(The view from our hostel window)
Lisbon was great: well worth the - now let me add this up real quick - 26 hours or so of travel time that it took to get there and back. The flights themselves were short and, aside from the one flight which found both of sitting in separate middle seats, pleasant. The layovers, though... Well. We were stuck in Frankfurt for about 10 hours on the way there, and about 6 hours on the way back. Boring. Mind numbingly, sit in an airport under flourescent lights in an uncomfortable chair boring. We did take a short trip into the city center, but that turned out to be shutting down at about 11pm, so we didn't have much to do other than nap in the terminal, the perpetually lit terminal. For that reason, no pictures of Frankfurt are to appear in this post.
Onward, Westward, and upward.
(Placa do Comercio)
(Consulting the Oracles)
Lisbon rules. It's cheap (though it is on the Euro, so we suffered immensely when changing money), easy to navigate, and combines pretty much every aspect of a great European city. It's got the open paved plazas of Spain (and also, I imagine though can't confirm, Italy), the tree lined parks and boulevards of Paris, the mass public transit of London, the historic system of trams akin to Prague or Budapest, and hilly, narrow, tree lined streets with beautifully tiled buildings to boot.
(One of the many funicular trams or "elevators")
(Dad: The man belonging to those feet was about average height. Let's assume that he wears a size ten shoe. What gauge tram track do you suppose they were using?)
(A view from St. George's castle, which was actually built by Moors and then sacked [twice] by Christians.)
(A view from St. George's castle, which was actually built by Moors and then sacked [twice] by Christians.)People are friendly. So friendly, in fact, they're all willing to share their hash and coke with you! Some areas seem a bit touristy, but on the whole it seems like a very lived in kind of city.
(Another elevator. The hills are pretty steep.)
(Another shot from St. George's castle.)
Maybe this contradicts the 'lived-in' feel of the place, but it's also got a huge World Expo park east of town, complete with 'modern' architecture and an aquarium.
(Modern)
(Vasco! The cartoon scuba diving version of Vasco De Gama.)
(This is actually in another part of town. Behind this weirdo is Belem Tower. It was built in the 1500s to guard the river. According what I've read, it sat closer to the middle of the river until 1755 when a massive earthquake changed the direction of the river. Unfortunately it, like most other historical and cultural sights in Lisbon, was closed on Monday!)
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Matt's Definitive Guide to Lisbon
Drink tons of espresso standing up, preferably while inhaling little custard pastries (Pastel de Nata).
Eat pork and clams.
Drink a lot of wine.
Eat a lot of prosciutto.
Ride rickety funiculars.
Watch skate punks.
Hear no Fado.
Buy no hash.
Drink more espresso. Eat more pastries. Don't limit yourself to the little custard ones though.
Hatch plans to return.
