TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

The heart of Lisbon is Baixa or Pombalina Baixa which is the lower old downtown of the city. Following its submission in 2004, Pombalina Baixa is in the ‘Tentative List’ of UNESCO’s world heritage sites. There are 2 important squares in the Baixa, namely, the Rossio Square (Praça de D. Pedro IV) near the train station which is the traditional meeting place for Lisboetas and tourists, and the large Comercio Square (Praça do Comércio). Rossio Square Rossio Square (Praça de D. Pedro IV) with Dom Pedro IV statue in the middle and the impressive Maria II National Theater (see first foto above). Since my stay in Lisbon was rather quick (had to catch the train in the afternoon to Sintra) as well as I didn’t want to be lugging my little suitcase around, I was only able to take a few fotos of the Baixa: the Rossio Square and the Rossio Train Station. I did go to Santa Justa Lift and had grilled sardines on Rua Augusta . And apart from the welcoming smell of chestnuts roasting ...

A must see or experience in Lisbon is the ‘Santa Justa Lift’ (Elevador Santa Justa), and for the non-European readers, the word lift is the UK English term for elevator. Interestingly, lift in Dutch is tadaah, also lift! For my quick Lisbon call late last year, there were TWO ‘To Do’ things marked on my agenda: (1) Eat grilled sardines at the same restaurant 5 years ago for lunch which turned out to be a disenchantment experience. (2) Ride the neo gothic Santa Justa lift and enjoy Lisbon’s views from up there. The lift on Rua Augusta: there is always a long queue here and inside the lift, fits 20 people.   The lift  is 45 meters high and is made of iron steel. The lift is quite easy to find as it is located in the center on Rua Santa Justa and one can in fact see the iron structure, with flags flying on top, from the main shopping alleys. I went there dragging my little suitcase with me which was a bit of an annoyance. Earlier that day, I was in Lisbon’s ...

I am soooooo backlogged with my travel entries. I probably have more than 70 entries on queue (travels from late last year up to now and I am traveling again next week!). I haven’t written any of them yet, not even on draft, and for the fotos, some are already arranged but the rest are not. The issue really is time. You might have noticed in the last weeks that I have been quite consistent in posting daily, that is because I am on a break but begin November I will be back on the daily corporate grind BUT I am still hoping to post daily. I hope so because I LOVE SHARING my travel fotos and experiences with everyone. Anyway, since I am on a roll here on food-related stories, my travel to Lisbon, Portugal last November brought back memories, fond memories of the city 5 years ago. I had a quick Lisbon call before proceeding to my final destination, Sintra and I remembered having enjoyed a scrumptious feast of grilled sardines on Rua Augusta, the main artery of Lisbon. Ah, my taste buds a...

Dutchman and I decided that we will pay for a 1 day Lisbon tour than driving ourselves and going through the hassle of parking nightmare, getting lost in the crowded city, and missing the important places to see. We woke up early, we had to be at the pick up place 6:40AM. I let the Dutchman study the map. 6:40AM sharp we were standing in the highway that slices THE STRIP but it looked like it’s not the meeting place. The Dutchman panicked! I grabbed the map, studied it quickly and lectured Dutchman that he missed the first crossing which is before THE STRIP. Ugh, we ran back, as fast as we could muster since it’s a little bit over a 5 minute walk. My mind is running wild, “ Shit I don’t want to miss this Lisbon trip. You Dutchman must drive me there if the bus left us! ” And in the Dutchman’s mind, “ Damn € 90 (US$ 109) down the drain! ” We arrived at the pick up place 6:50AM and true enough, the bus left us. We were sitting in the street pavement arguing like little kids about our pr...