Every review of our apartment mentions the five flights of stairs (with resulting view) that you need to climb to reach home. Living in the South Side Slopes of Pittsburgh, the steps didn’t deter us. The reviews didn’t emphasize that the rest of Lisbon is a collection of relentless hills. This doesn’t deter us from exploring, but our legs definitely feel the exertion hiking up to our apartment at the end of the day.
Cobblestone roads, alleys, and stairs twist and turn up, down and around the hills of Lisbon carving out neighborhoods. There are plenty of tourist attractions to see in Lisbon, but the first week we spent wandering the dead-ends, public courtyards, and cafes trying to figure out the character of our surrounding area and not get lost. We didn’t really succeed at either, but happily we had six more weeks.
5 Things We’ve Learned
1) You can buy fruit (from frutarias) and wine (from well-stocked convenience stores) at almost any time of day in any neighborhood.
2) Strong black espresso is available for less than a dollar, and it is always closeby at a snack bar, cafe, or park kiosk.
3) Cobblestones are slippery when wet.
4) Many neighborhoods blur together for us, but the sub-neighborhood that stands out the most is our so-called “Little Bangladesh” where every doorway emits the smell of cumin and coriander.
5) The frequent pastry shops make it easy to buy sweet custard tarts and other baked goods. The hills make it easy to justify indulging.
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