A Spin in Lisbon — ALEXANDRA.MBK

When we told our friends and family that we were moving to Munich and looking for travel recommendations nearby, so many people recommended that we make a trip to Lisbon. I had personally never been to Portugal but have always been a HUGE fan of Portuguese cooking, so I was really looking forward to eating some incredible seafood. In my head, I assumed that Lisbon would feel very similar to Spain, but I was so wrong. Lisbon is a city entrenched in a rich, albeit dark, history that is infused with vibrant colors, kind people, truly delicious food, and even inspiration for the greatest book series of all time (if you know me at all, you automatically know I’m talking about Harry Potter). Both Matt and I agreed quickly that our quick spin in Lisbon was unforgettable and we highly recommend it to fellow travelers.

Per usual, Matt and I flew in late on Friday night, checked in to our AirBnB, and started our adventure early Saturday morning. After scouring through all of the different tours possible in Lisbon and the surrounding areas, we decided that it would be best to do a walking tour in the morning and explore different districts within the city on our own. We would have loved to explore the surrounding cities and towns, but unfortunately we left on Sunday morning and decided instead to maximize our time within Lisbon itself. The walking tour we chose, however, was fantastic. Because February is not a busy time of the year for tourists, we were the only ones on our walking tour, which allowed me to discuss history and culture at length with our brilliant tour guide. Because of Portugal’s extremely close proximity to Africa, much of its history is greatly influenced by both European colonization/expansionist desires and Africa’s fight for independence - indeed, Portugal played a lead role in the Atlantic Slave Trade, which was responsible for the mass transport of African slaves to America. The tour we selected focused more on religious developments within Portugal, but in my head I kept being like, “so are we just going to ignore the slavery part of the history or what?” But I’m sure other tours would have focused more on that. What I’m trying to say here is that while Portugal is stunning and rich in history, it is important to remember its dark past as well.

But back to the tour. Before we arrived at the meeting place for our tour, we decided to grab a quick breakfast at a cafe nearby. We ordered a couple pastries and an omelet that we were going to scarf down quickly, but both Matt and I were so shocked and overwhelmed by how delicious the omelette was - seriously, you’re not supposed to notice how ridiculously tasty an omelet is, but we savored each bite. I’ll mention more food later, but every single thing we ate in Lisbon was so delicious, with the most ordinary of food transformed into something extraordinary. After we finished our heavenly breakfast, we met our guide Andriy at the Jardim Afonso de Albuquerque. Afonso de Albuquereque was predominantly known for being the Duke of Goa, as he conquered Goa, India and established Portugal as a dominant force within the spice trade. Across the street, we could also see the presidential palace as well, otherwise known as the “Belém Palace.” From here, we began walking towards Jerónimos Monastery, but before we arrived, Andriy took us to the most famous pastry shop in all of Lisbon, the Pastéis de Belém. More than 100 years old, the bakery uses the same recipe the monks created for pastries at the monastery, resulting in delectable pastels that Matt and I devoured. Lisbon is known for its incredible pastries and we were lucky enough to skip the line for the most famous of them.

(Click image above for more pics of the start of the tour)

After the pastries, we went to the Jerónimos Monastery, which was built to mark the Age of Exploration in Portugal. Built on the site of the former chapel where Vasco de Gama prayed before sailing to India, the area consists of a chapel, cloisters, and tombs. A cloister is essentially an open or closed gallery within a monastery, and this one opened up into a courtyard and was two stories. Adorned with round arches and imagery depicting the religious significance of the monastery as well as the nautical importance of Portuguese culture, Matt and I spent a long time walking around the entire area and marveling at all of the little pieces of art hidden everywhere. It was beautiful and very peaceful. We also learned about the inspiration behind by the name, St. Jerome. St Jerome was a doctor and theologian of the Catholic Church born in the 4th century. He was reputed to have removed a thorn from a lion’s paw, so in most artwork depicting him, he has a lion with him and books…I kid you not, my life dream is to be St. Jerome: surrounded bt cats and books. After the cloisters, we walked into the chapel, or the Church of Santa Maria, which is completely held up by six massive columns and was eerily beautiful.

St. Jerome himself - the man, the myth, the legend

(Click image above for more pictures of the stunning Monastery)

We then walked through Lisbon and along the harbor until we arrived at the Torre de Belém, which looked like it came straight out of “The Count of Monte Cristo.” Before we arrived though, our tour guide told us about the 25 de April Bridge, originally called the Salazar Bridge, which is a large suspension bridge that looks very similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. It was here that we learned about all of the Harry Potter references inspired from Portugal - J.K. Rowling moved to Porto, Portugal when she was writing the series, and there are many instances that she drew from whilst living there. From cafes and bookshops inspiring classic shops in Diagon Alley, to students wearing the robes that exactly mirror those worn at Hogwarts, to the houses drawn from her experiences there (Gryffindor from the Fonte dos Leões and Salazar Slytherin based off the Portuguese dictator Salazar), it is pretty clear that the Portuguese aesthetic heavily influenced the greatest series of all time. Naturally, I was very excited, but I digress. The Torre de Belém itself is a tower that was built as a sort of lighthouse and served as the point of embarkation and disembarkation for explorers in the 16th century. Originally, it was built in the middle of the Tagus River, but it is now near the shore because the river shifted after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. We did not go inside, but we marveled at its beauty and walked around the shore.

(Click image above for more pictures of the Torre de Bélem and the walk along the harbor)

After the Torre de Belém, we walked to the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, which is a massive monument celebrating famous Portuguese explorers and visionaries. At the front of the monument is Henry the Navigator, who was responsible for initiating the Portuguese “Age of Discovery” with 33 other important figures on each side. Within the square, there was also a giant map of the world which showed the true expansion of the Portuguese empire. It is all extremely impressive and unfathomable to grasp how far they traveled, but again, it is important to remember that there were many negative consequences of the travel (e.g., slave trade). Our tour ended here, which was a bummer because our tour guide was extremely impressive and knowledgeable, but we decided to grab a quick lunch afterwards. I was craving seafood, and luckily we found this incredible little restaurant and ate the most delicious and authentic seafood gumbo-like dishes of our lives. Portuguese cuisine is seriously amazing.

(Click image above for more pictures of the Padrão dos Descobrimentos and lunch)

After lunch, we decided to explore the Alfama district on our own. We walked around the Sé de Lisboa, which is the oldest and most culturally important church in the city, before making our way up to the Castelo de São Jorge. Even though you can only grasp the structure of the Castelo now, the true beauty lied in the views of Lisbon from the top. We spent a few hours exploring the grounds, but mostly we were enraptured by how stunning the city of Lisbon was and how much it resembled San Francisco.

Views from the top of the Castelo de São Jorge

(Click image above for more insane views of Lisbon and the Castelo)

At this point, we were starting to get pretty tired from the long day, but we decided to just walk through all of the different districts of Lisbon, including Rossio Square, the Alfama District, and Barrio Alto. The culture is very vibrant in Lisbon - there were always locals out and about, shopping in the markets and creating art. For some reason, there is also a HUGE effort to sell drugs there. I cannot tell you how many times Matthew was stopped and asked if he wanted a variety of drugs - like what? I was never stopped, so obviously they’re sexist, but the drugs they offered just kept escalating. This was in the middle of Rossio Square and tourist areas so it was pretty bizarre. But still, we managed to resist all of the offers (not so hard) and make our way to the Mercado da Ribeira, which is a huge indoor market. We ate some more delicious fish, walked around and experienced the crowded night-life scene, shopped, and decided to return to the AirBnB. Our day was absolutely exhausting, but exhilarating. Even though our trip was short, we really feel like we experienced Lisbon, and definitely highly recommend everyone to visit at some point in their lives.

(Click image above for more pictures of the various districts of Lisbon)

(Click image below for more pictures of random sights around Lisbon)

Until next time,

Alexandra