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Loving Lisbon

@ daveNY37

When all is said and done, Steve and I will have spent a little over a month in Portugal.  The majority of that time has been in Lisbon.  It has been absolutely great.  I’m not sure if we could have picked a much better place to hold-up and wait out the winter.  How can you beat mostly sunny days (it has hit 60 a couple times), palm trees, friendly locals, a laid back charm, and relatively low cost of living (by Western European standards)?  After my experience here, I’d recommend this country and city to anyone.

Just getting off the plane at the airport made me a bit giddy.  The weather looked so much better than anything we had experienced up to that point.  After gathering our stuff and assembling a game plan, walking out of the airport to a gorgeous day was quite inspirational.  It was jacket-optional weather, and I felt like hugging the closest palm tree.  Good weather is an automatic mood-booster for me.  But it was for both of us in this case.  We stopped for a quick snack at a BP across from the airport, and had a blast discovering some yummy new food.  After this, the trek towards downtown began.

I was thoroughly enjoying this hike into Lisbon.  As much of a challenge that Paris was, I still enjoyed it.  Throw in better weather and a city with a completely different vibe (very chill, not a trace of anything snooty), and I was enjoying this at a whole other level.  I’ll admit that about an hour into the hike we made a navigation boo-boo and wound up going off track a bit.  It was alright though, we were able to take in many narrow side streets and neighborhoods that we might not have seen otherwise.  Eventually we made our way down to the Tagus River and began to follow it towards downtown.  Thank goodness for my iPhone (which didn’t have a cell signal anymore but everything else still worked) which allowed me to mooch off of various wi-fi signals throughout town.  By doing that, I was able to update maps on my phone to help us find our way to a particular hostel of our choice.  We had set our sights on one, and were making our way there when we just stumbled across a random hostel out of the blue.  What a great stroke of luck this would turn out to be!

Yes! Hostel is located just blocks from the river, in the heart of one of the older sections of downtown Lisbon.  It wasn’t on our list of hostels, but from the outside it looked great.  From the sidewalk I could see the back of 4 Mac computers through the front window.  Hmm, I liked this so far.  We buzzed the front door and were greeted by a guy we’d come to know as Bruno (he’s the man).  As I glanced around the room, everything appeared to be top-notch.  The décor, the furniture, the computers…I was expecting this to be pricey.  Bruno then proceeded to drop a 16 Euros a night price on us.  What?!  Compared to what we had experienced so far, this was great!  Not only that, but he hooked us up with a 4 bedroom with the bathroom attached.  Sweet.  As we settled in that night we didn’t know yet, but this hostel would become our home for a full month.

At first we thought we were just going to be in Lisbon for about 3 days.  The first work-exchange we had set up for Portugal had fallen thru, but we were close to landing another one.  So in light of that, our goal was to take in as much of the city as possible while we could.  The next couple of days were a blur of sightseeing, great food, meeting new people (especially Slovenians), and generally having some sort of adventure everyday.  Some initial highlights:

Go Car Tours:  Patrick and crew have a really great thing going on here.  Basically, they set you up with a slick go-cart to explore town.   You and a passenger can brave the lively streets of Lisbon, cutting off delivery trucks and dodging in and out of traffic with the best of them.  Everyone else is twice the size of you of course, and I loved it!  The car had three wheels and a pretty cool appearance, with a bright yellow paint job helping it stand out even more.  With a GPS and built-in guide, you could follow pre-set routes that included very accurate directions.  All along, your guide would throw-in pertinent info about the area you were passing through, coupled with some witty anecdotes.  Or you could freestyle a little and forge your own path.  Steve and I did a little bit of both.  It was a rush to be racing along the streets with traffic, and that little cart packed enough of a punch to get us up the many hills that Lisbon can present.  Operation was quite easy, and Patrick made sure to walk us through it before we left. At one point I had a trolley bearing down on our parked cart, and I was able to quickly hop-in and take-off easily.  All this came at a great price too.  The first hour is 25 Euros, 20 for the next, and it continued to decrease after that (I got the hook-up though, be sure to inquire about the blogger-discount!).  I would definitely recommend this for anyone who wants to do some sightseeing, but with a more exciting twist. Plus, the freedom to go off the beaten path was a big selling point for us.  They’re in San Francisco, San Diego and Miami, as well as Barcelona and Lisbon for some overseas action.  Be sure and hit them up if you’re going to those cities anytime soon!  Well worth the dough.

Castelo de Sao Jorge:  If you know anything about me, you know I love old stuff.  When I heard there was a castle to visit in town, with Moorish roots…I had to see that!  Set on a hill overlooking the city, this former fortress dates back to the 1100′s at least.  Once inside it provides great views of Lisbon from many different vantage points.  Many original ruins are still there, some are reconstructed a bit, but all of it combines to take you back in time.  I loved being able to climb up on the walls and walk along the ramparts, ascending again into one of the various towers.  There are a couple of pretty narrow spaces so watch your step!  One spot, tucked away near the courtyard had two holes in the wall which drew my attention.  Upon further investigation they reminded me of a massive pizza oven.  For some reason there were peacocks wandering around just outside the walls.  An old guy ripped on a fife-looking instrument, providing a great sonic backdrop as the music echoed throughout the castle.  All this combined to make for a great exploring experience.  Not only that though, but on a sunny day with a cool breeze it’s a wonderful place to just chill out.  If you’re in Lisbon, hit this place.

Yes!  Hostel:  If you’re ever in Lisbon and you want to taste the hostel experience…stay here!  Sergio and his partners have a top notch place here.  First of all, everything is clean and looks to be brand new.  None of the furniture, from the couches in the lounge to the beds, give you that “this looks kinda grimy and I really don’t want to put my body on it” feel.  On the bottom floor you’ll find a posh, cool lounge.  It’s got a couple couches, bean bags, these little wooden seats, tables, and a big bed up against the far wall.  All make for a great place to hang out or have a meal.  In addition, they’ve got the place hooked-up for some great sound. With a disco ball on the ceiling and dj booth nearby, this place can get quite hoppin’ on the weekends. There’s also a projector putting out a big screen view of TV, movies, or even a PS3.  All this, and 4 Macs with free usage as well (free wi-fi in the whole building)!  How can you beat that?  Next to the lounge is reception, and a large bulletin board filled with suggestions of places to go, current things to do, local grocery stores, etc.  Great service! Speaking of that, the staff is excellent!  The guys who run the place (including Sergio) are friendly and interact with many of the people staying there.  They hooked us up with the the big screen for the Super Bowl, and helped us find a channel to watch it on!  The staff from reception to housekeeping are so personable and always willing to help.  No one was a grouch, ever.  I’ve been here for a month so you’d think I would’ve seen that by now.  The rooms are squeaky clean, with a variety of options available.  Everything is kept-up well, with housekeeping coming by just about everyday.  There are large bathrooms you share with everyone, but there a few private ones as well.  There’s even an elevator to take you from floor to floor if you’re just not feeling the stairs.  A full kitchen awaits you as well with two refrigerators, microwave, stove, and it’s well stocked with all the necessary goods (utensils, pots, plates, cups).  To top it all off they throw in breakfast every day!  It consists of cereal, toast or rolls, many jams/jellies (Nutella sometimes!), and an absolutely killer orange juicer.  That alone is worth staying here.  Can you tell I can gush about this place?!  Seriously though, Yes! was basically home to Steve and I for a month.  When we expressed the desire to stay for a long period of time, Sergio stepped up and gave us a great deal.  I’m sure we’ll be staying in more hostels during our trip, but it’s going to be hard to top this one.

Our first couple of days sure flew by.  But as our stay unfolded, we began to think about staying for a few weeks.  Steve and I aren’t very big fans of winter.  Before we even left on the trip we had discussed the possibility of finding a warm, southern European city to hang out in and wait out the cold.  Well, Lisbon was that place.  Spending a month here would turn out to be an awesome experience.  Heck, if the trip ended now our stay in Lisbon alone would have made it all worthwhile.  I’m actually officially appealing to the powers that be to make me the new US ambassador to Portugal.  Well, ok…not really.  But I should.

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