A meeting took me to Lisbon, Portugal, and while I did not have a significant amount of free time to wander around (and okay, I’ll admit it, a lot of free time I did have I used to go to the gym and take bubble baths!), I was able to get out for a few hours one afternoon. Lisbon is definitely on my list of places to go back to. There is a rich history, beautiful buildings, old winding streets and fantastic seafood.
The hotel I stayed in – H10 – was stunning. Tile work everywhere, light airy rooms and an incredibly comfortable bed. The staff was great with providing me gluten free options (though some were a tad overly creative, like the walnut “crust” with mango gelatin dessert), and for the first time ever in Europe, I didn’t go downstairs to breakfast with disgust. As you can probably gather from other posts, European continental breakfast is not my jam. This hotel though, made me fried eggs with vegetables and provided gluten free croissants and rolls.
On my one free afternoon, I walked down the main road that cuts through the city. It reminded me a lot of Fifth Avenue or Las Ramblas. The side walks are completely tiled, making them both beautiful and slippery. The weather was perfect – a sunny 65 degree day – a stark comparison to the winter blues we’ve been having back at home. I took in the sun, and the sights, and proudly navigated my way all the way to the “river” and through Alfama, the old part of town.
If time permitted, I probably could have spent a few hours in Alfama, wandering around, popping into little shops and sitting outside sipping coffee and pretending I could eat one of the famous egg custard tarts that you see everywhere.
I only had one meal outside of business, and we went to Sacramento. It was fantastic. I had seafood stew, cheeses and meats and a octopus shrimp rice dish that reminded me of paella.
Good thing TAP Portugal offers direct flights from Boston – it’s almost the same flying time as going to Iceland – and the airline is fairly affordable (at one point, when I tried convincing James to come with me, I found RT tickets for less than $400, on a weekend no less!). I’ll be back Portugal, but in the meantime, here are some photos to tide you over until then.
