Lisbon

We recently took a trip to Lisbon, Portugal and enjoyed it very much.  We arrived in the evening and took the funicular up to Bairro Alto for dinner.

Funicular

At first we were a bit hesitant to explore the back streets of Bairro Alto, and wondered if we had made a bad decision to come to Lisbon.  The streets were dark, run down, and unsafe looking.

Back Streets

However we quickly realized that although the buildings were in a serious state of disrepair, the people were friendly and the area was safe.  The next day we were able to get a few pictures showing the various states of buildings in Lisbon.  You’ll see many that are falling apart, such as in this picture:

Dilapidated Building

But even the dilapidated buildings are covered in beautiful tiles.  Here’s an image with a number of different tiles, all typical on Lisbon buildings:

Tiles

In the light of day, the state of disrepair of many of the buildings actually adds to the character of the city.  Not only are the tiles interesting, but there are plenty of other great architectural features.  Here are a few images of cool doors, for example:

Interesting Door

Another Door

And Yet Another

The history of Portugal is also fascinating.  You can clearly see that it was once a very rich country, profiting greatly from the spice trade.  But as spices went from being worth more than gold to being very cheap, Portugal began loosing wealth and doesn’t seem to have recovered.

Mosteiro dos Jeronimos

The Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, an incredible church, was build in honor of Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the sea route to India.  And there are loads of interesting architectural and historical features throughout the city.  However, perhaps our favorite part about the trip was eating!  The pastries in Lisbon were outstanding, particularly the pasteis de nata:

Pasteis De Nata

We ate 5 or six of these delicious treats each day, sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon:

With Sugar and Cinnamon

It seemed there was a pastry shop on nearly every corner, with unique and tasty specialties in each one.

More Pastries

If you have the chance to visit Lisbon, I’d highly recommend it.  You can see nearly all of the sites in 3-4 days…and don’t forget the great pastries!

The Main Drag