Weekend in Lisbon

A week ago (before the Euro08) Femi, Mehmet and me took an extended weekend in Lisbon. We didnt really know much about the city before we arrived but we were very pleasantly surprised.

The atmosphere was really nice and everybody seemed like they took it very laid back. We followed suit and took it easy the days we were there. The picture at the top is from Praa do Comrcio (Commerce Square) where they had put up a maybe a hundred plastic trees decorated by school classes. On the picture Mehmet is taking a nap in the forest. Behind him you can see the Arch linking the Commerce Square and Augusta Street. After the nap Mehmet was up again.

Mehmet's jump

All over the city they had these violet trees which we thought were lavender (but please correct us if you can). Here its in Alfama the area with winding roads leading up to the citys castle.

Violet tree in Alfama

Many of the houses had tiles on the facades and it was impressive to see all the different colors and patterns they have come up with. A lot of the tiles even seemed quite old and hand made.

Tiles on the facade

We stayed at a hostel in the part of the city called Bairro Alto which a quite, sleepy neighbourhood during the day and turn into a block party at night with hordes of people at night.

Walking around Baixa
Crowds in Baixa

It was a quick trip but Lisbon is definitely worth the recommendation. After I got back I found this pretty cool pieces:

Lisbon has no idea how cool it is. The city lives in the shadow of Europes superstar capitals, unaware of its own modern charms.
- New York Times

Us at the castle

A bunch more Lisbon pictures at Flickr

Comments

2 responses to “Weekend in Lisbon”

  1. bluefish Avatar
    bluefish

    Looks like you guys had an amazing time! The pictures looks so beautiful especially the plastic trees. I like colorful stuff. Btw, its not lavender but I dont know what kind of tree that is.

  2. Grace Avatar

    The purple trees are called jacarandas in Australia. They always bloom right at the start of exam time in the university I was studying in. :)