Lisboa!

Chris attended a work conference at the end of May in Lisbon, Portugal.
Rachel traveled with him so that in any free time, we could explore the city together.

Lisbon is a fantastic old city with glazed-tile walls, secret staircases, intricate mosaic sidewalks, beautiful architecture, and even art nouveau ironwork everywhere.

Surprisingly, little of the city seems to be in picture-perfect condition (in contrast to, say, Paris), so it somehow feels more real and less of a façade glammed up for visitors.  Even a crumbling blue-tiled apartment is still just as enchanting when imagining its past glamour.  Perhaps it was akin to visiting the Colosseum in Rome? -- you can't help but be breath-taken with the original grandeur.

In Lisbon, though, regular people are still truly living in and around these gorgeous buildings and neighborhoods.  Here is a great article from a fellow visitor who describes the allure of the city perfectly.

We think that we had a uniquely fun time in Lisbon, too.  On our final night, we waited and waited... and waited... for a bus to take us back to the hotel -- it never showed up.

Out of seemingly nowhere, there appears this little white-haired man in a 3-piece suit who tells everyone (in Portuguese) to follow him.  Like lemmings, we all tromp over to a different metro stop.

There, we come across the "Firebirds" -- these huge vehicular contraptions for the opening night celebration of "Festas de Lisboa".  Watch the video to see a bit of what we experienced that night!!

It was somewhat difficult to capture the city in pictures, so it was a great learning experience.  Our style of touring a new city is always to just wander and explore the streets -- Lisbon was built for that type of visitor!  And we didn't even get to see the famed beaches, so we will be back!  Who's coming with us next time!?!  :-)

For a full-screen HD slideshow, click here.