06.03.08

Portugal Highlights: Lisbon

Posted in Travel at 12:26 pm by rachel

We took a “farewell Europe” trip to Portugal during the last weekend in May. The country had many pleasant surprises in store! Since we wanted to see some sights but also have a chance to relax and breathe amidst all of the traveling and moving, we booked a hotel on the beach about 20 minutes from Lisbon, on the Cascais Coast.

The plane landed around 9am and so we spent the first day exploring Lisbon. First stop: the elevator built in the early 20th century by a student of Gustave Eiffel’s.

It’s bizarre-looking, to say the least, but it took us up high enough to see some beautiful panoramic views of the city:

…as well as the 14th-century Carmo Convent, severely damaged in the 1755 earthquake which practically razed Lisbon.

We took the hilly streets back down to the 18th-century squares that now make up the center of Lisbon.

Seth carried our bag for the whole day, since we hadn’t checked into our hotel yet.

In addition to the unusual elevator, there are many other modes of transportation in Lisbon. The most picturesque are the old trams that are still in service.

We heard great things about the barbecue chicken at one restaurant, so we had lunch just in time to take cover before a downpour.

We leisurely walked to the train station in the afternoon, crossing many plazas on the way. There are tiles all over in Lisbon: they cover entire buildings and street signs are made out of them as well.

The train ride to Carcavelos, where our hotel was, is not too long, but was a chance for Seth to catch up on some sleep (we did get up at 3:30am, after all).

Best of all was the view from the train window. The tracks follow the coast, and at times we were right next to the crashing waves.

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