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My beloved wife and I celebrated what I consider to be a milestone in our lives a few days back. We arrived on the shores of Portugal 20 years to the day from where we were married by a JOP on a cold, desolate beach on Nantucket, roughly 3200 miles across the cold north Atlantic.





We had no clearly defined plans, other than to enjoy each other, celebrate our union, eat some great food and to bounce around a bunch of fun places for a few days, playing it by ear. This is pretty much how we roll wherever we go, and as usual, our plan worked out great.

Mrs. KG has been to Lisbon before several times, so knows the city a bit and knows enough to be able to comfortably get us around with no issues.

I'll not bore you with many details, and will just post a bunch of pics that some may enjoy. A few observations: Lisboa/Lisbon is a beautiful, old world city. It has lovely and friendly people and a rich history. Modern Lisbon has every modern amenity one could ask for, if wanted, but we tend to lean toward a more old school type experience. Fancy isn't a priority. Having fun is.

Lisbon suffers from urban decay. The infrastructure leaves much to be desired, with grafitti everywhere, many buildings abandoned, potholes in streets and walkways everywhere. A fair number of homeless and of course, the immigrant population seems to represent a high percentage of the street vermin. There is said to be a fairly brisk trade in pickpocketing, but that said, at no time did we feel unsafe or threatened in any way, though I did ID a few of them looking to find an easy mark. Sorry, chum. Behave yourself and move along, there's a good lad...

Lisbon's people are super helpful and very friendly, and with English and some basic Spanish, zero language issues existed for us.

Lisbon is largely made up of steep hills with streets of cobblestones and sidewalks of sandstone/limestone tiles that are slippery when wet and decidedly uneven. I did not see a single woman wearing heels. To do so would 100% result in injury, even over the course of a single city block. The first day we walked over 9 miles, with most up and down steep hills. Over the course of four full days we walked just shy of 30 miles, and again, with precious little of it flat.

Within easy striking distance within city limits and beyond Lisbon are many wonderful places. We visited a few and enjoyed it all, and never felt rushed or like we weren't seeing things we should've been.

Lisbon is very affordable and has tons of things to do and see--and EAT. I feel like we just scratched the surface in the 4 nights we stayed, but given the fun factor that's a good thing and we'll be back for sure. Next time I'll rent a car and plan on taking in more of Portugal as well as driving into Spain.

With that out of the way, here we go. Hope some folks enjoy.

Anyone spot the pickpocket?

Our base camp for the duration. An old 'palacete' built in the 17th century for guests of a Lisboan Duke. Very charming, and quiet. Lovely staff. Incredibly inexpensive, with full breakfast included. Typical for us was freshly squeezed juice, cappuccino or espresso, eggs cooked any way or omelette with meat and cheese or veg of your choice, as well as sausage or bacon sides warm, freshly baked rolls and breads with jellies and jams, fruits with cereal and yogurt, mashed avocado or fresh tomato slices with olive oil and chives. Great way to kick off the day and maybe shake off a bit of a hangover. Awesome place and perfect for us.

Directly across the street from our hotel lies the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, or the National Museum of Ancient Art. We had big fun there. Some 40K works are there, I believe. Ten bucks a head entrance fee. Amazing collections. Could easily spend a couple days there, but we had other plans so only spent a few hours. Well worth it and highly recommended.





















The works by Bosch were particularly amazing. Blew me away.

Wiki on him: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Bosch

A few more works we really enjoyed. No camera flashes allowed so what you see is what you get.





















I'll maybe post some more later, but that was the first 24 hours or so.

Your lady is truly adorable.

Great pics once again my friend.

Awesome post. Great pics!

Lot's of violence and poverty in those paintings.

In the pic of the first street scene, what are the metal things running down the middle?

Best wishes and congratulations!

Handsome couple, unaged by time.

JUST WOW!!! Congratulations! What an epic adventure and I hear Portugal is a great place to live, work and retire. Best Wishes!!!

👍👍👍

If I'm following you, those are rails for the old school trolleys that run in many parts of the city. Both trolleys and trams, as well as a elevator designed by the same guy who did the Eiffel tower in Paris. Been in use since 1902 and still used daily. I'll share a couple of pics of it.

Thanks for the words, gents. I'll plug away with some more shots. Still a little bit jet laggy, but nothing a bout of hard drinking this evening can't fix.

Living your best life!

Love the Zebra rug and Gemsbok at the Palacete.

kamo gari;
Good afternoon to you both sir, I shall dispense with my usual salutation as I'm of the belief you're fine as can be.

Congratulations on the milestone, it's wonderful to see folks find a life partner and be happy.

Thanks for the photos too Leighton, as always they're just stunning.

As it turns out this is a wee bit of a milestone at our place today too, as 8 Leap Days ago we moved in.

I believe it was a warmer year back then, but as with many things, time has dimmed some of the details for me.

Thanks again and all the best.

Dwayne

Cool pics and congrats on the 20 years!

Here's that old elevator. Takes riders up/down five stories and saves a steep slog up for locals and touristas alike.

Lunch at a tapas joint in the Bairro Alto on the top of one of the many, many hills. Cod cakes, thin sliced octopus with paprika and olive oil. Deep fried baby sardines, steamed mussels with vinegar and chopped herbs and veg as well as an incredible gazpacho. Excellent wine.







Entering the neighborhood at the top of the lift.

Famous daily Portuguese snack. Pastéis de Belém. Sweet and creamy egg custard with flaky dough. Served hot. Perfect with a nice coffee.

Tinned fish shops abound. Frankly, most of these are for sucker tourists. More on that later.





More cod cakes, more octopus served cold in a salad with apples, orange zest, red onions and olive oil. Tuna and seabass with olives and rice with roasted peppers on the side. And sangria and cold beer.

Congratulations. Enjoyed the write up.