Lisboa

A few weeks ago, Kristin's mom was here visiting us. We spent some time showing her around Munich in the summertime. She was first here in November, but Munich is 100 times better when the weather is pleasant. And the weather was beautiful while she was here, that's for sure! After a few days in Munich, we traveled together to Lisbon, Portugal.

Lisbon, or Lisboa as it is called in its native Portugese, is the capital and largest city of the country of Portugal. About 3 million people call Lisbon home, so it's a decent sized city. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean, as well as the Tagus River, so the views are really beautiful from pretty much anywhere in the city. Surprisingly, Lisbon is actually one of the oldest cities in Europe, older than London, Paris, and Rome. The architecture throughout the city is stunning, and there are several very interesting neighborhoods, each with their own "personalities." We really enjoyed exploring the city, despite the weather, which was really cloudy and a little cooler than expected for July in Portugal. However, given the number of steep hills throughout the city (basically, everywhere you walk is either up or downhill), we were relieved that it was a bit cooler. Mom compared Lisbon to San Francisco -- between the fog, the hills, the street cars, AND a Golden Gate Bridge look-alike. Although Matt and I have never been to San Fran, from photos I have seen, I don't think it is too far off. Our favorite neighborhood in the city was Bairro Alto. This area had tons of shopping, cafes, bars, and restaurants. Apparently, it is really popular with the young, hip crowd in Lisbon. We really enjoyed experiencing the culture of this area.

On one of the days, we ventured out to the town of Sintra, which was about a one-hour train ride from Lisbon's city center. Located at the foot of the Sintra Mountains, Sintra is known for its Romantic architecture, stunning parks, and interesting castles. First, we visited the Pena Palace, which is located on top of a hill above the town. In 1838, King Ferdinand II acquired the old monastery that was located on the site and transformed it into a palace intended to be the royal summer residence. The palace's exterior is stunning and the interior houses old furniture from that period. Unfortunately, the heavy fog prevented us from being truly able to appreciate the palace in all its glory. But we were still impressed.

After exploring the Pena Palace, we moved on to the Castle of the Moors, which is a hilltop medieval castle. It was first constructed during the 8th-9th century. We walked along the walls, but again, the fog prevented us from enjoying the otherwise stunning views. Nevertheless, it was interesting to see. We finished the day in Sintra at an adorable cafe near the train station. We weren't expecting such a delicious lunch, so that was a pleasant surprise!

One of the highlights for us was definitely all of the amazing food and wine that we tasted while in Lisbon. Everyone in the city was so friendly, especially the waiters and waitresses at the various restaurants and wine bars that we visited. On our first evening, we went to an outstanding tapas restaurant. For those who are not familiar with tapas, they are a variety of appetizers or "small plates." It has become trendy in recent years to make an entire meal by sharing various tapas. This type of cuisine is typically Spanish; however, considering Portugal's proximity to Spain, there are many tapas restaurants in Lisbon, as well. On the first night, we shared a sausage dish, delicious baked brie, a mixed cheese plate, olives, bread, and a delicious beef dish. We also had an awesome bottle of Portugese red wine for about $12! We were off to a great start in Lisbon. Throughout our 4 days in Lisbon, we tried some other tapas places, as well as a more typical Portugese restaurant where we enjoyed some great steak. We also continued to enjoy various Portguese wines. Matt found us a really unique wine bar where we had the chance to taste some really special wines from all over Portugal. It was a lot of fun! We finished our trip with a fantastic dinner at another really cool tapas place. The food was just outstanding.

Note: We only had small glasses from each of these bottles, NOT the entire bottle!

We did have some sunshine (a lot of sunshine) on our final day in Lisbon, which was absolutely gorgeous! We soaked up the sun by exploring the nearby beach town, Cascais.

Overall, we had a really great time in Lisbon. The people were all so friendly, the city was beautiful, and the food was fantastic! Plus, it was just nice to spend some quality time with Mom. Not sure when we will make it back to this beautiful country, but I'm sure we will return at some point. We would love to see some other cities in gorgeous Portugal.

Up next... Our friend Mikey's visit and our trip to Budapest, Hungary!

Bis Später,
Kristin and Matt