Lisbon (…its in Portugal)

Lisbon is a cool, laidback place that doesn’t draw attention to itself. So much so that people tend to have a vague notion of it being a place… somewhere… in the world – not that they feel confident saying exactly where. Although it’s a capital city, as Europe’s smallest, with cobblestone streets and old school stores, it very much has a ‘getting away from it all’ vibe.

One evening whilst out strolling we were approached by some lost Australian tourists who asked if we knew the way to the Barrio Alto area - the trendy part of town with the best nightlife, bars and restaurants. (Of course we did, we’d been in Lisbon for three days - we were practically locals.) The fact was we were standing in the middle of it. It doesn’t announce itself: the streets are dark and places keep their doors closed, with perhaps a small window illuminated at the top to indicate they are open for business. The overall impression is of an exclusive club open to those who are willing to explore beyond the obvious places.

The trip coincided with my thirtieth birthday and we chose Lisbon mainly for its advertised average of eight hours a day of sunlight in January (compared with London’s measly two hours). It didn’t disappoint, with beautiful warm sunshine everyday and the added benefits of great coffee everywhere for just 50¢, fantastic scenery, sights and food including reportedly the world’s best custard tarts (we had at least ten and can vouch for the claim). A surprising bonus was seeing people of all ages living in the city, including not a small number of post-retirement aged ladies and gentlemen. I say this was surprising because it really drew my attention to the fact that everyone is London is aged 20 to 35*, placing me on the older side of the curve. So what a lovely present: to feel like a young girl again, if only for a few days.

*statistic may not be actual