled out, filled up on rice, chips, salmon, sardines, steak and a beer or two. After a wonder round a fairly quiet city we headed back to the hotel for an early night.
Day two was a lot more eventful. Thanks to an early night and raised energy levels we managed to walk our way around a fair chunk of the city. Highlights included:
- Miradouro de Senhora do Monte: Lisbon’s highest lookout point gave us stunning views across the whole city, out to the port and at the Castle Sao George.
- Feirad da Ladra: The Thieves Markets, which to be honest, there was not much I would have wanted to have stolen from there…
- And of course, the famous Castello Sao George, which sits above the city.
In the afternoon, we participated in the unusual, but highly entertaining tourist activity: Portuguese wine tasting. Yes, it appears that in an effort to bring Portuguese wine to the rest of the world, the Portuguese wine board (or something along those lines), offered free wine tasting. So, four Portuguese wine samples later, we were all agreed, Portuguese wine was best left in Portugal and we were best off home for a short break before a night out.
After a few hours spent getting ready and relaxing, we were back out on the town, heading to Bairro Alto area of Lisbon. After a short and late dinner stop, we decided to sample one of the cheap cocktails offered at the many small bars that lined the streets. Most served Latin American style cocktails, presumably a result of their colonial ways in Brazil. We all decided on a Caprihina, 3euro for a small, 6euro for a large. Now, I don’t know much Portuguese, but I knew when I heard Jake saying ‘mucho grando’, or something similar, that we were getting the large caprihina. Mistake numero uno. Turns out caprihina’s are practically 100% alcohol. Without going into too much detail, let me tell you that you only need to buy a mucho smallo caprihihina when in Lisbon.
Not surprisingly, Sunday wasn’t particularly productive. Tired (and a tad hungover), we headed for breakfast, followed by a tram ride out to Belem. Not only is Belem a beautiful suburb of Lisbon, it is also home of Antiga Confeitaria de Belem, Lisbon’s premiere custard tart shop. The rest of the day was spent stacking up on custard tarts, followed by sitting in the park eating them.
Then the end came and it was time for us to fly back to London. And wonderful London, where nothing changes. We returned to engineering works (a la the picadilly tube line from Heathrow was not working) and freezing weather (quite literally freezing, 0 degrees). But it was good to be home!
Except it wasn’t, because I arrived home to a broken boiler, which meant it was both freezing outside and in!
Good news, the boiler is now fixed and this weekend it’s meant to finally start to get warmer (again). Tomorrow’s (Saturday) forecast is for sunny skies and a high of 10 degrees. And, in more good news, I have found a new job to follow on from my temporary contract that ends at the end of this month. Upon my completion of my contract on the 26th March, I will begin as a publicity assistant on 29th March for Random House Children’s Book. Monday 29th is the same day Mum and Dad arrive, so it will be a busy few weeks….
At the top of Castello Sao George and the view from Miradouro de Senhora do Monte
Eating the famed Portuguese Custard Tarts
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