Lisbon, Portugal is the second oldest European capital city (first is Athens). It's a beautiful and vibrant city with a funky, relaxed vibe that I wanted more of. Due to our tight schedule, we only had one day in this lovely city.
My mom and I were staying in the nearby town of Ericeira and we drove out to Lisbon for a day in the city. For some reason, I didn't take many photos. I think it has to do with traveling with another person and not wanting to stop for photos every few minutes. I had also spent a week or two at my apartment in Germany and I was out of practice.
We found a parking space downtown and explored the area by foot. We wanted to do some sort of tour so we walked around and checked out different options like bicycle tours. We didn't find anything that we liked so we walked around on our own. Eventually we got a tour in a tuk-tuk.
The Praça do Comércio was our fist stop. It's a beautiful public square with statues.
The arch to enter the square is magnificent. The Rua Augusta Arch was built to commemorate Lisbon's reconstruction after a devastating earthquake in 1755.
I don't know what's going on with this statue. On both sides, it shows people being attacked by animals. It must be some sort of warning against rabid baby elephants or something. Maybe there was a horrific circus accident in Lisbon's history.
Not only did the baby elephants escape and kill people, it looks like the horses got out too.
My mom and I walked around the downtown area and stopped in to the Church of Sao Roque. This church had some of the strangest decorations I've ever seen in a church. It was full of sculptures that looked like dolls.
I've seen too many horror movies featuring dolls, so it was hard to be completely comfortable in this church. As strange as it was, there was something cool about it.
The church was definitely an interesting sight. Though a little bit unsettling, it was cool to see this unique style.
Eventually we got a tuk-tuk tour and were driven around the city and shown some of the sights. We had walked a fair amount and it was nice to get off our feet and relax as we were shown the city.
This restaurant in the middle of the street/sidewalk looked pretty cool. The streamers overhead make me think it was a wedding, but I think it was just a regular restaurant.
Like many of the old cities in Europe, Lisbon had plenty of cute little streets and alleyways. I don't know why I like these little streets so much, but I do.
This is my last photo of Lisbon. I really wish I had taken more while I was there.
After our tour of Lisbon, we drove back to Ericeira. We rested a little bit at our apartment then went out for dinner. Ericeira was such a cool little town. I think it made for an awesome place to stay. It's close enough to Lisbon for visits, but far enough away to have it's own relaxing vibe.
I loved the style of some of these old buildings.
The little downtown area of Ericeria was great. It's a perfect place to go for a walk after having a great dinner.
We walked back to our apartment to turn in for the night. On the next day we would start our road trip south.
I really enjoyed Lisbon a lot and regret getting so few photos. While in Lisbon, I remember thinking that it was a place that I'd like to come back to for a few weeks on my own. It would be awesome to be able to slowly explore the city and get a better impression of it. My mom and I were on a fairly tight schedule and couldn't spend much time there. We both had flights to catch on a different continent.
I hope you'll join us tomorrow as my mom and I begin our journey south.