Cityscape on Camera: Lisbon, Portugal

The final big European city on our backpacking trip was Lisbon. Abby, Jonathan and I took an overnight train from Madrid to Lisbon for a few days in the Portuguese capital. Unfortunately, we didn't book our tickets much in advance, so there were no beds left. :( We just sat in regular train cars for the 9-hour trip. It was still way more comfortable than a plane, though!

Patterned leggings are a cultural experience in Lisbon. ;) via @mcstroup on Instagram

Our hostel in Lisbon, We Love F. Tourists, was pretty awesome. It did have a wicked set of stairs, though, so don't stay here if you have bad knees or plan on not being able to walk when you get back to the hostel at night. You can also climb out the window onto the roof for these amazing views of the city and St. George's Castle on top of a nearby hill:

Does anyone want to guess what we did on our first morning in Lisbon? If you said free tour, you'd be right! It was sprinkling a little while we waited for the tour in Rossio Square, but during the tour itself the rain (mostly) held off.

That afternoon, we braved a plate of snails for lunch and took a stroll down the length of Eduardo VII Park. I also snapped a few pictures of the gorgeous and varied cobblestone patterns that cover all the sidewalks and squares in Lisbon.

We happened to be in Lisbon at the beginning of their big week of festas, so the nightlife was like:

We tried going to the famous club in the city, Lux, but honestly, the festas were way better! They also had delicious, cheap food. Abby and I were a little wary of the sardines, but after Jonathan de-boned them for us we thoroughly enjoyed the 2-euro snack.

On our next day, we ventured out of the city to Belem to see the Monument of Discoveries, the Belem Tower and the Jeronimos Monastery.

This was a fun little treat to observe while strolling along in Belem.

Of course, we couldn't visit Lisbon without touring the Castle of St. George. The highlight, though, was probably after we left the castle, when a street musician outside let us play with his puppies. (He probably made more money than any street performer I'd seen in Europe. Those puppies were a smart investment!)

Something makes me think Jonathan's Portuguese ancestors were a little smaller than him.

We also took a short train ride to Sintra, which I had heard was beautiful. We did explore a park and had a delicious seafood lunch, but unfortunately the weather was not cooperating that day so we didn't do too much.

After returning from Sintra, we made a quick stop to the Stadium of the Light so Jonathan could get his soccer (I'm sorry, futbol) fix, and then we rode the train across the 25th of April Bridge to see the Statue of Christ the King up close.

Of course, we arrived at the park containing the statue a mere 15 minutes after closing, so this is as close as we could get to Jesus' face:

"The back of yo' head is ridiculous, Jesus!"

The next morning, Abby flew back to Switzerland to be with my mom, and Jonathan and I boarded a flight to visit his cousins in the Azores, a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic. (Personally, I like to describe the islands as "the Hawaii of Portugal.") Check back next week for pictures of Terceira, the first island on our Azorean journey!

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