Should’ve Stayed Longer In Lisbon

2019

It seems that I like regretting more than I like planning, because if not I would have definitely planned ahead in order to stay longer in the beautiful city of Lisbon and see more of the country of Portugal as well. Lisbon was the first stop in my 5 week post-grad trip around Europe which would take me to Barcelona, Geneva, Prague, Vienna, Rome, Nice, and then finally Istanbul in that order. The days did not work out properly for me to spend a full 3 days in each city, so I had to choose one to spend less time in. In hindsight, I should’ve picked maybe Barcelona or Prague, but because I planned this whole trip during final exams and flew the day after graduation, I decided on a whim to spend less time in Lisbon.

Lisbon is an amazingly colorful, culturally rich, and vibrantly unique city that I had the pleasure of exploring and doing my best not to offend anyone with my basic Portuguese. I believe Portugal as a whole country is a rather underrated travel destination. When people think of visiting Europe, they often think of Rome for the history, Ibiza because they love music, or London because thank God they also speak English. That’s at least how I think. However, in the future I would be quick to recommend Lisbon because I also cannot wait to visit once again. There’s so much more of the city and its surrounding areas to see and my few days there just barely scratched the surface.

Much like many other capital cities in Europe, Lisbon does a great job of mixing history with the contemporary. The wide spread of colorful buildings you see in these pictures are part of Lisbon’s old town, or Alfama district. At the top of a hill in this district is a historic castle known as the Castelo de São Jorge which has served a variety of purposes since the 12th century. While a great way to explore every nook and cranny of this part of town is by foot along the cobblestone streets, the lazy are also welcome to take a ride on the iconic trams that move all around the city. Aside from the old town, Lisbon also hosts a smooth public transport system, plenty of aesthetic restaurants, and a variety of opportunities to go sailing since Lisbon is a port city after all.

During my time here, I heard about a little town called Sintra and I decided to go immediately to see everything I had seen online in person. However, my excitement was hampered by the fact that I am inept and decided to take the train at 4:30 PM and arrive around 5:15 when mostly everything closed around 6. To my surprise, the world does not revolve around my desires and places close earlier than I thought, which meant that I had wasted two hours going back and forth. However, I was dazzled enough by the photos I saw online to carve out the whole next day in order to explore the town of Sintra and all the color and history it had to offer. Looking back, I would say without a doubt that Sintra was one of the more spectacular places I’ve ever had the privilege to visit.

The photos above are simply not enough to provide a full portrait of the many sights available in Sintra. That’s also due to the fact that my day trip was not enough time to see all of the places available. I was lucky to have time to see my top 3 attractions here which were the Pena Palace, Castle of the Moors, and the Quinta da Regaleira, another palace which is also classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bouncing around the splendid palaces and castle while listening to soundtracks from some of my favorite childhood movies (Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter/Narnia) as if they were soundtracks to my own adventure is an experience I will likely never forget.

One other goal I did have in mind during my time in Portugal besides taking the iconic tram was to ride in a tuk-tuk. If you are unaware of what these delightfully fun vehicles are, then you should visit Portugal and find out for yourself! Having spent most of my day in Sintra on foot, I was glad to find a few tuk-tuks outside of the Quinta da Regaleira which I could ride to the train station. This is also where I had the delightful opportunity to meet Laura, my tuk-tuk driver, who had a beautifully decorated red tuk-tuk. It was great talking to her and learning that she’s from Germany, but has been traveling around Europe and now lives and works in Portugal. She let me take a photo in the front seat, but I really should’ve asked to drive it. Maybe one day in the future when I return to this amazing place.

I picked Lisbon as the first stop on my Europe trip simply because I had never been to Portugal and wanted to visit as many different countries as possible, but having been there and back I am so glad I did. Even though I almost burst my bladder trying desperately to find a public restroom after I took the train back to Lisbon (thank God for American fast food restaurants), everything else was splendid and I even got to climb out a window to the roof of my hostel to see the night lights and gaze upon the stars. The next time I return I definitely plan to stay longer in order to capture more splendid views, try sailing, and maybe even take a scenic drive around the country because there’s a whole world out there — let’s go and see it.