Let There Be Lisbon (1)

And there was.

Well, after a rather long trip.  Jess and I caught the 5.55am bus from La Carolina.  About 3.5 hours later, we were in Madrid, with plenty of time before our plane.  But, the other option was leaving ourselves 40 mins to get from Estacion Sur to the airport, and on the plane.  Ie: impossible.

So, we metro-d along to the airport, had a look at some shops, ate some food, and then decided to get into that EasyJet queue early so we could get half-decent seats.  Great relief as both of our bags made it on as cabin luggage.  Huzzah!

Somewhere after 13.40 we were off for our pretty-short flight to Portugal.  Needless to say, we were very excited!

Even before landing, we saw the Cristo Rey statue which I had somehow managed to develop an obsession with.  (More about him later.)

Cristo Rey, Lisbon, from the air!

We also saw the sea, and were very happy, given that we both hail from seaside places, and feel a bit water-deprived in Andalucia.

Just as we landed, they started giving the flight announcements in Portuguese.  I was surprised!  For a language that resembles Spanish so much on paper, Portuguese sounds really, really different.

We arrived at our hotel (Residencial Sao Pedro), and somehow managed to get upgraded.  Needless to say, we weren't complaining.  As an aside, I can recommend the place.  Our room was nice, and the staff were extremely helpful and friendly.  And it was cheap! 

Residencial Sao Pedro, Lisbon

We then took off in search of food and fado (traditional Portuguese music).  We found food, but not fado.  In fact, we repeatedly failed to find it, but never mind.

In Bairro Alto, we found the best chocolate cake in the world (that was actually what it was called) in a place with a dog that kept sticking its head over the edge of the mezzanine floor!

World's Best Chocolate Cake... 2 of those, please!

Then we wandered around a bit, past a possible drug deal, some cable cars, and one particularly random street, in which we found two men, one spray-painting, and the other barbecuing.  Good times.

Night time in Bairro Alto, on our first night in Lisbon.