Trip to Lisbon
At the beginning of October, I had some days off because of the Chinese national holidays (even though I’m not in China anymore, I follow the Chinese work calendar), so we decided to visit Lisbon. It is actually quite close to my hometown (a bit over 3 hours by car), but for some reason I’d only been there once when I was 10 years old.
Have you ever been to Lisbon? It seems that it’s become very popular in the last few years. Indeed, there were a lot of tourists! We had summer weather during our whole visit, and I think this is going to be the hottest October ever recorded in many parts of Europe.
Lisbon is quite hilly and full of quaint little streets.
Because there are so many hills and slopes, Lisbon has lovely old trams and even street elevators.
The most typical thing to do in Lisbon is… enjoying the views! With so many hills, there are many lookouts.
The first day, we visited the Praça do Comércio and we went up on the arch to enjoy the views (very few tourists, bonus points). Later we went to the castle that overlooks the city and that is dedicated to St. George.
Another day we went to the Science Museum and the aquarium. The Science Museum is perfect for children, there is a room with a circus theme and play things to touch and try. Adults are welcome to try too! I tried a nail bed. After I lied on it, the staff pushed a lever and nails went up! So fakirs don’t have any special powers, it’s just science!
The aquarium is pretty cool, and together with the Science Museum you can spend a whole day. We also rode the popular cable car that goes along the river. Do you know what we saw from up there? HUNDREDS of jellyfish!
Another day we went to the Belem district, where there’s a famous tower, a monastery and the most popular pastries in Portugal (egg tarts).
Apart from Lisbon, we also went on a day trip to Sintra, a nearby town which is famous for its castles and palaces. We visited the Quinta da Regaleira, a big mountain garden with a palace and other buildings in a very particular style.
But the most surprising thing we saw in Lisbon was… a falcon being used to keep the pigeons away in the middle of the city!
Lisbon seems to be a popular destination for sure. The well in Sintra is featured in a book I just read (The Golden Enclaves) and I’ve seen friends posting on FB. I hadn’t seen the Science Museum before, but it looks amazing for kids.
The well is indeed very famous. I read about it recently in an article titled “The most mysterious places in the world” or something like that, and when we visited it I was a bit disappointed. Maybe the throngs of tourists didn’t contribute to the feeling of mystery, hahaha.
Lisbon is such a beautiful city to explore and photograph. I’ve been to it more times then I can count and always found something new and exciting to see and do. Lisbon can also be used as base for exploring nearby towns and villages such as Ericeira, Mafra and even Peniche 🥰
Thanks for the suggestions! I definitely have to go to Portugal more often.
Great photos.
Lisbon looks so pretty (and clean!)! I’d like to visit one day :)
I’ve watched video about the Freemason well/tower. As soon as I saw the well photo before reading the caption I shouted to myself ‘Freemason well!’!
It’s warm here too in Catalunya about 7C warmer than usual.
The well was a bit of a disappointment. Too many tourists kill all the mystery, hahaha.
I know! So many tourist here too!
I think if you can go down the well to under the church that’s the excitement!
Seems like you had a fantastic trip. The photos definitely make me want to visit Lisbon in the future.
It’s interesting that there were so many jellyfish in the river.
Lisbon (and Portugal, in general) should definitely be on your list when you head to Europe!
What a beautiful city. Thanks for sharing your trip with pictures. Sigh. One day. I’ll see the world. Until then, I’ll live vicariously! xo
Hey, you can travel during your holidays! Teachers have a lot of holidays, right?
Hahaha. Too many other expenses right now. :P Glad all is well and thanks again, xo
What a beautiful city! Every photo I’ve ever seen of Portugal shows that same bright blue sky. Your pictures are delightful.
Jellyfish can be so beautiful–as long as you don’t get bit. I don’t understand about the nails. Didn’t they hurt?
The thing with the nail bed is that, if you’d stand on it, then you would get hurt because all your body weight would be on a small surface (your feet). If you’re lying down, you feel the nails come up when the staff pushes the lever, but they don’t hurt as the weight is spread over a big surface (your whole body).
Thanks for the explanation.
Your pictures and descriptions have whet my appetite to visit. We’ve talked about going to Portugal for awhile to see Lisbon and Sintra. Sintra has a Templar knight history that I find intriguing. Glad you had a good time.
It looked like a good trip to Lisbon! The views are really amazing, and looks like you got a lot of sunshine too. I hope the falcon was good at keeping pigeons away from the city. We get a lot of pigeons and they never go away at all. They come around all the time and are everywhere.