Day 25: Lisbon is for lovers

Our journey to Lisbon was supposed to start via train from Porto, but on our scheduled departure date the Train Workers Union of Portugal decided to strike, so we drove!

3 and a half hours later we arrived at a rainy, sleepy city and free hotel upgrade (whoop!!). So equipped with a free minibar and a huge tub, we decided to spend the evening at “home” and relax.

Our first full day we got A LOT done, and walked all over the city starting with breakfast and ending with a late-night Fado show. Fado is a beautiful, terribly sad (yet makes you smile) style of music that originated in Portugal and was sung by world explorers miss their wives during the Age of Discovery, and by fishermen’s wives missing their husbands. Yet again, we followed in our friend Anthony Bourdain's footsteps and went to the same Fado bar as he did. Unfortunately, the night ended when the gal sitting next to me barfed in her purse... TMI?

Anyways, If you don’t know, I have an insatiable appetite for anything baked, anything sweet and anything creamy. Standard savory dishes are fun to sample and taste but I’d prefer to spend my calories at a bakery. As if we hadn’t already eaten way too much in Porto; Lisbon introduced me to a whole new addiction. Just imagine for a moment a croissant and a creme brulee had a love affair and gave birth to one of these dangerous little tarts, tiny little pieces of heaven on earth called pastéis de nata. We paid homage to the inventors of my new favorite treat in an area of Lisbon called Belém, located about 90 min walking from Lisbon proper along the river.

Lisbon offers many historic sights and is super walkable, but be prepared to recruit your glutes to make it up and down all of the hills. There are trams throughout town, but you might become a human sandwich between tourists and locals alike. Speaking of sandwiches, a must-see in Lisbon is the Time Out market near the waterfront. This old fish market turned hipster-paradise is seriously legit. You can find lots of tasty dishes including fresh seafood (Sea Me), fresh de natas (Manteigaria), and roasted chicken to die for (Miguel Laffan).

So with full bellies, see ya later Portugal!

xo

K