Lisbon Wrapup

Finally I had time for this so...

I was really excited about going to Lisbon because I had heard so much about it being a little bit less touristy than other European big cities, I had always liked the food when my parents and I went to Portuguese places in Cambridge, and it just sounded like a nice city. I would say it didn't disappoint. It's very old, duh, and seems largely untouched by Americanism. Sure there were McDonalds around here and there, but no Starbucks, not some of the other big chains. So in that sense it was really like being in another world.

Everyone was wonderfully nice (except the few pushy waiters we encountered). One that sticks in my mind is the restaurant Vossamerce where we ate on our 2nd night in Lisbon. On our last night we were walking around and one of the waiters who had served us several nights ago saw us walk by and waved and asked how we were. Most people didn't really speak English but they made an effort for us and were very kind. It's actually too bad the restaurant hawkers are there because they kind of ruin the experience because they are who stick out in your mind.

There is a lot of construction going on. Some of the elevators/funiculars that are supposed to be so great were closed, as was one of the parks with apparently spectacular views of the castle and city. But the sights are largely spectacular. Going all the way up to the castle was easy using the 27 bus and the views were probably fairly unmatched almost anywhere. You could feel the history walking through the streets of the Alfama and as we were the only people walking around we felt like we were really hitting less-touristy parts of the city. I slightly regret not making it over there for dinner one night.

The sights of Belem were probably the most impressive. The monastery is just unreal and impossible to describe. Obviously in my research I had seen photos of it, but you get off the tram and you see this structure going from left to right pretty much as far as you can see in either direction and you just have to gawk a little bit.

The squares are vast and bustling. We never saw anything shady or anyone getting pickpocketed, though I had heard many warnings about Lisbon. I wore my moneybelt the first day and not after that, and never once felt even remotely in danger. We did take 2 of the apparently more-pickpocketed trams in the city - the 15 and 28 but we took them early in the morning and when they were less busy and perhaps that helped. We got a little scammed by being overcharged by probably 10 or so euros on our taxi from the airport, but better that than being pickpocketed or something.

The LisboaCard was fantastic - it was so convenient to be able to get on the subway or a bus whenever we wanted and the fact that the Lisbon-Sintra and Lisbon-Cascais train routes were covered by it was great and we could make our day to Lisbon and Cascais a really long fun day but also a really cheap day too. I really enjoyed Sintra, except for the heights aspect of being so high in the Pena Palace. But the beauty and quaintness of the little town are unforgettable and even though there were tons of tourists around you didn't feel like people were trying to gouge you. There were reasonably-priced handmade souvenirs, very affordable restaurants, etc. Cascais is also a very cute town. More for going to the beach but it had nice pedestrianized streets and the pastry shop was to die for. Neither of these towns are places I'd probably feel the need to go back to but I am glad I got to see them. And now I can say I've seen the Atlantic ocean from beaches on both sides. Pretty cool :)

The food was very good but mostly grilled meats. I would say the best meal I had was at the Vossamerce because it was beef? LOL. I wish I had tried some more of the pastelarias because the couple I did try things from were out of this world and very inexpensive (a euro or less per piece of delicious pastry)

All in all I would say we had a very good time in Lisbon outside the restaurant hawkers. Part of that was the problem that where we stayed (which was otherwise fantastically located) required that we walk through the hawkers sometimes several times a day. The other problem is that we unfortunately didn't really adventure out of that area most nights to find something different :( But definitely, Lisbon is a great city. Sure there is trash and graffiti but it is nice to see a raw place that isn't so globalized or americanized, and to be able to wander through it and experience it in a largely raw state.