So I just came back from five wonderful sunny days in Lisbon. Our short but sweet holidays came exactly at the right time of year – we were all sick of university, courseworks seemed relatively relaxed and London was cold and windy. There was nothing in the way of simply booking a plane ticket and getting away. But first, my engineering crew and me needed to decide on a destination.

Weather, food, nightlife, the ridiculously high availability of beautiful Airbnb apartments at cheap fares, the pretty streets… Lisbon seemed like the perfect choice. And before we knew it, we were on the Stansted Bus. Big thank you to the Mutti of our engineering crew R. for booking, paying, checking in, printing and of course, spreading the love.

 

Prepare yourselves for lots of photos of street views with cable cars, rows of houses with tiles and laundry drying in the sun.

From the very first moment arriving in Bairro Alto, we knew that Lisbon was everything we had hoped for. We quickly met with our charming AIrbnb host (I can only recomment Gonçalos flat) and dumped our luggage, ready to roam the streets of Portugal’s beautiful capital. To kick off our holiday appropriately, we were looking for the ideal spot to have lunch. Our growling stomachs led us to a small restaurant in a quiet side street, where we stuffed our cheeks with pastries, salads, bread, octopus, gazpacho, tuna, shrimps, soup and more. All washed down with white house wine!

So far, so good Lisbon. Been here for a couple of hours and already fell in love with you. After lunch we explored our neighbourhood a bit more, went down to the sea and enjoyed a loooong coffee in the sun. Dinner was followed by our first, but definitely not last, visit to Manteigara – the start of a love story.

 

Sun going down in the streets of Lisboa. Boa noite!