Life in Lisbon and Madrid

We apologize for the sporadic blog posting! In each city we have had different availability to Internet. This entry will cover two cities, although it mainly focuses on one. From Barcelona to Madrid, we took an overnight train. It was not the best decision looking back as we didn't have beds and it was rather uncomfortable, but you live and learn. Madrid was the dirtiest city we have been in thus far and it was also the hottest! I think these two things may have tainted our opinion of Madrid as it was our least favorite city thus far. In spite of this, the best thing we experienced was a bull fight in an old bull fighting plaza. It was an incredible sight to see with the raging bull in the stadium being antagonized by the single matador in the ring. There was a certain sense of history and art that we felt a part of while witnessing this traditional sport. Well worth the price of admission!













We took a train from Madrid to Lisbon next. I think I speak for all of us when I say that I fell in love with Portugal and it's people while visiting Lisbon. It is a beautiful country with the friendliest people. We stayed in downtown Lisbon in an apartment we rented from a local. We used airbnb which is a website that allows people to rent apartments, rooms and houses to travelers. Matt found the website and it has worked out incredibly well for us.

We rented from a person named Pedro who is our age and turned out to be an awesome host! He gave us a ride to the beach the fist day we arrived. It was an amazing beach with lounge chairs, umbrellas and a little restaurant area. We had lunch and drank the best white sangria. We felt like we were in paradise!







After we headed back to the city. We were surprised by how clean everything was. It has been the cleanest city we have visited so far. There is minimal graffiti, clear skies and a clean metro system.

Some of our favorite nights in Lisbon were spend having a late dinner (around 10pm) as the sun is setting in an area of town called Barrio Alto. In English this literally means high neighborhood. It is a neighborhood set on a hill with narrow cobble stone alleys winding upward. At night the streets are filled with people talking and eating at restaurants and pubs that line the alleys. We had some unbelievable seafood! Some of the best meals we have had so far were in Barrio Alto.


Other places that we experienced while in Lisbon were Caiscas and Sintra. Caiscas is a small fishing village just north of Lisbon while Sintra is the former vacation spot for Portuguese royalty set atop a hill. While at Sintra we toured the castles that kings and queens formerly inhabited. There were some spectacular views!

All in all, we found the people in Portugal to be incredibly kind and cordial. Most people spoke English which was very convenient. Pedro, our host, introduced us to his friends and made us feel right at home. We certainly made a friend in Pedro and will keep in touch with him. We were all sad to leave Lisbon, both the place and the people. We are off to Rome next but, I think I speak for all of us when I say that if given the chance, I would go back to Portugal in a heartbeat! More stories of the journey to come soon.

TCR


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Location:Lisbon, Portugal