I have been lucky enough to travel quite a bit within Europe. I have been in the north, the east, the west and the south of the old continent, yet there was a little piece of land that I had never set a foot on. I had never been to Portugal nor Spain. Not that I had no interest, I had actually been wanting to visit Portugal for a while, but ... it just never happened. There would always be a better deal on Germany, or another amazing eastern european country to discover, or... well, Budapest.
I am one of those travellers that is always torn between discovering a new country and visiting a good old lover. So this time, when my friend and I were planning this trip I naturally found myself in that position again. Venice or Lisbon?To be honest, I really wanted to visit Venice again, despite having already been there twice. We eventually ended up booking flights for Lisbon, and I am SO glad we did.
Don't get me wrong, I would have loved walking in Burano again, and hearing italian all around me, but Lisbon exceeded my expectations. I knew the city would be lovely, what I didn't know was how much I'd love it. Almost as much as Budapest, which, if you know me, says a lot.
There are a few things that make me think " I'm going to live it here". Among those, architecture, people and the vibes of the city. I have a thing for slightly hectic, old, messy architecture. When different kinds of buildings, eras, styles and colours are all blended together in a street, I feel happy. When I get to experience multiculturalism, I'm happy too. I perhaps strangely, feel at home when I see asian supermarkets, indian restaurants and hear several languages in the same metro wagon. I also love narrow streets, little shops and restaurants, laundry hanging from windows and colorful walls.
People were also very lovely. I felt safe, comfortable, the metro was efficient and clean, the metro stations really impressive and artsy ... To make it brief, I loved Lisbon. As soon as I stepped oustide the plane, felt the sun on my face I knew it would be a good trip. Later, when we met the fruits&vegetables sellers down the road where we were staying, and we started chatting and ended up leaving with free oranges, I knew it would be a really good trip.
And when I saw all the blue walls, blue azulejos, the blue sky, I knew it would be a wonderful trip.
I still have loads of pictures from Lisbon, including some of the most beautiful religious monuments I have seen and many pictures of the amazing Sintra. So I shall see you very very soon, to share all that beauty with you!
