Bric-a-Brack

LISBOA.

We have arrived. The most impossible city to reach, we have reached. By the time we got to our hostel - 8:00 a.m., we'd been traveling for 17 hours straight. Neither of us slept on the 'sleeper' train and instead opted falling asleep sitting up on a couch waiting for our room to be ready.

I can only liken our productivity to that of Zombies. We were hungry and entirely oblivious to everything else. We walked around, but nothing processed. I was looking at buildings, seeing the best doors of the trip - NO JOKE- yet nothing registered. Yup, just plain overtired.

Luckily, I'd done a little research and knew about a few things going on once we did get our footing. There was a 'bric-ab-brack' market going on Saturday morning. I was so excited I nearly slept in my clothes. Nic nacks? Bric a bracks? SIGN ME UP. Master collector is accepting the call! I will some how make room for a million junky treasures I don't need. For the mean time I'll consider it a talent.

So this morning we woke up ready to go. The staff roughly marked the map for us, and we thought it looked like an hour walk, tops. (That's absolutely nothing for us these days.) Well.. in our zombie state yesterday we missed the fact that Lisbon is HILLY. I mean jutting hills everywhere. And because the map wasn't topical.. it was insanely easy to get lost. The market was located in 'old lisbon' which only added to the obstacles. 2 hours later, it wasn't even funny! We were just looking at each other like, "What just happened?? Where ARE WE??" We laughed and let it go.

Lisbon is in its essence, a giant bric-a-brack market. Nothing is the same, but some how everything works. Foremost, I've noticed that they like the 'rustic' look. There are hundred(s) year old buildings that (in my estimation) have not had a single repair done to them since they were built. It is really cozy.. this embraceable hodge podge of colors and tiles and doors. It's truly unique. Instead of paintings, around 1 in every 3 buildings were tiled. The tiles are wild. Mostly blues and greens, but occasionally, a pink tiled building pops up.

And, as if someone took the blindfold off, door after door appeared. Creme de la creme of doors. Literally every other step was an incredible door. I must've REALLY been tired yesterday.. I was caught at least three times today standing at someone's door having my picture taken. Try explaining THAT ONE in Portuguese! 'I'm NOT a creep. Don't be scared.. I just really like your door. I wasn't picking your lock. Stop dialing 911..'


On the whole, Lisbon is wonderful. It's ocean front, and while the whole city really cozies right up the edge, they do have some great waterfront space. We spent a good chunk of the day sitting on stairs going into the ocean watching the waves roll in. In our spare time where we weren't wandering the hilly alleys or sitting on the waterfront we were enjoying Portugal's endless pastry selection. And to my continued demise.. Portugal is CHEAP. I'm talking the cheapest country in the European Union. Espresso? .55 cents. A pastry .80 cents.... so we were highly caffeinated, sugar hounds traipsing around people's doors looking for a giant garage sale market.


Pictures to follow when the camera is all charged!