What a bloody brilliant trip this was. (Now technically, it wasn’t really 4 full days but we have a little series going on here so let’s roll with it.) Visiting Lisbon was well overdue for me, having been great friends with a Lisboan for 8 years and it was a thrill to travel there with him and hear all his adolescent stories across the city. It was also wonderful to be there for my other friend’s birthday celebrations and to meet her whole family. I definitely want to go back to Lisbon again with more time to take things slow and I feel the need to add another language to my Duolingo.

So what did we get up to? On the first day, we arrived in the late afternoon and I got a drive-by tour of the coastal road between the airport and Cascais where we were staying. With a wee stop off in central Lisbon to see some things. They took me to the oldest bookshop in the world (!!) Livraria Bertrand where I picked up a couple of Portuguese-translated books, saw the fairground that is Portuguese sardine shops and had dinner outside in January without a jacket (!!!). What a novelty it was to feel warm during the winter, a big contrast to Scotland right now. Lisbon is such a beautiful city and I am obsessed with the calçadas (mosaic tiled pavements) and the beautiful azulejos (patterned tiles) all over the buildings. I took so many photos of tiles on my wanders, loved all the tile shops and got myself some coasters that reminded me of the bookshop’s tiles as a souvenir.

The next day was a whole adventure in 20° heat. We started the day with breakfast at a café and my first pastel de nata of the trip which was the most delicious thing ever. The ones we get back home pale in comparison. Our first stop of the day was Cabo da Roca, the most western point of Europe. It was so cool to be there and always glorious to see cliffs and watch the waves, plus there was a busker there which added to the lush vibes. We then went into the town of Sintra for a wander, grabbed some lunch (I got a francesinha which is like a croque monsieur but in a spicy sauce) and then tasted the most delicious pillowy pastry: the travesseiro, which was still warm out of the oven. Have a feeling I’ll be dreaming about her… Wandering through the town was so cute and I browsed some more tile shops before we headed up the hill to the Quinta da Regaleira which had gorgeous gardens, lots of towers, a scarily deep circular well and a palace. Our final stop was Pena Palace which we got to just before closing time and got up the hill in time to see the sun setting. The golden hour light against the red and yellow building was so flipping beautiful and a real highlight of the trip. In the evening we had dinner at a picanha place which was so delicious.

Saturday was another gorgeous day. We stayed up late to see in Deby’s birthday and then left her to her preparations during the day while Bruno and I took the train into the city to explore. We started in Belém seeing all the sights along the coast, sitting by the fountain in the sunshine and grabbing some lunch. I tasted some more of the local pastries and then we grabbed a lime scooter and scooted along the seaside to central Lisbon which was so fun. Another climb up the hills of Lisbon led us to the Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara viewpoint where you can look over the whole city. We sat on a bench in the sun with a wee drink and Bruno told me about his love for his city and how he wouldn’t have expected to be where he is now returning home. It was a really beautiful moment. After wandering around for a bit longer in the sun, we headed back to Cascais to get ready for the evening’s celebrations which was a big dinner with loads of Deby’s family and friends.

And then we come to day four, which was essentially just travelling home. I picked up a final pastel de nata for the journey home and a bottle of port once I had passed security so that I can remember this beautiful trip for a while to come. I’m so grateful for the insights into my friends lives before I knew them, the warmth in January, getting guided around rather than having to plan and knowing that there are more Lisbon adventures in my future because I have to go back.

Até a próxima vez, Lisbon!