Thursday, April 01, 2010
Bom Dia
I’ve traveled a lot in the last year or so, but other than a quick weekend in Bintan last September, I haven’t traveled anywhere new since visits to HCMC and Penang in December 2008. I also haven’t been to Europe since a business trip took me to Germany (during Oktoberfest, no less) in 2006. So I was very happy to take a trip to Lisbon for a week in March and try something new. My friend Linh and I looked at a number of travel possibilities and I’m glad we settled on Lisbon.
The trip started with a bit of stress due to a cancelled flight and then another flight change, all of which saw us land in Portugal at 7am…needless to say, our hotel wasn’t quite ready for us. So we headed out to get something to eat and start exploring for a few hours, and I’ll admit I was a bit confused that first day.
After a day, though, I settled into the Lisbon pace. People there are pretty relaxed, without the mad crowds of New York or Bangkok or London. Everyone moves a little more slowly, whether on the streets or in a shop. The exception, though, is going for pastries and espresso in the afternoon…do NOT get between older Portuguese women and their Pastelis de Belem!!
We walked through streets where people hung their laundry outside their windows, visited castle grounds, strolled through the woods…all of it helped by the good weather we enjoyed throughout the trip. Unlike cities that have built upwards like San Francisco or Hong Kong, Lisbon has spread outward…the views from atop the hills (and we climbed a lot of hills) were beautiful, with no skyscrapers marring the view. We saw a man in a box, ladies in windows, penguins, people hanging onto the outside of the tram, an outdoor elevator, the mayor of Lisbon, an angry lady working in a restaurant, the town of Sintra, almond liqueur, and lots and lots of cuties.
The clubs, as I usually find overseas, were fun, crowded, and late. In the US many of our dance clubs close around 2 or 3, but in Lisbon and many other parts of Europe, people don’t even show up until then. Linh and I visited a wide range of bars before going dancing, so we got to see the locals in a variety of settings. When we went out Friday night I was ready to head home by 4:30, but on Saturday I was up for staying out later (maybe because I was getting flirted with this time?). We got back to the hotel around 5:30, showered, took a little nap, then got up at 7 for breakfast at the hotel before returning to bed until 3pm! A good choice, as it turned out, since, being a very Catholic country, lots of things were closed on Sunday anyway.
One really great part of this trip was finally traveling with Linh. Both of us love to travel and we’ve talked about going somewhere together, but the opportunity never worked out until now. He’s a great travel companion and we complemented each other pretty well on this trip. We both prefer to do more rather than less, we’re both up for late night clubbing (with disco naps, of course!), we both enjoy good food (and pastries!), and we also both understand that taking an afternoon to each go do our own thing is a good idea. One thing I really appreciated was his navigation skill – he got us everywhere we wanted to go. Having traveled quite a bit with Stan last year, and now with Linh, and looking toward an upcoming weekend trip with Ethan, I can say I’m thrilled to have the chance to go exploring with my closest friends.
So thank you, Lisbon, for a wonderful week. I might not have thought about traveling to you before, but I’ll be recommending you to all my friends now!
The trip started with a bit of stress due to a cancelled flight and then another flight change, all of which saw us land in Portugal at 7am…needless to say, our hotel wasn’t quite ready for us. So we headed out to get something to eat and start exploring for a few hours, and I’ll admit I was a bit confused that first day.
After a day, though, I settled into the Lisbon pace. People there are pretty relaxed, without the mad crowds of New York or Bangkok or London. Everyone moves a little more slowly, whether on the streets or in a shop. The exception, though, is going for pastries and espresso in the afternoon…do NOT get between older Portuguese women and their Pastelis de Belem!!
We walked through streets where people hung their laundry outside their windows, visited castle grounds, strolled through the woods…all of it helped by the good weather we enjoyed throughout the trip. Unlike cities that have built upwards like San Francisco or Hong Kong, Lisbon has spread outward…the views from atop the hills (and we climbed a lot of hills) were beautiful, with no skyscrapers marring the view. We saw a man in a box, ladies in windows, penguins, people hanging onto the outside of the tram, an outdoor elevator, the mayor of Lisbon, an angry lady working in a restaurant, the town of Sintra, almond liqueur, and lots and lots of cuties.
The clubs, as I usually find overseas, were fun, crowded, and late. In the US many of our dance clubs close around 2 or 3, but in Lisbon and many other parts of Europe, people don’t even show up until then. Linh and I visited a wide range of bars before going dancing, so we got to see the locals in a variety of settings. When we went out Friday night I was ready to head home by 4:30, but on Saturday I was up for staying out later (maybe because I was getting flirted with this time?). We got back to the hotel around 5:30, showered, took a little nap, then got up at 7 for breakfast at the hotel before returning to bed until 3pm! A good choice, as it turned out, since, being a very Catholic country, lots of things were closed on Sunday anyway.
One really great part of this trip was finally traveling with Linh. Both of us love to travel and we’ve talked about going somewhere together, but the opportunity never worked out until now. He’s a great travel companion and we complemented each other pretty well on this trip. We both prefer to do more rather than less, we’re both up for late night clubbing (with disco naps, of course!), we both enjoy good food (and pastries!), and we also both understand that taking an afternoon to each go do our own thing is a good idea. One thing I really appreciated was his navigation skill – he got us everywhere we wanted to go. Having traveled quite a bit with Stan last year, and now with Linh, and looking toward an upcoming weekend trip with Ethan, I can say I’m thrilled to have the chance to go exploring with my closest friends.
So thank you, Lisbon, for a wonderful week. I might not have thought about traveling to you before, but I’ll be recommending you to all my friends now!
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haha It's a nap you take in the early evening so you an stay out later at the clubs without falling asleep :P
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