Adios Barcelona and the “Gavin Roots Tour Part II”

It’s difficult saying what parts of Europe have been my favorite since there is so much difference between cities, but I have to admit that I was extremely happy with our five days in Barcelona. The city’s public transit was top notch and affordable, the food and drink were excellent and it was a very affordable city (esp after our stay in London and Paris!). We were blessed with wonderful weather and the city had a great laid back vibe to it. I definitely would like to visit Barcelona again sometime in the future.

Saying goodbye to Spain was tough, but I was really looking forward to Portugal. I call this the "Gavin Roots Tour Part II" since he's almost half Portuguese. (Part I was when we went to Ireland.)

We had booked our flight from Barcelona to Lisbon on the Spanish low-cost carrier, Vueling, which in my opinion patterned itself after the US low-cost carrier, JetBlue. We were treated to a wonderful two hour flight from Spain to Portugal and landed in Lisbon in the early evening. We decided to treat ourselves to a Four-Star Hotel (we actually got a great rate on the internet) and caught a cab to our hotel, which is something that we never do. We dropped our bags off at the room and took the Lisbon Metro (another great example of a European city’s mass-transit system) to the city center and explored the beautiful, yet hilly, Bairro Alto neighborhood.

If you have been to Lisbon you know what I am talking about when I say that it is one hilly city. Think of San Francisco with cobble stone roads. If I lived in Lisbon, I would have one firm ass from all the climbing that people do! We poked around the Bairro Alto for an hour or so and stumbled upon a small restaurant that was filled with people and run by an older woman who waited on the tables and an older man (her husband?) who ran the grill/kitchen. We were the only ones in the restaurant who wasn’t speaking Portuguese and there was no English Menu (my ideal type of restaurant!) so we tried our best and played “International Charades” and ordered up a storm! We were treated to a hearty Portuguese meal of mean, seafood and bread and shared a two jugs of a great local white wine (the Portuguese really know how to make wine and it’s so affordable!). After stuffing ourselves silly for less than 20 euros, Gav and I rolled out of the restaurant and found our way back to the hotel.

It was the perfect way to end another great day in Europe.






Kids catching a free ride on one of Lisbon's trolleys.

Lisbon

Oct 6, 2006 - 18 Photos