City Post: Lisbon

Lisbon is a city we were told we needed to visit, especially for the nightlife. Well, we're not nightlife-aged people anymore, but we still had a good time exploring the city's history. Neither of us knew what to expect, so we just sort of walked around a bit our first day there to see the sights. We went to the Santa Justa Lift, but rather than pay to go up it, our budget-conscious trip had us take the free walk up to the top. Social media will tell you there is a free lift to the top inside of a nearby store. This is partially true, as it is free, but it only takes you one floor up, and it was out of service on our trip anyways. We saw the Sao Jorge Castle from afar and outside (it costs 15 Euro to go in), went inside the Sao Vincente de For cathedral, and Jo got a "special discount" on a new sunhat from a street merchant. Not bad for a day where Jack would have been diving had the public buses shown up.

We spent the second day at the beach (seeing a pattern yet?). The water was too cold to get in, but we both had Kindles and sunscreen, so we tanned ourselves for a few hours by the sea. One of us *cough*Jack*cough* ate an entire box of cookies while we were there. Getting back to main Lisbon proved interesting, as strikes and railway maintenance delayed trains over an hour, which meant they were PACKED coming back. Welcome to public transport!

We went to three museums in Lisbon. The Museu do Aljube Restistencia e Liberdade was all about the resistance against and eventual overthrow of the fascist dictatorship which ruled over Portugal from 1933 to 1974. It only cost 6 Euro, so we gave it an [air conditioned] look. It was a really well-done museum, and we both recommend going if you're into political history. One thing we both commented on was that there were a lot of communist symbols in the revolution, which were key to bringing down the fascist regime, but that a lot of what we were reading about the dictatorship read exactly like the communist regimes across the world at the time, from political prisoners to secret police to state propaganda. Turns out the extremes of the political spectrum are more alike than different. The Museu da Guarda Nacional Republica was a great complement to the Aljube, as it details the history of the National Republican Guard, Portugal's gendarmerie service, including it's role before, during, and after the fascist regime. At only three Euro, we definitely recommend checking it out.

The Carmo museum is an archeological museum set in a collapsed cathedral. The roof caved in during the earthquake of 1755 and the subsequent fire destroyed the interior. There were a lot of restoration works underway at the time, so some of it was hard to see, but we got our five Euros' worth out of the displays and English-language video presentation (which is an understatement, as it was a projection which was built around the wall on which it was played, crevices, sculptures, and all). They told us at the entrance that they had a cat and we could pet it, so of course Jo found it for some quality pets!

As far as food goes, we took it a bit easy. Our hostel made pizza every night and gave each guest 20% off, so we partook in that two nights. The pizza was EXCELLENT and more than worth the money and convenience. We bought breakfast at a market one morning, ate at the hostel another, ate out another, nothing too crazy (which was a departure from the rest of our trip so far). And we capped the entire trip off in the most traveler way possible: laundry. Welcome to life on the road!

Where we stayed: Avenue Hostel and Suites

Jo's Favourite: Carmo museum (especially the cat!)

Jack's Favourite: Aljube museum

Top Lesson Learned: Don't always expect a laundromat to be empty, especially in the evening.

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