Lisbon

The only reason why we ended up visiting Lisbon was that was where my brother and his family were for fall break.   Truth be told, Lisbon had never really been somewhere I'd thought of visiting before that.    That's why I was so surprised when I ended up falling in love with it.  

I was completely enamored with the architecture....

 the narrow cobblestoned streets and sidewalks....

the gorgeous tiled walls....

the striking red roofs....

the hilly landscape....

 and most importantly, the company we were keeping!

 Really, the tiled walls were quite stunning and I  wished I had more room in my luggage, so I could have brought a few decorative tiles home.

 I also had a special place in my heart for this Golden Gate-esque bridge that dominates the landscape as you come into town.    It's called the 25th of April Bridge, which as some of you may know, just so happens to be my birthday.    Apparently it is the date of a bloodless governmental coup that took place in the 1970's and a lot of things around Portugal (streets, this bridge, etc) are named after the 25th of April.

We took a tour bus around Lisbon one day and saw a whole lot of things.

My iPhone says that these pictures were taken at the Praça do Comércio   (Commerce Square)...

but unfortunately I don't remember much about them.  Wikipedia says that Praça do Comércio was mostly destroyed (along with most of Lisbon) in the great earthquake and ensuing tsunami and fires of 1755.   It was rebuilt as a center for commerce (go figure!) and was the site of the assassination of King Carlos I in 1908.

Lisbon is a very lovely city and we very much enjoyed our time there...

and I hope to get back here someday to explore it with Glen!

Stay tuned for one (or two) more Portugal post(s) and then onto the rest of our trip....