Lisbon Day 1

Woah, this week has gone by in a whirl! I’ve had a girlfriend, Amie, in town visiting, and we got back in from Lisbon late late on Tuesday night. On Wednesday I had a stomach bug, and was bed-bound for 24 hours. Thursday was crazy-busy catch up at work, and Friday I had an Asics shoot at the crack of dawn. So it’s been one hell of a long week, and Amie is still here, and we are still having fun! I love it when life sweeps you up and you don’t have time to think. Sometimes I have long periods of reflection or day dreaming about the future. But it’s busy times like these that I tend to live in the moment the most, and so far September has been very. . . . present!

So, without further ado, here’s day one of Lisbon adventures. Amie and I wanted to go somewhere in Southern Europe where we could catch the last of summer. I’ve been to Spain and Italy, and Portugal has always been on my bucket list. So following a crazy random Facebook conversation, Amie and I decided to book tickets to Portugal on a whim.

^ ^ This is the view from the front of our house. We were in a quirky rainbow-house neighborhood, in a modern flat with beautiful hardwood floors and a stunning balcony.^ ^ This is the view from our balcony. In the back of the house was a spacious hill overflowing with greenery, and at the top was a beautiful church, the Igreja de Nossa Senhora de Penha de França.^ ^ Neighborhood views v vOn day one we walked into town and rode the famous tram 28 up into Alfama. We could see the castle from the bottom of the hill at the tram stop. Can you spy me with my camera on the tram?! v vWe zoomed up the steep hill, dangerously close to onlookers.When we got to the top, the views were breathtaking! I shared a few photos of Lisbon the other day, one of which was taken from this stunning lookout point. We snapped a few obligatory lookout point photos at the top, before winding down into the red-roof neighborhood below. We passed under grape vines, archways, and shady palm trees. The neighborhood was a balmy blend of old and new, with fresh flowers, graffiti, and arched red roofs. ^ ^ My favorite car in Lisbon. We stopped for lunch at Patio 13, an outdoor restaurant with big white umbrellas and a huge open air grill. The menu ranged from huge selection of fresh fish to grilled meats and vegetables.We went for bread, cheese, salad, soup, pork and grilled mackerel. Ohh, and sangria. Lots and lots of sangria!! Amie eats lemons!! v v The best most amazing part of the meal was dessert. Amie had the rice pudding and I had the chocolate moose. And both were to die for. But the chocolate moose? Out. Of. This. World.Stuffed, we continued our walking tour of Lisbon.
v v Seagull head!We wandered up and down alleyways and steep hills, and at the top of hill number I-lost-count, we found an adorable pink lady bar overlooking the city.We were seated in a pink cabana, and ordered house iced teas.^ ^ Sweet white seduction, anyone?

Our iced teas lasted about 30 seconds before we moved onto something slightly more refreshing v v We watched the sun set from our girly cabana, before tipsily wandering home, back to our colorful neighborhood. We went via the local corner shop and picked up snack and sangria supplies, and prepped for a mini dinner on the balcony. The sun reflecting off of the red square houses in our neighborhood was stunning! What a lucky balcony view. v v We sipped wine until it was dark outside, catching up and reminiscing about the good old days. And of course planning out our exciting adventures yet to come!