Lisboa. October, 16th-20th.

we have a new love and its name is Lisboa.
we had just 4 days to explore the city and of course we did not see everything we wanna see, but it is a good reason to pay another visit. it was my first time in Portugal, so i can't give any advice as an expert. i'm sharing a list of what impressed us about the city instead, along with some analogue shots.
enjoy a ride through this vibrant, nostalgic, decadent, colorful, capricious, relaxed and tangled town. 

collage of azulejos. which one is your favorite?

11 things we love about Lisboa

l. the azulejos
i think you've already figured it out from the pictures! it was something that i was longing to see, and i wasn't disappointed at all. they are poems, of various shapes and colors, that give style and personality to the old houses. i'd spend hours photographing them. and oops, i did.

2. the food is incredibly good
we had eleven meals in Lisboa and it has been a great experience, every time. good food at good price, this is one of the best things that can happen while travelling. i bet they have a special way to marinate the meat before grilling, because churrasco was delicious. and i ate the best pork ribs ever.

arco de Rua Augusta | elevador de Santa Justa

3. tram 28
an absolutely non-touristic service, but an actual means of transport used by locals, that has become a must in every Lisbon trip. why? because it is charming and vintage looking; it makes an adorable sound; drivers are an endless source of anecdotes and tips; it takes you to the most interesting places of the town; sometimes it is scary as a merry-go-round {when you know that you're not going to crash, but are still worried} when it passes through the narrowest and steepest streets; you can observe the daily lisbon-life; it is relatively cheap. why relatively? one-way ticket costs 2,85 €, which is not cheap, but the daily Viva Viagem card costs 6€ and it's valid  for unlimited trips on tram, bus and metro lines for 24h. 
n.b. taxis are (relatively) cheap, too. 

miraduro de Santa Luzia

stairs

4. free art

there are some museums with free-entrance, like the Museu do Design e da Moda and the Museu Colecção Berardo. and, on sunday morning, all Lisbon museums are free entry. isn't that wonderful?

5. drinks are good, too!

porto, ginjinha (com!), sangria, coffee. portugueses have good taste when it comes to drinks, too. 

doors | left: mosteiro dos Jerónimos | right: the front door of our airbnb's charming flat 

Rossio

they said goodbyes at the door and now she watches him going

6. pasteis de nata in Belem
we're talking about food again. street food, to be precise. pasteis de nata are delicious pastries filled with custard. they can be found in every bakeries of Lisboa, but eating them at the fabrica dos pasteis de Belem  {founded in 1837, next to the mosteiro do Jeronimos}alone is worth the trip.

7. changeable weather
the city is moody. sometimes she's punding and puffy clouds thicken over the Tejo. 10 minutes later it's raining. 15 minutes later the sky is so blue you want to sing.
unpredictable and whimsical, like a girl.

castelo de São Jorge

near the miraduro de Santa Luzia

8. the language

 i consider portuguese as the language that taught me to love foreign languages. i was seventeen, i had been studying english for years, but i used it just at school, i had never taken a trip alone, never had the need to actually use a foreign language to understand or be understood. then i spent one month in Brazil, discovering the beauty of meeting and getting to know a different culture. 

of course, the Portugal's portuguese is very different, but hearing that was music to my hears. 

street in Alfama

9. lively people, streets, cafès
it may sounds as a cliché, but people are actually nice. even if they don't speak english, they know the universal language of smiles and gestural expressiveness. or maybe we have just been lucky.
the city is teeming with life, but still relaxed and informal. it seems a beautiful place to live.

10. different neighborhoods with different souls
Belem, Graça, Alfama, Estrela, Castelo, Chiado, Bairro Alto, Baixa, Rossio, Alcântara: every neighborhood we visited has its own personality. explore and understand them is a challenge! 

mosteiro dos Jerónimos. i love the light on this one.

11. similarities with Italy

yes, we travel to see something different. but sometimes is funny to see something that is, in certain ways, familiar. many features of Lisboa reminded us of Italy. old people gathering at the bar, playing cards or watching football, the omnipresent coffee (espresso), a capital city built  on seven hills, the glorious history, lots of churches and greengrocers, hanging laundry. have you noticed other?

vespa 42L2 {marco insisted on showing this one}. we saw many vespas, and just one lambretta. unfortunately, it was too dark to take a picture of the lambretta, but we were lucky enough to meet the owner, a lovely girl who speaks perfect italian. we chatted for a while but didn't exchange contacts. too bad. 

playing cards

marco and azulejos

address book
this is lisbon hostel | rua da costa do castelo 63 (entrance from escadinhas marquês ponte de lima 1)
cozy hostel in Castelo, friendly atmosphere. clean and quiet. amazing terrace. we loved our breakfast with a view on the rooftops!

airbnb flat in Estrela | travessa peixeira
a cute flat in a quiet neighborhood, well connected, on the tram 28's route. clean, nice price, lovely details. our hosts were the kindest!
{there is a beautiful bookshop nearby, called Palavra de Viajante, that sells travel -and travel related- books}

a vida portugesa | rua anchieta, 11
best shop in town. make sure to buy your souvenirs here.

fabrica dos pasteis de Belem | rua de Belém 84-92 Belém
see point 6.

churrasco da Graça | largo da Graca 45
see point 2. delicious churrasco.

museu Nacional do Azulejos | rua da madre de deus, 4
beautiful museum to learn more about this art form

mosteiro dos Jeronimos | praça do império
stunning. UNESCO wolrd heritage site. make sure not to miss it.

taberna ideal | rua da esperança 112
loved it. delicious sangria, vintage hints, eclectic menù, super kind staff. the don't accept credit cards.

museu Colecção Berardo | praça do império
huge art collection that covers the entire 20th century. free entry, free wifi, ok to take pictures. wow!

lx factory | rua rodrigues faria 103
pure creativity. hip place with cozy cafes and restaurants, nice shops in a former textile factory. sunday market from 11am.

fragoleto | rua da prata 61
creative ice cream flavors. try the one with goat milk.

street musicians in largo do Carmo

{nikon em + kodak color plus 200 | fujicolor 200}
to see some other pictures, visit i diari della lambretta's facebook page or my flickr.