Lisbon, Portugal

Welcome to Lisbon, a two hour flight from London. We arrived midday, and headed to our AirBnB. Flying in we could see all the colors of the rooftops and just loved it. It is a city by the sea and, I know this will shock you, but we felt right at home. Our AirBnB was in the Alfama district, the southeast portion of the city, built on steep hills, and near the water. We had no idea how much hill walking we would do but it was so worth it. We averaged 15-20,000 steps per day - our calves and thighs will attest to that.

This is the view from our room. But with this view was 71 steps. We booked knowing it was on the 4th floor, without an elevator, and didn't think this would be a problem. What we didn't know is they count the ground floor as zero, so this is five stories above ground. That first journey up, with luggage, was a dozey. But, it didn't take long before our legs and lungs got used to the trek.

We loved all the tile work. This city is covered in the most beautiful tile formations and graphics we’ve ever seen. Most are the Portugal blue and white but there are also other colors. These were a few of our favorites from around the town.

This is the very old trolly (tram) that ran just outside our front door. Tram 28 is famous in Lisbon as the oldest transportation system still running. We tried to get on it but the line was several hours all day long. Notice the narrow streets… this is very common and some are even more narrow.

Day 1, we took off on foot to explore the city and smartly decided to start with a Tuk-tuk ride to get a layout of the land. We had an amazing tour guide, who loved Jesus, and we felt his faith and excitement throughout the morning. This was one of the hilltops overlooking the city. Absolutely stunning with all the colors. It was a bit cool and breezy way up there.

These are several highlights of our day - a beautiful church, one of the many enormous arches in the square leading into the city, and a tower elevator that reminded us of the Space Needle, just not quite as tall. What we didn't know about this day was it was Portugal's indepence day. The streets were jammed packed with people and it was hard to get around. Quite a celebration, everyone singing, waving red carnations, and just having with their celebration. It was a good thing we were on foot.

Day 2, visiting the castles in Sintra, a 30 minute uber ride from Lisbon. There are four in this region, but we only had time to do three, and that was a lot. All were on the top of mountains so the views were amazing, but it took a bit to get to them. They were so grand and such a picture of life in the era of kings and emperors. You can see how big and beautiful they are. Because it is spring, all the gardens were lush and green as everything was blooming.

The roads are very narrow and steep so it is easier to take a bus up and down the mountains. In one of our rides, a couple from Indiana sat across from us and we got to chatting, but at the end of the ride, we parted ways. A few minutes later, we found ourselves at the same restaurant and shared a table. Then we learned we were both traveling to the same places over the next couple of weeks. It was very fun meeting Lindsey and Scott and we hope to connect up with them again.

In one of the castles, we found an undergroud cave and tunnel surrounding the castle following the mote. It was fun wandering through finding all the little hiding spots. I'm sure the royal children had great fun here.

We must talk about the food - oh how we love the food. Portugal is famous for their little custard cups and we now know why. It's on the plate with the croissant and one bite will just melt in your mouth. They are so rich and creamy, we dare only have one once a week. Raviolis, pasta, garlic bread and tiramisu are some of our favorites… but just not every night.

Another favorite eating place was the TimeOut Market. This place is huge and there is every kind of food you could imagine all around the building with tables in the middle. Great concept and so much good food.

Last day we strolled down to the beach. The artists were busy at work before the tide came in. It was fun watching all the activity. Ultimately, the Rhino was reduced to just sand again.