2.24.2014

Lisboa

I said I saved the best for last except I just realized we didn't take many pictures in Lisbon...oh well.

Lisbon is amazing, it's very colourful and at times very seedy and run down, but not like "I wish I had pepper spray" seedy. I was surprised at how multicultural the city is and you can see the influence from Portugal's former colonies everywhere. Unfortunately, you can see the impact of the terrible economy on the city as well.
We decided to head to Portugal to escape "winter" and we definitely managed this on our second day. When the sun is shining the last thing you want to do is hang out in a dark museum. We decided to observe the city from a patio.
But on our third day the rain came, and it came hard. We decided to head to the Aquarium (which is apparently one of the best in Europe). Why are sea otters so cute!?
You can't help admire the graffiti in this city.

They even managed to get the trolly.
Portuguese wine is cheap, and because I'm not a wine expert, it's good. They have a self guided wine testing place where you purchase a card (loaded with credits) and a machine spits out samples. She told us $10 of credits was too much so we went with $5. She didn't say anything when we had to go back for another $5...
But how can you not drink that much wine when you get to stare out of this window.

There is also a Beer Museum, which I found strange because Portugal isn't much of a beer country.
We also headed to Belém, which is a part of Lisbon that is far from central Lisbon. We tried to walk there which was completely ridiculous.


Belém has a very famous pastry called Pastel de Belém (which is essentally Pastel de Nata). It is a pastry filled with warm custard, how can you go wrong with that?
We also has some delicious Green wine. It's called Green wine because it's young wine, not because it's actually green.

One of the things I miss the most about Portugal is stopping into a café and having a really cheap meal. Notice how full the wine glass is, that's because they ALWAYS fill it to the rim.

There is so much about Portugal that I remember, but it is the amazingly friendly people that I will remember the most.


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