Welcome to LISBOA

Last year my cousin Peter spent a year abroad in Portugal for his architecture studies and his brother and I decided to use this opportunity to visit him and also get to see Lisbon. Although we went there in February, the weather was nice and pretty warm. Peters apartment was situated in the centre of the city and allthough we had to sleep on mattresses on the floor because there wasn´t much space, it was really comfortable. Just the nights were really cold because most of the cheaper apartments in Lisbon are not fully airtight and the only source of heat was a portable radiant heater. 

The first day of our journey Peter guided us through the city he already had become really familiar with. He told us that he really liked it but the mentality and the lifestyle of this people was an extremely different. They are all really tranquil and don´t ever hurry. Especially the easy going attitude of the women and men at the check out counter in supermarkets could really freak out a foreigner because you have to wait in row like forever.  And there was another thing he complained about: the only thing that opened at 7 am in the morning was the university ;)

The city of Lisbon is really beautiful. It is situated on several hills so its always an up and down, passing through the narrow streets of the city. There are this lovely old trams who bring you up some hills, if your legs already hurt from passing thousands of stairs. 

Another thing I instantly fell in love with was Portuguese pastries "Pasteis de Nata"  You have absolutely try this creamy little cupcake like thing if you ever visit Lissabon. They sell them in the hundreds of  little bakeries around the city and they´re simply delicious. What else can I say about the Portuguese cuisine? Well, they toast everything that might be toastable ;) 

Everywhere we went we could here the traditional Portuguese fado music. It is rather melanchonical and mournful singing often about the sea or the life of poor people.  Especially on the sight seeing busses which we used now and then in every speaking pause a certain fado melody was played. Until now this melody is stuck in my head and I could still sing it to you ;) It was just a real catchy tune. 

Bildunterschrift hinzufügen

One day we decided to rent a car and go to the other beaches of Lisbon. Peter said it takes only half an hour from the city but we got lost a several times so it took us almost 2 hours. But you know, people without a good sense of orientation get to see more of the world and that was just our case. We drove through beautiful landscapes, lovely little settlements. At some points we had to stop the car and just admire the stunning view and take some pictures. Maybe that is the other reason it took us so long, but in the end we arrived at the beach Peter wanted to show us. It was really windy and in the summer many surfers come to the beaches of Portugal, but in February there was not a soule around. We wandered along the beach between huge cliffs. At a lovely spot we made a break to sunbath and make a little picnic. But suddenly we realised the high tide was arriving and about to intercept our way back to the main beach. We had to hurry and got our feet wet but for gods sake we made it in time. 

We continued to drive along the coast and after a while we arrived at  the westernmost point of Europe. 

This is my cousin standing there ;) 

All in all it was a wonderful trip and I´d definitely go back sometime, if it only was for Pastel de Nata ;)