None of us had really done our research of the city so after checking into the hostel, we decided to just walk around the city and see what we could find. Right outside our hostel was a big plaza which I'm unsure of the name and significance of. We were immediately greeted by men trying to sell us drugs. "Hashish, Marijuana, Cocaine?" Unfortunately, this happened many times during our stay. We found out later that the drugs are decriminalized there so probably a good tourist trap for those that want that kind of holiday.
After that, we walked down Augusta street which seemed to be the main touristy street. Walking down it, you get this great view of Arco da Rua Augusta so we walked straight toward it to check it out.
After we passed the archway, everything opened up to this massive plaza, Praça Do Comercio, and it had a statue at the centre of it.
Hunger was setting in at this point, so we scrambled to find somewhere quick and cheap. Once scarving down some sandwiches, we climbed up a hill (Lisbon is very hilly) to see if we could take a look at Castelo de S. Jorge. To our disappointment, it was a tad pricey to get in and see the castle and the grounds and since we are all on a budget, we decided to pass. We climbed back down the hill to only climb up another hill to see Largo de Camões. Along the way, we also the Santa Justa Lift, which had scaffolding on it grrrrr. We then headed back to the hostel after to actually do some research and chill for a bit.
After finishing up the tour, we headed over to Mercado de Ribeira (I discovered this while researching earlier) and our jaws dropped when we entered this place.
Food.
And lots of it.
Too many choices.
35 kiosks are open, all Portuguese cuisine, a tad pricey but it all looked so worth it. I found out later that each kiosk actually has a bigger version of restaurant somewhere in Portugal but all 35 of these companies got invited to be part of the market. A company cannot simply join. My choices were a peri-peri half chicken and some salt and oregano potato wedges. Jeff and Kalina got a pork belly dish and an octopus dish. We also shared some fried chicken wings. Yes, it was all amazing.
To end the night, we headed to the bar area as mentioned earlier. The area had a really cool vibe to it and we took advantage of the cheap drinks, ie. 1€ sangria.
Breakfast the next morning was perfect as this hostel does things a little differently! Instead of your usual choice of toast or cereal, the choices were scrambled eggs and toast or nutella crepes. And it was free. They make it to order and also do your dishes for you. This is something you rarely find in a hostel.
After getting ready, we headed out to an area after called Belém which was a 40 minute tram ride away. It probably could've taken half the time but this thing was super slow. Our first stop was the Belém Tower which is probably the main sight in Lisbon.
We then went and saw Padrão dos Descobrimentos and Jerónimos Monastery.
Afterwards, we stopped at this bakery called Pastéis de Belém as we needed to try this famous Portuguese pastry called Pastel de nata. It's basically a baked custard tart and you can put icing sugar and cinnamon on top. It was pretty awesome I must say.
After enjoying our pastries in the park, we headed back to the hostel before grabbing some dinner. Honestly, every restaurant we were passing was kind of expensive, at least for our budgets. It was not that much different in Faro either and I have a feeling things will be the same in Porto. Spain on the other hand, you could a find a cheap place to eat easily. The ones here in Lisbon, they're just all typical tourist traps with the people outside the doors trying to show you the menu or shoo you inside. We really had no idea where to go though and the receptionist at the hostel was not much help, so we settled down on a place that at the end of the day, was mediocre and overpriced. Our spirits brightened up after, especially Kalina's, when we got some gelato.
We had another night out on the town as it was Saturday, but this time, a guy who works at the hostel took a few of us to some bars.
Lisbon is a cool and vibe-y city but the tourist traps are huge here. Portugal has been easy so far though in terms of communicating. It seems to be that everyone speaks some English and they're very good at it. All signs usually have some English on it as well.
Next:
Porto
Marseille
Nice
Turkey
Rhodes
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