Carnet de voyage #8 : Lisbon and let's go home...

by Alix

So here I am at the last stop in my fantastic summer. It would be hard for me to just have 2 weeks for vacation, how would I be able to do all this?!!

So the last step was an adventure since I had never been to Lisbon! Therefore I turned myself into the perfect little tourist ready for exploration and a tour of the capital.

1^st impression: radiant sun, which I love. 2. Right after there you get ripped off by the taxi who takes you from the airport and makes you pay a so-called official price which is actually 3 times more than it should be!! Not so good… 3. The hospitality and smiling faces of the Lisbon people (apart from the taxi…)

4. The city is filled with tourists. 5. The old city, the Mouraria, Graca and Alfama neighborhoods are filled with hotels and other little houses all adorable, modern and clean. We stayed at the “Alfama Lisbon Lounge Suites” where the staff is extremely welcoming, the advice is very good and the room identical to the ones they promise, which is not always the case. Which brings me to impression 6: the classic trolleys of the Lisbon city make a considerable amount of noise even at night, so pack a pair of ear plugs if you wish to sleep!

7. Do not expect the many Portuguese dishes to fit your taste and expectations… yes we all tell ourselves let’s be crazy, it’s a new city, new experience so let’s try it all… in the end you’ll end up leaving a full dish and not even touching your meal because of the strong smell of fish and suspicious looking food. The salt cod really does smell extremely strong!! There are also certain foods that we expect to taste a certain way and really don’t end up tasting the way we wish them too. Let’s just say my family and I did not really touch our plates and had to send it back even after digging and tugging around… which really did break our hearts for the chef and waiter. For this reason it’s better to go for a local dish that you can trust : Melon with cured ham, melon with porto or even plain melon… Oh and I almost forgot the delicious little plate of cheese for the entrée. Another delight is the assortment of fried fish and other little things that really cannot go wrong! 8. I already mentioned the colorful, little trolleys all in wood which are such a fun experience. A must is to take the trolley #28 which brings you throughout the old part of the city: how lovely!

9. There is another way of getting around the city : the “Tuk’ tuk Lisboa”, a type of little car/ motorcycle which seats 3, all in different colors. Everything just sort of looks miniature and cute. All very local! 10. The beauty of all the buildings and multicolored, old houses is a pleasure to the eye. Last impression: Lisbon is a charming city, beautiful and full of sunshine and color. A stop that I absolutely recommend!!