| Lisbon, Portugal: THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD, EVER. |
| Written by Brendon Green |
| Thursday, 04 March 2010 07:02 |
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Despite not knowing the Portuguese for - “Hey, probably don’t grab this handrail because we just painted in bright red.” - I’m going to go ahead and say that Lisbon is the best place ever invented. It is the champion of the world. It could have gone the other way, as I had a rocky start on arrival. My bus from Madrid had to pull over for a huge drugs sting on the border, which was all well and good (watching the sniffer dogs and guys with guns I felt like I was in Miami Vice, or at least Border Patrol) until the dog sniffed something on a fellow passenger. A small amount of marijuana and one and a half hours of waiting later, the guy was allowed back on the bus and we finally got to go to Lisbon, late and in the rain. Oh, and I was also stranded at the bus station for awhile, but that was my own fault. Finally I get to my hosts house (another CouchSurfing experience, in a huge and beautiful flat with 2 girls and their boyfriends) and after apologising for my lateness, they take me out for dinner. BAM, my first taste of the food in Lisbon and I am head over heels in LOVE. The traditional soup and dessert (a rice pudding infused with lemon and other seasonings) were delicious, but I also got a chunk of a white bread roll stuffed and cooked with Chorizo sausage throughout. Guys, that’s my #1 favourite food stuffed and cooked with my #5 favourite food. Since then I have been on a non-stop café hop, drinking coffee and wine and eating the finest foods I have ever tasted. And it’s all so cheap! I have eaten more and paid less for it than anywhere else I’ve been. Oh, the cakes! The sweetest delicacies baked fresh and presented without any pretension, accompanied by generous glasses of local wine. Oh, the wine! Portuguese wine is the most stunning wine I have ever had. I can’t have ever tasted it before, because if I had I would have sworn never to drink any other wine again. I can’t count the number of culinary epiphanies I have had here, it’s been like the Ratatouille scene in the movie Ratatouille has been stuck on repeat. The actual city itself is equally as transcendent. The perfect balance between touristy beauty and ‘off-the-beaten-track’ realism. I can’t possibly list all the highlights of my time here, I can just implore everybody to come and visit. The hills can be killer to climb, but there’s always trams and buses if you’re not up to it. The effort to get up the inclines is worth it, as around every other corner is a square with epic views over a vibrant (in both colour and energy) city. It’s starting to feel like I’m writing a tourism Lisbon brochure, but I can’t help it. I saw a little old lady with a Yu-Gi-Oh umbrella, that’s something you won’t hear from a tourism brochure, but it is a small detail that adds to the charm of my trip. Also, I have never seen drug dealers so brazen, coming up to me in the middle of the main street. My favourite was the guy selling sunglasses, he stopped me for a ‘chat’ and quickly with every ‘no thanks’ from me went from sunglasses to watches, straight to marijuana then cocaine. How’s that for business confidence. Lisbon is known as a party town, and I managed a very tame night out in Biarro Alto, the good times centre of the city. I also managed to catch the grand final of Portugal Idol (congrats to Felipe, who won by doing a continuous Eddie Vedder impression). So I’m probably not the best judge of a fun night out in Lisbon. In conclusion: Lisbon is the best place ever. I endorse it wholeheartedly, and in no way is this over the top congratulatory write up influenced by the huge amount of caffeine and sugar running through my body. Everybody should go to Lisbon. |
