4 Days in Lisbon

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt about living and renovating your own home – it’s that you don’t get a break. Ever. We work, we sleep and we work some more. We have paid jobs and we then we have our unpaid job – our home renovation. It doesn’t really ever end. It’s one huge cycle of work.

We’ve taken ‘holiday’ from our jobs before and just spent the time working on the house. Sometimes weeks go past and we realise we just haven’t stopped. So, one thing we’ve decided to try and do to make our lives just a little bit happier and more resting is to plan in lots of little low-cost mini breaks away from the home.

A couple of weeks ago we decided to take our first little break away for a few days and we jetted off to Lisbon, capital of Portugal….

Day 1 // Oceanarium // Cable Cars 

We arrived pretty early in the morning and couldn’t check into our AirBnB until the late afternoon, so  we decided to check out the cute modern area around the Oceanarium on the east side of Lisbon near to the Airport.

Of course we had to enter the Oceanarium! It’s the largest of its kind and unlike normal aquariums that have multiple small tanks, this oceanarium has a one-tank belief. This means everything you see inside a ‘tank’ is actually connected to every other tank in one giant tank! It’s not always obvious as each area is split up to almost appear separate.. But if you look carefully through the water you can see those tanks that appeared separate all inter-connected. It’s awesome! Some of the highlights for me was seeing the otters and penguins. Total cuteness!

We then decided to catch a cable car to check out some seriously glorious views. Sadly, it turned super overcast and gloomy, so everything was a little murky up there and my photos didn’t turn out too great. But we enjoyed it anyhow. This area is super lovely with the colourful trees and little benches everywhere!

Eventually we picked our lazy butts off the cute little seating areas (that by the way, look out over the  sea) and headed down to central Lisbon to check into our AirBnB. It was actually our first time using an AirBnB – we specifically chose it because it worked out much much cheaper than a hotel. We were really surprised with how lovely the room was and how easy the whole process was. Definitely using AirBnB again! After a quick rest and shower, we headed down to the coast to see some of the sights at night and watch the sunset.

Day 2 // Alfama // Sao Jorge Castle // Old Thieves Market // Rossio

Our second day in Lisbon was the most jam-packed one. We caught the famous Tram 28 from just outside our AirBnB and headed down to Alfama. The trams are simply fabulous: wood lined, old details that still remain – Yep, I was in some sort of tram-heaven. One thing I would say about the trams however, is that oh-my, did they get busy! Don’t be expecting a seat if you’re not on at the first few stops!

Our first stop was Sao Jorge Castle, a lovely little castle with one hell of a view! The view was definitely the highlight of this place for me. Every corner you looked over was just another spectacular view. I’d say these were the best views of Lisbon we saw.

We then took a stroll around the streets of Alfama to check out all its little quirky narrow streets and lanes. They were b-e-a-u-tiful! I could definitely happily own a little piece of Lisbon right here! Some of the street art was pretty amazing too!

We loooove markets. So of course, the Old Thieves Market was on our to-do list! It was actually somewhat more of a car boot with a few hidden little antique gems amongst them… But overall, most of it was just tat. In fact, we saw one vendor selling bundles of old plates and crockery… Only to then smash the whole lot he hadn’t sold at the end of the day! Clearly they hadn’t been worth anything and he didn’t feel he would be bringing them anywhere to sell again. We didn’t end up buying anything but we did see some items of furniture we would have loved to have bring home. Sadly our carry-on luggage only just wasn’t quite big enough. 😉

Day 3 // Belem // Belem Tower // Gardens

We had the best weather on this day – It was like summer again. I think I may even have gotten a very small tan 😉 We took a 15minute train ride down to Belem to check out its tower! But first, Coffee Portuguese style. In Lisbon they seem to mainly drink espressos, so naturally we had to try one. I actually opted for an espresso with milk mixed in. I think the waitress knew I probably wouldn’t be able to handle it 😉 But it was seriously tasty.

We did go up the tower, which had several different floors each with a look out view across the sea before reaching the rooftop with the best view. I think I could definitely make this place work as my next home 😉

You probably know how much I love gardens. We went to some in Thailand, we’ve been to some in the UK – I just love gardens. So we had to go to one in Lisbon too. The one we went to was in Belem only a short walk from the town, called Jardim Botanico Trpical. On first views it looked lovely, but the deeper we went into it, the more un-maintained it became and eventually it felt like we were walking around a set of American Horror Story. Broken glass houses, creepy overgrown plants, there was even an old house with no windows and graffiti all up the walls on the inside. Grant LOVED it. I strangely enjoyed it too.

Day 4 // Time Out Food Market        

We only had a few hours left to explore on our last day. Our flight was at 4pm and we literally ended up getting to the boarding gate as they were making the final call. I was only a TAD panicking! Why did we nearly miss our flight? Because we were just so busy enjoying all the food this market had to offer! It was simply de-licious! A little pricey, mind.. But so worth it. I had the most chocolately delicious mousse and some kind of potato-puree/egg/bacon dish. Not quite sure what exactly it was, but it was tasty non-the-less.

We had a great time in Lisbon, a little break I think we needed and I’d totally recommend Lisbon as a lovely relaxing little city break. It was really actually rather quiet for a city, it had a much more ‘town’ feel to it, in my opinion.

I can’t wait to plan our next adventure 😉 I’ve already got the travel blues!