Lovely Lisbon
This post is so late! But better than never. I had 4 amazing days in Lisbon, Portugal this summer, and I have to say, it was one of my favorite cities that I have traveled to. Besides the fact that we had a 4 star hotel paid for us.. ah..ahem.. :-).. the city itself is so interesting and flat out beautiful.
What makes it so interesting? The area it is located in, with all the hills, gives way to incredible and free view points all over the city. These viewpoints are made better by the fact that the architecture, the buildings are so beautiful, some older & some newer, lots of fountains all over the city, the cute cable cars going up the hills, the patches of green throughout and if you get up high enough a view out to the ocean. The small cobblestone streets, while maybe not the most practical, add to this charm, add in the fact that the weather is amazing, (at least in summer), and that the people are relaxed, multicultural, and generally friendly, adds up to something pretty cool.
One of the things I live most about traveling, is getting off the main beaten paths, and finding small local area, out of the tourist traps and highlights. Take this park for example, another free incredible view over the city and out into the ocean. It was relatively close to the downtown area as well. It didn't look like much when I walked up to it, you can't see the view from the entrance to the park, and all I saw was a lot of concrete, a couple pigeons, and a few local people. But as I explored further in, I could here children laughing, I saw about 20 comfy looking park benches with people eating their lunches, all overlooking the city. It was amazing. The laughing was coming from down below the park on the right side. I looked over the railing and there was a sand beach in the middle of the city, with every color of skin you can imagine, all playing together in the water, absolutely beautiful. Talk about surprises, man made beach in center of the city! The two pictures below show some of the views from the park.
On our last full day, we took the tram about 45 minutes out to Cascais, a small town with an incredible beach. Yes the fresh Atlantic water, was FREEZING, but it was still refreshing to get in for a dip after laying in the hot sun.
Incredible food, interesting architecture, beautiful views, nice people, this is definitely a city I would go back to see again, and can highly recommend if you are in the area, plan a trip to Lisbon.
What makes it so interesting? The area it is located in, with all the hills, gives way to incredible and free view points all over the city. These viewpoints are made better by the fact that the architecture, the buildings are so beautiful, some older & some newer, lots of fountains all over the city, the cute cable cars going up the hills, the patches of green throughout and if you get up high enough a view out to the ocean. The small cobblestone streets, while maybe not the most practical, add to this charm, add in the fact that the weather is amazing, (at least in summer), and that the people are relaxed, multicultural, and generally friendly, adds up to something pretty cool.
Our hotel had the most incredible view over the entire city from it's rooftop bar!
Quick tip- don't be those tourists that try to roll three roller bags on wheels and a baby stroller up one of these hills.. bring a backpack!!
One of the things I live most about traveling, is getting off the main beaten paths, and finding small local area, out of the tourist traps and highlights. Take this park for example, another free incredible view over the city and out into the ocean. It was relatively close to the downtown area as well. It didn't look like much when I walked up to it, you can't see the view from the entrance to the park, and all I saw was a lot of concrete, a couple pigeons, and a few local people. But as I explored further in, I could here children laughing, I saw about 20 comfy looking park benches with people eating their lunches, all overlooking the city. It was amazing. The laughing was coming from down below the park on the right side. I looked over the railing and there was a sand beach in the middle of the city, with every color of skin you can imagine, all playing together in the water, absolutely beautiful. Talk about surprises, man made beach in center of the city! The two pictures below show some of the views from the park. 
On our last full day, we took the tram about 45 minutes out to Cascais, a small town with an incredible beach. Yes the fresh Atlantic water, was FREEZING, but it was still refreshing to get in for a dip after laying in the hot sun.
Incredible food, interesting architecture, beautiful views, nice people, this is definitely a city I would go back to see again, and can highly recommend if you are in the area, plan a trip to Lisbon.
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