Walking Up a Million Hills

Being new to a city, I always do the same thing: sign myself up for a free walking tour.

Honestly, I really do love starting a city with a walking tour. I don’t know the first thing about navigating this city, nor do I know what’s going to interest me. So to have someone personally walk me around the city and show me the sites in a super efficient way? Yeah, I’m all about that.

Lisbon is a beautiful city. But it’s also built on a hill. With lots of steps. And lots of wind. So in a sense, it’s a good thing it’s so beautiful.

My tour guide took us primarily through Alfama, which is the oldest district in Lisbon. There’s so much character and so many stories tucked away in each alleyway. Old women peer down from their balconies to spy out the new arrivals as we hurry across the heavily cobbled streets. With 2.8 million people living in Lisbon, it’s amazing how small and familiar it feels.

I also ran into Obama while in Lisbon.

Things Condé Nast Traveller doesn’t tell you about: the line for tram 28.

After the tour was over, I headed back to my hostel to finally work out some travel details coming up. I’ve really been slacking on figuring those details out. It’s bad. But now I’m closer to figuring it out!

Then I went back out to take photos during golden hour. However, guess who was the dummy who forgot to bring a spare camera battery? So … that didn’t last long.

I then took myself on a date. I stopped off at a little cafe where I asked if there was a table for one. The host looked at me very sad. I get the pity look a lot. I actually quite enjoyed my solo meal. I worked on sending out postcards and had tuna steak and chocolate mousse. Can’t complain.