Lisbon, Portugal

The same architect that designed the Golden Gate Bridge, designed the 25 de Abril Bridge in Lisbon, and if you look between the double posts, you’ll see a difference in how the supports are angled. On top of that, Lisbon is filled with Trolleys that look like cable cars and steep hills, which also give a sense of being in SF. . . the only problem was that it didn’t feel at all like home!

We found a real treat just off one of the squares in town where we ate lunch with the police and firemen. Not only was the place packed the whole time, but the food was interesting, and cheap. We ordered a porkless sausage dish and a fish dish. The porkless sausage was called alheira and was created to give the appearance of eating pork without actually having to sacrifice religious beliefs for the Jewish population. On our walk around the city we found a woman selling ginjinha (cherry infused liquor) from here living room window.

Since Lisbon is very hilly with tram and trolley tracks everywhere, we decided against hiring bikes, and instead got day passes on the public transportation. We rode buses, metros, trolley, and trams all day visiting the sites, wine tasting, and sampling pastéis de nata (egg tart). We also headed out to the Aguas Livres Aqueduct and the Water Museum. The aqueduct is one of the most remarkable examples of 18th-century Portuguese engineering, including the largest stone arch in the world, even withstanding a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in 1775! We walked across the 1 km stretch of the aqueduct, which is sadly, not as thrilling as it sounds.

Lisbon was a stark contrast to the cute town of Porto. We did have a great time meeting people in Lisbon and exploring the vastness of a collapsing city… literally most of the buildings here were falling apart due to some long term rent control and the economic recession.