Olá from Lisboa!

Our cozy home in Lisbon is on the top floor of an old building in the Bica neighborhood. The Elevador da Bica is just outside our door, which means that every time we step outside, we bump into a group of tourists posing with the bright yellow tram.

Our day usually begins with breakfast at home and a little espresso stirred with a cinnamon stick. Then we pack up and pick a direction, setting out to explore a different neighbourhood.

Without fail, Shruti takes photos of the tiles on the building façades. It’s an ever-growing collection on her phone:

This week we’ve settled into a routine of walking, buying pastries at local cafes, and more walking. The cobbled streets are steep and winding, and we are happily getting lost everywhere.

Our knees have been getting a workout, and Nate wonders how anyone in a wheelchair could manage in this city. We’re on a sloping trajectory, in more ways than one:

Early in the week, we walked through Alfama, the oldest district in Lisbon and famously known to have survived the 1755 earthquake. It’s home to many miradouros, or viewpoints, that dot the city. The cityscape photo at the top of this email was taken there.

We also explored Príncipe Real, with its little bookshops, boutiques and bakeries, Baixa (downtown), Chiado and of course our historic neighbourhood, Bica.

Restaurants here usually offer meat and seafood as their main fare; we enjoyed some garlic prawns, cod fritters and smoked pork belly at a local spot called Isco Casa de Petisco. Inside, the walls were covered in handwritten messages from past guests. Shruti added one of her own:

One thing about Portuguese restaurants: servers may bring bread for the table, but it’s not complementary. It’s called a “couvert” and it needs to be explicitly refused in order to avoid any surprises on the bill. We learned this the hard way :’)

We’ve also been testing out all the little pastries and Portuguese wines. They’re so delicious and plentiful that we could live on them entirely if we didn’t know better (do we know better?). If you have recommendations, send them our way!

A highlight of the week was our trip to Sintra. Known for its old castles and beautiful gardens, it’s a 40min train ride from Lisbon. We stopped at a cozy cafe called Saudade for some sandwiches, then started our trek up the mountain. The local tuk tuk drivers were quick to offer us rides, but we were determined to make the climb on foot.

Our path took us through the winding alleys of Sintra before rising into a mountainside forest trail. We eventually arrived at the park of Pena Palace (which was basically a forest) and marveled at the architecture of the castle. Inside, Nate found an interesting detail in an old stained glass window.

It’s now Saturday morning here, and we’re heading out to the farmer’s market in Parque Príncipe Real.

Tchau for now, and see you next week!