Portugal

19.05.18 - 22.05.18

Lisbon, Portugal is truly a hidden gem! With ocean, as far as the eye can see, cobble stone streets and beautiful buildings built from top to bottom with uniquely patterned tiles, it is a city full of wonder and life.

We stayed in an Airbnb near the heart of the city, making everything easily accessible. Lisbon was the end of a rocky event and a new beginning on our trip…it was the refresh we needed. On our first day, we bargained with tuk tuk drivers to find the best person to show us the city. Tuk Tuks, are little colourful carts that locals drive to give tours and tell you about Lisbon’s history. We managed to find the perfect guide, he did it for a great price and he wasn’t too hard on the eyes (which definitely helped). For an hour, he drove us around and told us stories of how Lisbon came to be, pointed out important buildings and raved about fun places to visit.

Anyone visiting Lisbon will talk about Tram 19. The city centre has cable cars throughout to help people get from point A to point B and Tram 19 takes you to all the “must see” places in Lisbon. While we didn’t ride Tram 19, we watched it go by, which was enough for us.

A huge part of Lisbon’s history and culture is Fado Music. It is a form of music that is normally accompanied with a guitar and it is meant to be very deep, soulful, heart wrenching music. To listen to Fado Music, you have to be respectful and understand that the singer is pouring their heart and soul out.

While we were in Lisbon, we celebrated Sydney’s birthday! This was a really fun day because we rented a scooter from Scooteria and drove along the coast to spend the day at the beach. The owner of Scooteria was so helpful and kind, because I was terrified to drive that scooter! But they made it really easy and fun (I still wouldn’t let Sydney drive because I was too scared). The beach was great, but cold (not quite hot enough). We still had fun though, we chatted with some random locals and the lifeguards and we both got lots of vlog footage.

Every person we met in Lisbon was helpful and kind, which made getting around really easy and welcoming. Talking to locals or other tourists is always great because of the connections you can make with complete strangers.

We only spent three days in Lisbon, which was not enough. I will definitely be going back as soon as possible to bask in the sun, enjoy all the colours and to meet more of the kind people of Portugal.