The World As I See it

Another beautiful day dawned in Lisbon, perfect weather for our planned exploration of the Alfama district. I was looking forward to the vegan food tour we had booked to wrap up the day but first, an indulgent breakfast! We took a local bus into Lisbon, heading to the west side and planning to catch Tram 28 that would take us all the way across town and up into the Alfama. Knowing it was famous with tourists, we were going to the end of the line to try to beat the crowds. We found ourselves in a beautiful, everyday neighbourhood where old men gathered around a chess game, shops lined colourful streets, and the local park was home to several ducks. My husband decided then and there that if we were to move to Lisbon, we'd find an apartment nearby. The tram arrived, and we climbed aboard and easily found a seat. Within two stops, the tram was so crammed that hopeful tourists were left behind and we were glad we'd snagged an open window. I snapped photos as we rolled along, trying ...

 On our first full day, we set off to explore the Baixa neighbourhood of Lisbon. We hoped to get to the vegan food festival that we had stumbled across on Instagram, and we had booked a Fado concert to wrap up the day. After a relaxed breakfast, we wandered down to the ferry dock.  After taking the boat across the Tagus, we wandered east along the river to the Praça do Comercio - a large cobbled plaza surrounded by striking, palatial buildings. My husband revelled in the warm temperatures, having escaped the ongoing Canadian winter to meet me here. We remembered that we hadn't sent a photo of our reunion to send to family back home, so took a quick selfie and then wandered the plaza to take in the architecture. W Crossing through the archway, we entered the busy urban heart of Lisbon and my husband patiently stopped every time something caught my eye and I pulled out my camera. It was still rather early to indulge in alcohol, but we decided that the rules don't apply on vacati...