The first weekend in May, I met one miss Christy Pitre in Lisbon, Portugal. We'd been planning this trip since Memorial Day last year. Christy studies Portuguese in New York and was fearless putting it into practice in Portugal. I took the night bus from Madrid which is about a seven hour trip. Christy met me the next morning at our hostel, The Independente. If you're planning a trip to Lisbon, I would recommend staying here. It's close to Barrio Alto, which is where the night light is happening. Before I dig into the details of my trip, let me tell you that absolutely everyone I know who went to Lisbon before me told me it was the best. I was a little skeptical at first. What makes it so great? Is it even better than Barcelona? And like always, they told me you just have to go and see for yourself. And man alive were they right. To all my blog readers, may I insist that your next Euro trip has to be to Portugal. To all my New York friends, it's so close and I will undoubtedly meet you there.
Jetlagged and sore from sleeping on a bus, we took a walking tour of the city. I've blabbed a bit about how all the places I travel I'm always overwhelmed by the history and it was the same in Lisbon. In 1755, the city was destroyed by one of the deadliest earthquakes in history. About one fourth of the population was killed. What is known as the center of the city today is what was rebuilt after the earthquake. Before coming on this trip, I saw the movie Night Train to Lisbon. I won't give away the movie but it takes place during the revolution against Salazar and the Estado Novo. Christy and I happened to be in Lisbon just a few days after the 40th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution which happened on April 25, 1974. It was one of the most peaceful revolution. Only four people died.
Moving on, this is one of the oldest bookstores in Europe. (But as you will see, when we were in Porto, they also claimed to have one of the oldest bookstores in Europe). Regardless, I bought The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa here. You can see his picture all over Lisbon. They are very proud of this tortured genius. I'd recommend the book if you're feeling introspective and existential. "Life is whatever we make it. The traveller is the journey. What we see is not what we see but who we are."
We also tried a sour cherry liquor called Ginjinha that was served in a shot glass made of chocolate. Yum.
This is the Santa Justa Lift.
Until this trip, I never knew the endless possibilities of the colors and patterns of buildings covered in mosaic tiles.
In front of the Tagus River
25th of April Bridge
Chilling at Fernando Pessoa's favorite cafe in Baixa Chiado
Christy and I went to Tasca do Chico to listen to Fado music. We drank vinho verde, a deliciously light white wine from the north of the country. We pretty much stuck to drinking that the entire trip. Christy pointed out pictures of Mariza on the wall, a famous Fado singer.
The next day we woke up early to take a day trip to Sintra, Cascais, and Estoril. Sintra is where the Park and Palace of Pena are located.
Sitting on the Queen's throne and look out point
Christy the explorer
The combination of color and texture of the buildings and plants at the Palace were beautiful to say the least.
Bird of Paradise
We went to lunch in the little town near Sintra. We had carrot soup and sardines, vino and cafe and pudding.
Here we are with the other people in our group.
This is Cabo da Roca, the most western point of Portugal and the closest I've been to the United States in almost a year.
Next we went to the ritzy beach town of Cascais.
When we arrived back in Lisbon, we were pretty exhausted. We took a nap and went to dinner at Principe do Calhariz. Ate some of the best fish I've ever had.
Our last day in Lisbon, before catching the bus to Porto, we finally went to Sea Me, a sushi restaurant that was recommended to Christy. And I say finally because we tried going there each day of our trip and the wait was always an hour or more!
We also did some thrift and vintage shopping in Barrio Alto, as well as stumble upon this cute cat duo.
After a three hour bus ride, we found ourselves in Porto. We were so exhausted, we went to bed without even eating dinner! The next morning we toured the entire city. Everywhere we went we saw people dressed in black gowns because it was the graduation day of the university.
This is the other acclaimed oldest book store in Europe. It's also heard that J. K. Rowling was inspired by this bookstore and the school clothes of students in Porto because they are similar to Harry Potter. Rowling lived in Porto while writing some of the books.
Portugal Pride
The city of Porto feels much older than Lisbon since it wasn't destroyed.
We walked through the old city and Christy chatted it up in Portuguese with a new friend from Brazil.
We went to Cafe Nicolau to have vinho verde and francesinha which means little Frenchie in Portuguese.
Francesinha is a famous, fatty sandwich in Porto that includes ham, sausage, steak, egg, cheese, a tomato and beer sauce plus fries. Christy and I split one.
Next we hopped on a boat to take a ride down Rio Douro.
Across the river there are streets full of wineries where you can taste Port wine. We went late during the day so only one was still open. After that we went to La Bohème for our last dinner in Portugal. We're already planning a road trip across the country for next year
"I experience time as a terrible ache. I get ridiculously upset whenever I have to leave anything: the miserable little rented room where I spent a few months, the table in the provincial hotel at which I dined on each of my six days there, even the waiting room at the railway station where I wasted two hours waiting for the train. But the good things of life, when I have to leave them and think, with all the sensitivity my nerves can muster, that I will never see or have them again, at least not as they are in that exact, precise moment, hurt me metaphysically. An abyss yawns open in my soul and a cold blast from the hour of God brushes my pale face." (Fernando Pessoa)
