London + Lisbon 2014

London

In November/December of 2014, Matt and I returned to London (after 5+ years!) on the way to Lisbon, which neither of us had ever been. We spent a couple of days in London visiting our old favorites and exploring a few new places we had not gotten to see when we lived there - Maida Vale and Hampstead Heath.  Maida Vale is a cute, quaint canal area, which would be lovely in the Spring/Summer.  We were there in the winter time, so it was kind of quiet, but very cute.  Hampstead Heath is my new favorite area of London.  It is awesome!  The park is lovely, and the town around the park has a great main street with lots of nice shops, boutiques, restaurants and pubs plus a great London-like vibe/feel.  We decided if we ever lived in London again, we would live in Hampstead Heath :)

Revisiting Favorite Places

Hyde Park

Trafalgar Square

Food

I don't care what people say, London has some good food!

Sunday Roast - a must!

Thai Square - one of my favorite Thai places ever!

Bangers and Mash at one of our favorite pubs

Visiting New Places

Maida Vale

Hampstead Heath

Lisbon

Lisbon was amazing!  Neither of us had ever been to Portugal, so this was a new city and a new country to add to our lists.  Lisbon felt like the quintessential European city - narrow, cobblestone streets that only locals know how to navigate, small shops/bistros/cafes/food stands populating the streets, plenty of old world architecture including cathedrals, castles, bell towers, etc. plus a modern subway/bus/rail system to get you around the city and surrounding areas.  We had so much fun exploring this city and taking in the culture.

Day 1 - Exploring on Our Own

The first day, we walked all around Lisbon seeing the sites and took the rail out to Belem to see the Tower of Belem.

Praca do Comercio right on the Tagus River 

Lisbon Cathedral

St George's Castle (Castelo de Sao Jorge)

A Moorish castle with fantastic views of the city

Belem Tower

A World Heritage monument, originally built as a fortress to protect Lisbon's harbor

Day 2 - Guided Tour of Pena Palace (and surrounding areas) and Sintra

The second day, we took a guided tour of the National Palace of Pena and Park.  According to the website, Pena Palace and the surrounding park are the "fruits of King Ferdinand II’s creative genius and the greatest expression of 19th-century romanticism in Portugal."  I have to agree, it is one of the most interesting palaces I've seen.  If you've encountered palaces (and cathedrals for that matter) in your travels, you probably agree that they all kind of look similar - not Pena Palace. It is a great palace, and I highly recommend seeing it if you ever find yourself in Lisbon.

Pena Palace

The morning fog made for a cool effect when walking up to the palace grounds

Surrounding Areas of Pena Park

Sintra - Western Most Point of Europe

Day 3 - Edward VII Park and other things

On the last day in Lisbon, we hit Edward VII Park for a morning workout and then just hung out around the city seeing whatever we still needed to see and enjoying the city.

Edward VII Park

Quintessential Lisbon Shot (and our best selfie version)

The Food

I didn't get a lot of pictures, because we ate it all too fast, but the food was amazing.  Our first night, we had a romantic dinner at Belcanto.  I think it was a 12ish course meal, each course was beautiful and delicious.  The service was phenomenal and started with a tour of the kitchen, where all chefs and sou chefs were very friendly and smiling - a good start to a wonderful meal.

Our other Portuguese meals were less fancy, but still great - traditional Piri Piri chicken at a family-style restaurant, pot of grilled duck and potatoes at what used to be a Moorish church (still had all of the old architecture/decor), some very creamy risotto and seafood enjoyed in the Barrio Alto (the 'cool' neighborhood) and more I can't exactly remember, but know that Lisbon was a great culinary experience :)

It was an amazing trip. We really hope to get back to Lisbon some day and have made it our goal not to stay away from London again for more than a year or so. It is always a good stop over point for other European destinations :)