Lisbon is both a beautiful city and a lot of work - entirely attributed to the fact that it is hillier than any city I've been to in my life! Everywhere you need to go is up and down hills - often both each way. That aside, it makes for some spectacular viewpoints dotted around the city, apparently seventeen in total.
I walked along the waterfront where you can see the Golden Gate Bridge off in the distance, with Christ the Redeemer at the end of it. Lisbon is so hilly you can see Rio AND San Francisco! ... I jest, but there are actually good reasons for this!
The bridge is American designed and built, and bears striking resemblance to the Golden Gate Bridge in both colour and design. The Christ the King statue was inspired by the more famous one in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil being a former Portuguese colony, the connection makes sense! I couldn't get a photo that would do it justice myself so here's one I stole off Google.
It was nice to have some input on what to do by Nelson's cousin and boyfriend, locals often know a little more about where to go and what to do. One cool thing they took us to was a little community district in the more suburban area of Lisbon, where they served cheap home-cooked food and beers. They also have a bicycle workshop where people go to get advice and clues to how to fix their bikes, neat!
The absolute best thing I did in Lisbon was eat a pastry. Pastel de Nata. Its a traditional Portuguese pastry that has a soft pastry outer with a eggy-custard inside. Eaten warm topped with cinnamon and powdered sugar, no pastry I've ever eaten comes close! They are so popular that a store in the main square is set up and only sells these pastries. They even ring a bell when they are fresh out the oven for optimal consumption. Delicious!
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From Lisbon I jumped on a train up to Porto. Among other things, Porto is the official home to port wine - making it a must-visit destination for me! It is a little less hilly than Lisbon which is nice, and the city had a great feel to it. The hostel I stayed at was quiet but full of great people.
The day that I arrived, Sunday, was the opening ceremony for the students of Portugal. Walking around the streets all you could see and hear was mobs of students chanting and parading around in their Harry Potter cloaks. (I mention this because JK Rowling actually got her inspiration for the cloaks in Harry Potter from the students of Portugal!) You can watch their ... enthusiasm, below.
I did a walking tour the next day, lead by a great local guide. He explained a lot of interesting information about the sights we saw, not just an onslaught of dates and names that a lot of walking tours seem to rifle on about.
One such example was how the Portuguese built a cathedral that was designed to look like a castle. When Porto was invaded by the French, they avoided ransacking it because they thought it was a military installation - clever!
The city has quite a few abandoned buildings around - run down with not enough money to renovate so they are simply bricked off to stop squatters living there. One street artist has taken to graffiti on each of these bricked up doors in protest to not allowing homeless to take shelter here.
I did a port wine tasting tour while in Porto, something everyone here has to do. We got to visit three different wineries where they explain how the different port wines are produced - different sized barrels and storage time yields different colours and tastes.
I got to try a 2007 Vintage port - I cant imagine how much a glass of that would cost back home! Even the regular tawny ports here are great and can be had for only a few euro.
I flew back to Madrid from Porto, my last stop before heading towards home. I decided I should be home for Christmas and found cheap flights to do so. I paid only 15 euro to fly from Porto to Madrid! More on that to come...
We are looking forward to xmas with you.
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