Lisbon
Day 6, June 12, 2025
Our drive into Lisbon was uneventful until the very end. Just getting into the city was an adventure as we tried to navigate large roundabouts with curious exit pathways. We may have done one or more full orbits to get through some. Then came the final challenge of navigating a city that was in the process of shutting down for street festivities (foreshadowing), along with roads originally built for mules and carts, not station wagons. Our Airbnb sat on the narrowest section of Line 28 (foreshadowing) in the oldest part of town, Alfama, governed by interlocking bollards that only allowed one way passage. Our luggage extraction needed to be a carefully orchestrated affair requiring all five of us to perform specific duties so that we did not constipate the tram line. By the time I was done navigating the maze of streets and road blockages and returning the rental car on the other side of town, I was utterly destroyed - Hardest driving experience of my life.
Looking up and down Line 28. Roads just wide enough for a trolley and one person on either side.
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| Our balcony for 4 nights overlooking Line 28 |
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| Trolley stop across the street |
We soon realized we inadvertently visited Lisbon during Festas de Lisboa, the annual June celebration to honor St Anthony, the Patron Saint of Lisbon. It started that night with a massive parade along the center spine of the city where different neighborhoods compete for the top display. Then it spills into street parties. Each neighborhood closes off their streets, blasts live music, pours a steady stream of beer, eats all manner of street food, and dances the night away. Fortunately our place was just outside the blast radius of the loudest street parties, but the revelry was hard to ignore. Had we known about this festivity in our 20s, Nicole and I would have likely made an annual pilgrimage to partake fully. As it was, we’re in the sandwich generation, so we were mostly escorts for my Mom and our kids through the wildest scenes.
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| Ice Cream break |
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| Famous hole in the wall walk up bar pouring shots of Ginjinha |
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| Family time |
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| Zane really wanted that hat |
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| Street party run in. More to come. |
Day 7, June 13, 2025
As expected, our first full day in Lisbon was a food and sites tour with a really cool fella named Nunu (Nicole found him through: https://www.wehatetourismtours.com/. We highly recommend it). He was a lawyer that quit his job to take care of his ailing mother and grandfather and found running tours gave him the flexibility to do so. Yet now that AI is encroaching on the legal profession, he is worried he won’t be able to re-enter that world. Fingers crossed for him. (Note to Zane, he also does Surf Tours in the Lisbon area).
Our first stop is to take the Pepsi challenge and compare the original Pastel de Nata bakeries on the outskirts of town, Belem vs Manteneigeria. Made slightly differently, the winner in my book is Belem by a hair. Nicole doesn’t much care for them at all, and abstained from making a decision. (Note, this also checked off number three on my food bucket list)
Nunu was a wealth of knowledge on the history of Portugal. It was a dictatorship for 40 years until 1975 when it decided to go to war against all of it’s own colonies and the military pulled off a peaceful coup. It has been a democracy ever since. These days Nationalism is beginning to take hold with the same anti-immigration sentiments that we’re seeing in so many places.
We put on some serious miles in his van to take in the key sites across Lisbon.
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| They have a Golden Gate Bridge too! |
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| Nunu appreciated our "Album Cover" style group shots. That's him sitting in the back. |
We had the afternoon to explore the waterfront area. Alfama is a maze of narrow passages and stairs like Venice on a hill. We soon found ourselves swimming against a current of a religious procession which must have been part of the St Anthony’s celebration. It is always interesting to see how some societies hold on to certain ceremonies despite the drop in religious affiliations.
Our pathway took us down a tight passageway past all kinds of restaurants and bars, one of which had the fourth piece of my food puzzle, the Bifana - sliced pork sandwich in a dip with onions, cheese, and mustard. Good golly that was good.
Lisbon is often referred to as the San Francisco of Europe. Or is SF the Lisbon of America? In any case, both cities city on a body of water with a red suspension bridge and are somewhat hilly. But I don’t know. I think SF is more like Sydney or even Capetown. Lisbon does have an impressive square on the water, so we went there next. After a quick bit at TimeOut Market, we took the famous Funicular up the hill to the Elevator look out. (Post Script note, only 3 months later, this same Funicular snapped a cable and crashed, killing 16. It is permanently closed.)
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| I love festooning |
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| Main square at the waterfront |
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| Portal to the center pedestrian shopping district |
The evening was upon us, so we decided to take the long walk back to our place in the reverse direction. It was also time for the street parties to gear up for the night. The once tranquil pathway was transformed into a half mile throng of people all eating and drinking, and dancing. The entire neighborhood was somehow connected to the same speaker system, so everyone was all grooving to the same beat - mostly an upbeat polka style with accordion.
By the time we made it through and back to the apartment, the rest of the crew was spent. But Nicole and I couldn’t get enough of the festivities. This was unique. This was special. If you can’t beat em, join em. We didn’t have anything planned for the morning, so why not burn the candle a little longer. So we headed back out to explore our local neighborhood party. Curiously, different band, same music. (if you’re curious, this was our favorite tune: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=7MECc8I5doI&si=cGJ7zX3rInTyBURF )
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Our street at night was magical
 | The Long Walk Home...
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Everyone was so happy and so friendly. Seeing a community like this is heartwarming. We struck up a conversation with some locals. We learned that this same level of partying is a nightly affair until the end of the month. Weekdays included! Whoa. He acknowledged it can be a bit much, but it’s tradition. So stop complaining and put on your dance shoes. (It would be as if our Lafayette Art and Wine festival lasted for three weeks in a row…).
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| Insta-stage. Just roll up a trailer, drop the side, and rock out. |
Day 8, June 14, 2025
This was our last full day of our three week adventure. This is always bittersweet for me. While I love travel and sense of freedom to explore and learn, it’s time to get back to some normalcy.
Our last day had no particular plans, so I’ll let the pics narrate the story. But of note, Zane and I wanted to ride the metro, and Nicole, Yaeko, and Mom wanted to explore the city garden and book sale. So we did a bit of divide and conquer.
Zane and I were determined to ride Tram 28 the entire length. Tram 28 zigs and zags through tight passages and around blind turns, up and down the steep hills on either side of the central commercial zone like a skateboarder in a city sized half pipe. Like so many bespoke transport lines around the world - Cable Cars in SF, Gondolas in Venice, the Ding Ding in Hong Kong - Tram 28 was once the primary way for locals to get around, and is now mostly for tourists to relive a bygone era, and I love it.
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| Plant lovers |
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| Metro lovers. This one is a bit more modern. |
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| Cool artist enclave |
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| Yaeko's happy place |
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| Cool bookstore in a defunct printing press factory |
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| I could have purchased all of these signs. |
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| Lunch break in town |
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| Apparently this activity is what the locals associate Americans with. The restaurant was desperately trying to mimic a Texas joint. |
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| The waterfront along the Lisbon shoreline has some incredible street art everywhere |
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| Famous elevator tower in town that bypasses an otherwise hilly climb |
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| Strolling back to waterfront area |
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| Main pedestrian avenue spine of Lisbon |
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| Coalesced in the Tram 28 to head back home. |
Some final thoughts on Portugal… We can see the appeal of visiting this country, and I would guess we’ll go back some day, perhaps to visit the Algarve and Azores. Friendly people, excellent food, cost effective, great weather. It checks a lot of boxes. If pressed, I prefer Porto over Lisbon, but being in Lisbon for the June festival was truly special.
Some final thoughts on this overall three week experience (in Rwanda, Spain & Portugal)…
I have found that most of our more extended trips provide some kind of new perspective or understanding. These three weeks were all about the impact of nationalism, autocracy, and colonialism. Rwanda, Spain, and Portugal were all highly impacted by these forces. All have seen the extreme lows, and all have experienced better days after coming together and learning to be inclusive and to cooperate within themselves.
These are difficult times in the United States. We are more divided than ever. There seems to be so much fear of “the other” and things we don’t understand. Yet every time we travel, we are reminded that the vast majority of people are kind and just trying to make ends meet. Every smile we give, gets a smile in return. (Except customs and border patrol folks. Geez, lighten up already). Every time we give genuine thanks, we’re responded with grace. Every time we've asked for help, help was given. Every truly magical moment was always in the presence of others.
I write this as we are whizzing on a bullet train in China. While the locals may go about their lives unlike us, they are welcoming and completely nonthreatening. Before we judge, we must explore and be curious. I shall hold out hope that this current wave of fear of those beyond our borders will give way to a world where we embrace our differences.
Next Stop... China (Hong Kong to be specific)
