Lisbon, Portugal

The last stop on our anniversary trip to Portugal was its capital city of Lisbon. 

Up until then we had explored the incredible Algarve coast with it's sunny cliffs and delicious seafood....we had sipped Port wine and soaked in the painted blue tiles in the magical city of Porto, so when we arrived in Lisbon to POURING RAIN...it was a bit of a rough start. 

But...the next day and a half, even through the clouds and rain, Lisbon shined. 

Sadly, my camera lens stopped working the last day, so I only have a few pictures to share with you.. but 

Here are our Lisbon highlights! 

- Walking Tour of the City...Our trusty Rick Steve's travel guide had 3 different walking tours in the 3 distinct districts of Lisbon (1. Alfama & Castle 2. Barrio Alto & Chiado 3. Baixa), and each one was unique and special in its own way. 

My favorite area was definitely the Alfama. You can look out over the entire city which was such a delight. The bougainvillea was in full pink glory and just seemed to border everything in sight. Its was magical! From the Alfama we walked back down to our hotel, and it was so fun exploring the colorful neighborhood with all it's nooks and crannies! 

I also really enjoyed the Praca do Comercio, a huge main square right on the water. It's impressive government buildings and expanse are a site to behold! 

- Listening to Fado Music....there are lots of places to listen, but we chose a glorious little restaurant tucked into the Alfama that had a lady belting out the most beautiful Portuguese Fado music. The food was excellent, the ambiance superb, and the price just right. You can even do a quick google search for good places to hear Fado, but we enjoyed getting lost in the Alfama and finding a hole in the wall place! 

- Sighting the Cable Cars...Lisbon really did remind me a lot of San Francisco with it's rolling hills, cable cars, suspension bridge, and colorful buildings! The cable cars operated all over the city, and were so fun to spot. 

- The Food...we ate at a variety of places...a hipster cafe called Dear Breakfast was delicious (try their beetroot latte! I'm not sure what I liked better...the color of it or the taste. It was yummy!). We ate at the hole in the wall fado restaurant in the Alfama which was devine. We split a most delicious paella at an open air sidewalk cafe on one of our walking tours, and capped things off with trying all the local delicacies that we saw as we walked along! (pastéis de nata, croquetes, and pastéis de bacalhau) 

We booked the trip last minute so only had limited choices. We stayed at a cute hotel in the Chiado district and it was the perfect landing place, however if we were to go back we'd try to get an Airbnb in the city. There are so many cute options! 

Our time in Lisbon was such a whirlwind, so it's definitely a place I'd love to come back to. If we had more time we would head to Belem and Sintra! Oh well, just an excuse to return!