Lisbon

We arrived in Lisbon on Friday morning after the 12 or so hours on the misleadingly named 'Sleeper' train. The train itself was very comfy and fancy with a nice wake-up call and breakfast with views over the epic countryside, but the ride was bumpy throughout the night and neither of us got much shut-eye. When we got to our host's place, we crashed out til the afternoon, then spent the rest of the day sat people watching in Sao Sebastiao park. 

The Gorgeous Santa Apolonia Station:

Views from the train

On Saturday we visited the Alfama district which is one of the old parts that survived the earthquake of 1755. It was made up of winding narrow streets, which were fab to get lost in. Many of the houses were tiled on the outside and the area was very sweet, even if the hills were a pain in the arse. 

Alfama

On Sunday we visited the much more modern Baxia area. It had some cool monuments and was clean and spacious but I just didn't get a nice vibe. There were a lot of pesterers here too: blokes trying to sell knock-off sunglasses and even some guys approaching us offering weed - probably part of some scam were a fake copper turns up to 'fine' you on the spot. Ha. To make up for this slight crappiness, we stumbled upon a botanical garden which turned out to be a nice haven for a couple of hours. 


On Monday we had time to kill waiting for our Madrid night train, so went back to Alfama for some Portuguese tapas and then headed home to pack. 

Pros:

Prices: A nice drop from Paris. Supermarkets here were really cheap and we were feeding ourselves on about 4 euros each a day. 

Spaces: Lisbon has some great parks and a lot of the city is very pretty - particularly Alfama. 

Metro: Another thing I noticed was how clean and modern the metro was - spaced out and open, with background music and lights along the edge of the platform that lit up when the train was arriving. A nice change from the cramped and manky Paris Metro. Lisbon's not yet outgrown itself.

Cons: 

I noticed a few beggers about in Lisbon, including people on the streets and a few people on the metro - including a blind chap with a stick walking up and down the carriage. Similarly, the streets were a little dirty with dog dirt and litter - particularly the part we were staying which was more residential - it all felt safe though.