Lisbon Love: Day 1 of 2
GREETINGS LOVEBUGS!
Its been a hot minute since I put up a travel post so I am SO excited to share these next few posts with you about my recent trip to Lisbon and Albufeira. My amazing friend Mary got married in Albufeira two weeks ago and myself and my friend Niamh decided we would take full advantage of the time and planned a two day trip to Lisbon before hopping on the train down to Albufeira for Mary's wedding (more to come on that - it was the most amazing wedding of all time and deserves an entire post of it's own. I bawled, naturally). So, grab a cuppa and brace yourself for a HECK load of photos and a recap of our first day in Lisbon. If you've never been, put it on your list - it's such an amazing city!
Day 1 started in Niamh's house in Dublin with a 4am wake up call to go to the airport. WOOHOO! Running on 2.5 hours sleep, we successfully managed the drive to the airport, the slow-moving security queues almost broke us (what part of TAKE YOUR LIQUIDS OUT OF YOUR EFFING HANDBAG DO PEOPLE NOT UNDERSTAND), I couldn't do the job of airport security, honestly, I barely have the patience to be a waitress as it is. We made it through without any difficulty and basically ran to the closest coffee dock. Coffee and croissant in tow, making us feel slightly more human again, we boarded the plane to Lisbon. A quick 2 and a half hours later we landed. Running on purely coffee at this point, we grabbed an Uber outside the airport and he brought us straight to our adorable little air bnb apartment.
Despite it being 9:30am, it was SO HOT outside and of course I was dressed in 4am Dublin weather airport clothes - black leggings, a grey hoody and a denim jacket. To say I was melting would be an understatement! We arrived at the apartment and after a hilarious exchange with the elderly next door neighbour Ms Angelina - who spoke only Portugese and laughed every time we said anything - we managed to use sign language and hand gestures and figure out where we were staying. I wish I had a photo of the stairs up to the apartment, I'm not exaggerating when I say they were literally vertical, wooden and so small you couldn't fit half your foot on one step. Serious hazard if you are stone cold sober, never mind if any kind of alcohol is involved (which we promptly found out). If anyone follows me on snapchat (siofiee_93, same as my insta) you'll have seen the video I took of Niamh going up the stairs for the first time (to the third floor might I add) and I'm just hysterical in it. She also tripped which I caught on Snapchat too.
After some breakfast, some Sangria (it was noon okay) and a tactical power nap (the coffee had worn off and we literally couldn't move), we set out again to explore Lisbon. As you can see from the photos, these amazing purple trees are everywhere you look in Lisbon and they just make the whole place look even prettier. Lisbon is actually a really big city so I'd advise doing even a small bit of research on where you think you'd like to see before you head off, just so you're not wandering aimlessly (*also fun to do) and missing things you might really want to see. We walked around for quite a bit, taking in all the adorable cobbled streets, purple trees, trams and oh - the HILLS. Hills everywhere. Be warned. Bring comfortable shoes. And perhaps some fitness, I hear that makes things easier generally.
Top - Zara
Shorts - Vintage Levis Nine Crows Templebar
Shoes - Stan Smiths (Schuh)
Glasses - Penneys/Primark
Backpack - Penneys/Primark
We walked the entire way along the water's edge and came across at giant building with signs outside saying Time Out Market Lisboa. I'll leave a link here so you can see properly what it's like, but its basically tonnes and tonnes of food stalls from different countries, different types of food, drinks, sweet things - you name it. It was honestly one of the best places I've ever eaten and I was so beyond content there. One thing you have to try in Lisbon is the infamous Pastel de Nata - basically a custard tartlet pastry type situation. They are so so good. A stall in the market called "Manteigaria" had them selling for only €1 and they were to die for! If you are in Lisbon I would 100% say a trip to the Time Out food market is a must. Click the link above and see for yourself.
Stuffed but happy, we rolled ourselves back outside into the evening sun and kept walking along the waters edge, happening upon the port and the main square, along with the main shopping/restaurant area of Lisbon. Be warned: They have an amazing Zara and H&M and also Brandy Melville. Shield your eyes if you're trying not to spend money!
Stuffed but happy, we rolled ourselves back outside into the evening sun and kept walking along the waters edge, happening upon the port and the main square, along with the main shopping/restaurant area of Lisbon. Be warned: They have an amazing Zara and H&M and also Brandy Melville. Shield your eyes if you're trying not to spend money!
Next up was the Santa Justa Elevator - literally a wrought iron elevator casually in the middle of the street. €5.50 gets you up to the look-out point at the top - an amazing way to see all of Lisbon at once! We went in the evening time just as the sun was starting to set which I think is a good idea - the whole place looked beautiful and I think being up there in the heat during the day might not be very bearable!
Another attempt at the outfit photo shoot..
After a life-threatening Tuk Tuk drive home (hilarious experience, they literally go 60 miles an hour on the cobbles and you feel like the whole thing is going to flip over) and a quick outfit change, we headed back out for some dinner. After some amazing Tapas and a few glasses of wine, we decided to explore the nightlife of the city a bit, promising ourselves we would not 1) Mix our drinks 2) Be hungover the next morning as there was more exploring to be done and 3) Be home really late... But then we found a dingy little bar that did double vodka tonics and double gin & tonics for €3.50 .. €3.50!!! So that was the end of that. Needless to say we had a fun-filled night, met some hilarious and interesting people roaming the streets and nightclubs of Lisbon and rocked home (up those stairs) at approx 4am. Whoops.
All in all a great first day and night in Lisbon! Hope you enjoyed this post - apologies as per usual that it's so long and rambly... Would it be my blog if it wasn't though?
Thank you for reading, stay tuned for Lisbon day 2!
Síofra
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