I honestly think everyone should hightail it to Lisbon ASAP. It may be the most perfect destination in Europe for U.S. travelers. It is absurdly easy to get there from the U.S. via a nonstop 6 hour flight (which I sporadically found out in person when I flew back and forth on the Lisbon-JFK route to go to my grandmother’s memorial), it has really tasty food, a unique culture, a distinct sense of place, and is very tourist-friendly with easy public transportation, pedestrian-friendly streets, and widespread use of English. Most importantly, you can stuff yourself with custard cakes–natas–all day every day and wash it down with jugs of house wine. Everybody wins!

We were lucky enough to go to Lisbon twice on this trip, both kind of last-minute. The first time, we were planning on spending 10 days in Porto but I got cold feet right around September and curtailed our time in Porto to add six nights in the capital. I’m so glad I did! The second time, we were supposed to meet our fabulous cousin Rachel in Morocco, but an unfortunate bed bug incident had us scrambling back to Portugal to meet up instead. Both times, Lisbon charmed us, fed us well, and intoxicated us with beauty and culture. I think it’s an amazing place for so many reasons. So for this blog post, I’m just going to gush about everything I loved about the city. Therefore…IT IS A VERY LONG POST.

Ease Of Movement

I have to start with what is becoming one of my measuring sticks for a new place: public transportation. How easy is it for a tourist to get around? Can I hop on and off busses, subways, trams and trains to access all of the cool stuff I read about in blogs and guidebooks? Can I walk around safely and easily? For all of the above, Lisbon is a smashing success. You buy one card for the entire transit system, fill it with Euros, and then you can use it on all of the various transportation options around town, including commuter trains for day trips. Buying the ticket is easy and in English. Every people-mover we rode on was clean and on time, albeit it crowded a few times in popular areas. To me, having a great public transit system is paramount to my enjoyment of a place. I really, really don’t like cabs (scams + expensive) and even though I love walking, I can’t walk everywhere. Using the transportation in Lisbon was an absolute pleasure. We also used Uber and MyTaxi a few times with Rachel, since there were three of us and we didn’t have as much time, and those worked really well and were very cost-efficient.

Oh, important side-note: the Lisbon airport is VERY nice and accessible by a variety of methods: train, bus, cab. I ended up spending a lot of time at that airport between last-minute flying back and forth to the U.S., flying back and forth from Fez, and then flying to Marrakech. Honestly, I’m exhausted just typing that sentence but the Lisbon airport will only enhance a visit to this area. Because sometimes airports suck, but this is a place where the airport won’t drain your soul (ahem, LaGuardia).

Sense Of Place

Lisbon has an immediate–and powerful–unique look and feel that hits you as soon as you set foot in the city. I absolutely loved the aesthetics: it made the simple act of walking around a joy in discovery, especially when we were lugging around our nice camera.

The first thing I noticed was the beautiful tilework covering the buildings. This is all over Lisbon, especially in the Alfama, Mouraria, Baixa, and Barrio Alto neighborhoods. There is a huge variety of tiles and colors adorning the walls, and the whole thing makes you feel like you are in a really, really fancy bathroom.

Except it’s an entire city, with fountains and beautiful trees and really cool sidewalks to accompany the tilework. You can even go to a Tile Museum, which of course we did (I love weird museums). Hunting through all of the tiles for the weird, wonderful, and unexpected was one of my favorite experiences in Lisbon.

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The second thing you can’t help but notice is the sidewalks. Covered in black and white geometric patterns, all over the city, these walkways are a delight for both photographers and pedestrians. I loved that I kept spying new patterns and designs. This “Portuguese Pavement” is laid and maintained by hand, and there are hundreds of designs: geometric, fleur de lis, symbols, even animals.

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Lisbon, like all great cities–here’s looking at you, Baltimore–has a ton of unique, soulful neighborhoods to explore. We stayed in the Alfama our first time and I loved every second we spent in that tiny, winding-lanes, steep place. Our apartment overlooked a pristine white church and a pretty little square, which was not only beautiful but made navigating our way home through the crooked alleys and hidden staircases a little easier. We were always happy to see “home church” peek through the buildings!

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With Rachel, we did a walking tour of the Mouraria, which is right next to the Alfama. The street art and views….SO. WONDERFUL.

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Another great neighborhood is Belem: it has so many museums and attractions PLUS the best pastais natas.

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Finally, the colors in Barrio Alto made turning every corner a fun surprise, in addition to a ton of good bars and restaurants (including our second fado place).

Food!

I’m not a huge seafood person but you can’t help but succumb to the charms of the sea in Lisbon (although after my unfortunate brush with shrimp in Dubrovnik, I stuck to fish). The fresh catch, grilled, could not be more delicious…and avoiding the tiny bones added an obstacle-course vibe to dinner. During our first time in Lisbon, Ben and I found a spot near our Air BnB in the Alfama that was the opposite of fancy: it looked like a school cafeteria, fluorescent lights and all. We liked the fresh grilled fish so much we went back twice during our week there, and then brought Rachel when we were all there together. If you ever find yourself in Lisbon and you crave simple, inexpensive, and incredibly tasty fresh fish, go to Maca Verde in the Alfama. Add a jug of chilled house white and you will not be disappointed.

Speaking of libations, there were so many fun bars to explore in Lisbon. We had incredible cocktails with a view at Rio Maravilha in the cool Lx Factory, and Ben and I found a tiny bar in the Alfama–literally the size of a bathroom–where he had a great old-fashioned, I had great wine recommended by the bartender, and we met all kinds of fun people. Since we were knocking knees with our fellow bar patrons, making conversation was easy, and we ended up meeting a cool group from the bay area as well as a couple from Chicago, Rick and Cheryl. We even met up with Rick and Cheryl for another round of drinks in Porto! Look at Ben and I, socializing with fellow Americans all over the globe:) Unfortunately, I have no idea what the place is called, despite some intense googling. I guess we will just have to go back to Lisbon so I can find out.

The other thing Lisbon is known for is the pastries, specifically pastais natas. These custard cream delights were all over the city, but they are best fresh, and all the guidebooks, blogs, and articles pointed to two places. Of course, we had to go to both. Pastais Belem is in an awesome neighborhood along the Targus river, and what looks like a little shop is actually this gigantic facility just churning out an unholy amount of pastais natas to crowds of happy tourists. We primly ordered four the first time we went, and then realized our folly and quickly ordered another two and scarfed the whole thing down. While this is definitely a touristy thing to do, it was a DELICIOUS touristy thing to do so no complaints. The other well known place is Manteigaria, which was good, but Rachel and I definitively believe Pastais Belem is better. So that settles that debate.

We also loved the food stalls at the trendy Time Out Market (best tuna carpaccio I’ve ever had), breakfast at Flora and Fauna, and just good tapas and good wine galore. Honestly, the food scene is great in Lisbon, no matter what you are looking for. We ate well and there are so many good restaurants to choose from. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of is the fried cod cakes, but I tried one bite before deciding it wasn’t for me. They are very into cod in Portugal.

Culture

In between eating and drinking all of the Portuguese goodness, there is so much to learn about and appreciate in Lisbon. We did not one, but two walking tours while we were there, which just shows the depth of culture to discover. As much as I miss teaching, I have loved being able to take the time to learn more history and about other cultures. During the school year, I get so wrapped up in my individual students, families, units, grades, paperwork, field trips, and on and on and on that my own learning usually takes a backburner. On this trip, I get to be student, and it is awesome! Lisbon, like all European cities, has a long and fascinating history: Romans, invasion of Muslim Berbers, wars with Spain, the Age of Discovery, colonization and a global empire, and a massive earthquake in 1755.

This last event was one that I knew nothing about, which is crazy because the disaster had massive ramifications on not only Portugal, but all of Europe and by extension, the world. The level of destruction that took place in Lisbon, a wealthy and cosmopolitan capital, is unfathomable. On All Saints day 1755, when everyone was in church and burning candles, an earthquake of about 8.5-9.0 magnitude hit Atlantic near the Portugal coast. After the shaking stopped, survivors rushed to the docks to get away from the destruction in the city. Forty minutes later, a massive tsunami (remember, the earthquake started in the ocean) sucked the water up out of the mouth of the Tagus river and then spat it back out, and a huge wave hit the city, causing more chaos and injury and death. Finally, all of those candles burning for the holiday and all of those stoves built up to cook festive meals caused a devastating fire all over the city. So the earthquake actually caused three disasters: the shaking itself, the tsunami, and the fire. The death toll in Lisbon alone may have been as high as 100,000, and of course, the earthquake’s impacts spread far beyond Lisbon: destruction occurred all over Portugal and effects could be felt all over Europe and Northern Africa. Some scholars believe that the earthquake, which happened on a holy day–and the cruel and random nature of so much death–is part of what inspired the Age of Reason. After all, how could God allow such an event to take place? Fascinating stuff. One of my favorite stops on one of our walking tours was a mural depicting the long and complicated history of Portugal, comic style.

Another bit of Lisbon culture and history we enjoyed was fado music. Mournful and sometimes bawdy folk music sung by a man or a woman and accompanied by a Viola Baixo, this is huge in Lisbon and it became apparent as soon as we got there we would have to try to find a place to enjoy it. During our first week, when we were staying in a little apartment in the Alfama, we could open the windows late at night and just hear fado drifting all over the neighborhood from various bars and restaurants, which was pretty darn magical. On our last night, we decided to find some. We had some amazing travelers luck and stumbled into a little place around the corner called Estaca Zero. As soon as we sat down, we knew we had hit the jackpot. We could tell most of the audience was Portuguese because they were all singing along and chiming in with jokes. During a fado show, there is no talking: you just quietly eat your food and enjoy the singing. We loved that occasionally our waitress or the cook would join in, and the evening ended with everyone who worked in the restaurant singing arm and arm with most of the audience joining in. It was an amazing night.

With Rachel, we had a second incredible fado experience at Mascote de Atalia. It was a tiny little place, and we crammed onto tiny stools and knocked elbows with strangers while different singers belted it out within a foot of us. I loved the variety at this show: older gentlemen, younger women, guys our age, everyone just singing fado with gusto. I also loved the sangria!

Awesome Day Trips

Not only does Lisbon itself offer so much to travelers, you can take the excellent public transit to several nearby towns for even more fun. We went to Sintra, Cascais, and Evora, and I loved all of them.

Sintra is the crazy town in Portugal that is full of castles and homes of extremely wealthy people: everything from an 9th century Moorish castle to a 19th century Romantic, Freemason fantasy house. Our favorite sights in Sintra were Quinta da Regaleira , the Moorish Castle, and Parque e Palacio Nacional da Pena. All of these places are insanely photogenic and fun to explore, with a different vibe at each so you don’t develop “looking at fancy things” fatigue, a real syndrome common in European travelers.

Quinta da Regaleira is the most modern, and it is this storybook house where the owner was very into Romanticism and Classicism and Freemason symbolism. Rachel and I took a guided tour when we went, and we think our guy may have been a college professor because the knowledge he was imparting on us was way more sophisticated, advanced and cerebral than the typical recitation of fun facts for tourists. We had a ball even if we didn’t understand half of what he was saying. His disdain for the large groups of tourists taking selfies was also hysterical.

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The Moorish Castle is a Game of Thrones set come to life perched on a mountaintop, and the best part is you get to crawl all over the ramparts and towers and steep staircases, which is a little nervewracking at times but deeply fun.

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The Parque e Palacio Nacional da Pena palace is just fun and silly. A bold color scheme, amazing views, great tiles, and all sorts of wacky details just begs for taking many, many, many pictures. We obliged.

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Getting around Sintra is part of the adventure. You can walk and develop bulging calf muscles from climbing the steep, steep hills. You can ride a shuttle bus. Or…you can brave the slightly terrifying option: negotiating with tuk-tuk drivers to take you on a madcap ride up the mountain. We did all three, but the tuk-tuk rides were definitely the most memorable!

Another day trip from Lisbon is the gorgeous seaside town of Cascais. Ben loves the ocean, so the three of us grabbed a bus from Sintra to make it to this beautiful place just in time for sunset. We strolled along the Atlantic, took a short hike to a gorgeous cliff-side cave with crashing waves and the setting sun, and then tucked into a seriously fresh and delicious seafood dinner.

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Finally, we took a day trip to Evora. This was actually supposed to be an overnight trip, but when we turned up at the train station in Lisbon (with all of our stuff, mind you), we were dismayed to find out that due to a train strike, our train would not be going to Evora that night. In fact, no trains would be going anywhere in Portugal that day. Well. Okay then. We kind of stood there for a minute scratching our heads, tried futilely to find a bus, and then decided the universe was sending us a signal to stay in Lisbon and try again tomorrow. Which we did, and it worked out great! Rachel found a lovely guesthouse with lovely hot showers, we had a great dinner, and we decided to try to get to Evora the next day. As Ben joked, it isn’t a trip to Europe with a train strike, and we got to check this off our “European Adventure” bingo card.

We took a bus to Evora the next day. We were excited about three things in Evora: the wine, a very…unique chapel, and the megaliths. The Evora megaliths are the Stonehenge of Portugal, huge arrangements of stones in mysterious circular patterns. Even more thrilling, the Evora megaliths actually predate Stonehenge by over 3,000 years. Most archeologists think that the Evora sites were built over a period of 6000-4000 B.C.

Okay, full disclosure: no one but me was excited about the megaliths. But Ben and Rachel indulged me, and we signed up for a guided tour of the three main sites.

It turns out that a lot of positive development happened with large stone circles between Evora and Stonehenge, which I assume is a little more WOW than what we saw in Evora. While I can only imagine how much work it was to move those big boys, all of the sites were just….big rocks. Furthermore, and I’m sorry to use this description, but it’s true: we had the worst tour guide ever. A big personality is needed to make the megaliths come alive, and we got the opposite with our guy. I joked that the megaliths themselves had more personality than our guide, who not only didn’t give much interesting information about the megaliths and the society that built them, but didn’t seem to want to talk to us much at all. He was deeply awkward, yet oddly came alive when droning on about the cork trees and cork production in the region. I think he may have the wrong job, and it’s a shame that we didn’t get someone with a bit more pep.

Things turned up though, when we went to the infamous Chapel of Bones. This odd church from 1500s results from an overcrowded graveyard and some over-imaginative priests. These clergymen were concerned that the townsfolk weren’t taking their mortality seriously, so not only did they create a CHAPEL OF BONES for crying out loud, but they also inscribed a chilling message above the entrance. “Nós ossos que aqui estamos, pelos vossos esperamos,” which translates to “We bones, are here, waiting for yours.” GAAAAH. Mission accomplished, priests! It was creepy, fascinating, and definitely not something I have ever seen or–hopefully–will ever see again.

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Finally, we found a fantastic wine bar and enjoyed some local red plus delicious snacks. A peacock poked his head in the door, and we had a great time abusing our poor tour guide and just enjoying the tasty fruits of Evora. A fitting end to a wonderful time in a wonderful country. Obrigada, Lisbon!