Tuna Toast

Scenes from Lisbon

As you know, J and I spent a few days in Portugal recently for vacation. We fell in love with the people, the food, the colors....the skies were blue for the entirety of our trip and we couldn't have had a better time in the amazing country. We started our trip in Lisbon, and I wanted to share some of the highlights of the city we had the good fortune of experiencing with you:

The beautiful streets of Lisbon:

Arches near Santa Apolónia train station:

Pasteis de Bacalhau- Portuguese cod fritters, made with bacalhau (dried, salted cod)

Portuguese egg tarts, called pastel de nata, were so delicious we ate more than our share. The burnt sugar at the top made them especially yummy.

Some local graffiti....

A tiny butcher shop/grill cafe right near Santa Apolónia train station where we stopped to buy lunch to take on our high-speed train to Porto. I got a grilled pork sandwich which was good, and J got a whole, grilled chicken that was incredible. He said it was the best chicken he's ever had, and wolfed it down before I could take a photo...just kidding;), but he did really enjoy it. A lot!

Laundry drying in the hot sun......

A typical pork sandwich on a peasant roll- this pork smelled heavenly- you could really sense the bay leaves- and was absolutely delicious.

I'm guessing you wouldn't want to lean too hard against this particular building...isn't it stunning though?!

Just a couple of the many magnificent display of colorful ceramic tiles, azulejos, found all over the country.

Speaking of ceramics, this store sold lots of original ceramic artwork and t-shirts designed by local artists ..

We bought a couple of the mugs you see at the very bottom of the photo above, although J was eyeing these one-of-a-kind ceramic roosters. I'm guessing our cat Cory would've been jealous had we come home with a new pet, so we bid them farewell.

Loved the outdoor dining set-up by restaurants along this long row of stairs- the sun was so bright you can't see the city square in the middle but it was so cool to walk up these steps and watch people drinking vinho verde, enjoying the weather.

J, looking at how many stairs we had left to reach the top!

A restaurant interior made almost entirely of beautiful, blue tiles with matching tablecloths:

A shot of the smooth, cobblestone streets all over Lisbon- I have no idea how the Portuguese manage to walk so quickly over these slippery little suckers- I almost broke my neck on several occassions...I can only imagine what they must be like when it rains.

I'll leave you with a little seafood porn....unfortunately we'd already eaten when we spied this display of giant shrimp and crab legs, but I figure it gives us a reason to go back...not that we need one. I'm already dreaming about a second trip!

Até a vista for now!