Gettin’ Lost in Lisbon

What a weekend. If I told myself a year ago that I would fly off to Portugal for the weekend, I don’t think I would believe it. Lisbon, Portugal was the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life. Granted, I haven’t seen much of the world quite yet, but Lisbon truly took my breath away. 

We were off to an early start Friday after a stressful week of COVID testing and location service documentary. From the bus to the tube to the plane, we headed to Portugal! Landing in Lisbon was unreal. Gorgeous views of the city featuring vibrant buildings and bright blue waters. I could not get a smile off of my face – a surreal experience.

Customs was a breeze, and I received my very first passport stamp! While waiting for our Uber, we ran into a friend from home studying in Barcelona for the semester. How that even happened, I have no idea but the world really is a small place. It was refreshing to see a familiar face from the States.

We stayed in the Lost Inn Lisbon hostel right in central Lisbon, truly the ideal location. It was my first hostel experience, and I would say a positive one as well. A few bumps in the weekend, but nothing too wild – kind of.

Starved and eager to walk around, we wandered to Time Out Market for lunch. The market was filled with food from around the world. I was excited to try seafood because we were on the coast, so sushi was a must. It was delicious, but if you know me, then you know I needed dessert. Luckily for me, there was an over-the-top doughnut shop in the market, Crush Doughnuts. I chose the lamest of options, but the warm and soft inside with the crunchy, sugary outside was unbelievable.

After wandering around admiring the decorated and colorful building tiles, we headed to our wine tasting reservation at Wine Tasting Apéritif. This was SO much fun, I would highly recommend doing this if you find yourself in Lisbon for the weekend. It was recommended to me by my cousin who had done it a few years back. The venue is a small unit with around 14 seats available for reservation. The expert pours three different wines and educates you on where they came from, how you should drink them and what makes them different. At the end, we were given an extra wine sample and three mini bottles as a parting gift. The wine tasting was the perfect way to start the weekend and it gave us some expert insight on what bottles to enjoy on the rest of our trip.

Our hostel offered free sangrias from 8-9pm, so naturally we went from wine to sangrias! What was unique about this part of the trip was the amount of people I met from all around the world. I spoke to people from France, Mexico, Canada, Germany and Brazil. It was amazing to hear about different cultures and solo traveler experiences. After the sangria hour, we headed out on the town with our new friends. Before we could make it to Barrio Alto, we stopped for some pizza because by this time, we had consumed a lot of alcohol and basically no food. Late night pizza is a personality trait of mine, so I destroyed two massive pieces of pizza and have no regrets about doing it. We spent the rest of the night bar hopping, meeting new people and eventually wobbling home through the ridiculously uneven streets of Lisbon. 

A key factor that I have failed to include thus far is the fact that our little weekend trip was very last minute so the only reservation we had made prior to coming was the wine tasting the night before. Luckily for us, our hostel promoted a free tour around Lisbon for Saturday morning, so we joined in on a two and a half hour walking tour around the city. We stopped at stunning look-out points, explored the stories behind tiled murals and ate our first Pastéis De Nata while sipping on Ginjinha.

After the tour we walked towards the Praça do Comércio and people watched at the water. Our goal was to eat lunch on or at least near the water, but we knew walking in with a group of six people without a reservation was not ideal. We passed gorgeous waterfront locations and finally approached a two-story, breezy spot. They were able to seat us with no wait, on the balcony accompanied by a gorgeous view of the water. We could not have asked for a better spot. Eager to try green wine, we ordered two bottles to share at the table and spent the next two to three hours sipping, eating and laughing by the water. This was definitely my favorite part of the trip.

On our way to Park, a rooftop bar overlooking the city, we walked through Pink Street to see the famous pink roadway and mini restaurants/bars lined up throughout it. We watched the sunset at Park. The orange and pink toned skies reflecting off the water was a sight I will never forget. That sunset was a dream.

Later in the night we booked a last minute reservation at Le Chat for dinner. The location was gorgeous, right on the water overlooking the Ponte 25 de Abril. Our dinner itself was tasty, but the service was understaffed so we were there for awhile. Sipping on wine for an extra hour or so? Wasn’t the worst thing to happen! We wanted to end our trip with a bang so after dinner we headed over to K Urban Beach Club.

The club venue was incredible; all I could think about was how much my friends back at Mizzou would love it. Indoor/outdoor floor plan, striking décor, multiple bars and a perfect view of the ocean. We met other American students studying abroad in the South of France, danced around for awhile and then headed back home to catch a few hours of sleep before our flight the next morning.

There were a few things I would have loved to do if we had more time in Lisbon that I would recommend you add to your trip. If I had the chance to go back, here are some activities that would be at the top of my list: Sintra, Alfama, Castelo de Sao, a sunset boat ride along the coast &&& eat 1000 more Pastéis De Natas. 

Lisbon was the best way to kick off my weekend travels throughout Europe. I had an amazing time and am already feeling eager to go back. The sights I saw were absolutely gorgeous. Views you can’t forget. Until next time, Portugal.