Itīs really an incredible city. It has a huge amount of things to offer and is honestly one city that I think I could live.
I arrived there after a harrowing 14 hour bus ride from Bilbao after I couldnīt find any trains. Itīs been a constant thing for me to take the buses, since the trains are always booked. The buses have been great up to this point. They are air conditioned, clean, and cheap. but 14 hours...something was wrong with the onboard toilet, but I wonīt get into that here...
I arrived in Bilbao at 6 am, so of course everything was closed. I hiked with my backpack to the Plaza Comercial, which is the gateway to the city by the water, and watched the sun rise. There is an archway that leads to the main road (Aurea) that bisects the city to the downtown of Lisbon. The sun starts at the archway and lights up the city as it rises.
Lisbon has a beautiful mosaic rock/tile in the city that makes everything look clean and new. That combination with the white-washed buildings is incredible.
I checked into my hostel which was a good deal. My own room with a shower for $20 euro per night. The Dues Naoches. It was nice, except the free breakfast was really crappy and the staff were rude. One particular guy didnīt like me to the point it was comical. One day I was asking him for the laundrymat, and he just grunted. I do know how to ask in Portuguese, but he acted like he didnīt know what I was talking about. He also said he didnīt know english, but later I saw two australian girls talking to him and he said, ĻYeah, there are a bunch of assholes from Sydney though!" He saw me walk in and just grunted again. Good stuff.
That morning and every morning after that I went to Cafe Braseleria. It was down the street from my hostel and had incredible pastries and coffee. The first morning I ordered a great coffee with milk, A huge fresh crossiant, and a bowl of fresh fruit, and it was 3 euro. My first taste of Portugal was that is was cheap compared to Spain, with good food, so it was a good start. I got to know the guys working there pretty well.
I met two girls from Italy at the Cafe Braseleria who knew english. My mother asks me, "Why are you only meeting GIRLS on this trip??" It does seem to be working out that way up to this point, but like I told her, there donīt seem to be nearly as many male travelers as female. I would break up the traveling demographic to this point roughly as follows. 30% two women traveling together, 30% couples, 15% two men travelling together, 15% single women traveler, 10% single male traveler. I find this extremely interesting seeing that women seem to really outnumber men for travellers..
Made a couple of day trips from Lisbon. Went to Monastary and saw place where Portuguese Travelers/Conquerers (Magellan, etc) went before their travels to pray. Belem is a small castle that was used to protect the port and as folklore has it was the inspiration for the rook design in the game of chess. Great pastry shop out there as well, Pasteria de Belem. Itīs really huge.
Went to Sintra which has the Palacio Real (woudnīt recommend it), and the Castle of the Moors. Thought this was great. Really beautiful views from there.
Also took day trip to Cascais, a beach 40 minutes from Lisbon. Nice, but not San Sebastian nice. Big positive was I had a beautiful dinner of fresh salted cod, calamaria and potatoes with some local fisherman. So fresh since caught that day. That was fantastic.
Iīm looking forward to returning to Lisbon again sometime in the future.
Next off to Lagos.