Lisbon

I wasn't as blown away by Lisbon as I thought I would be. Nuno hates the city and rarely goes, but I was up for exploring a new European capital.

I had to get a train from Oeiras to Lisbon. In what is beginning to seem like a pattern, I was about to get on the wrong train. A young man beside me asked if I was going to Lisbon. "Yes". "You need to take *this* train".

We started talking and he goes to a circus school He will also become a father later on the month. He offered to take me to his school and show me around. I got to see people practicing with equipment, met some teachers and was shown the campus. What a great place to learn!

Then I was on my own. I immediately went to the castle. I wandered around and took tonnes of pictures. It was mainly in ruins, in the sense that there were no rooms to be explored. Just some towers and the walls, which gave amazing views over the city.

After, I visited a few churches, but they're all starting to look the same now. I took a walk along the city streets. Most of the buildings have coloured tiles on them. It felt very Mediterranean. Well, I shouldn't be surprised, as Portugal *is* a Mediterranean country.

I visited the...Mount Carmel (?) Monastery. It was ruined in the 1755 earthquake and although there have been a few renovations since then, they basically left it the way it was. Inside is a small museum with Roman and Medieval objects as well as a few South American oddities. Including a case with two Peruvian sacrificial victims from the 16th century.

Afterwards, I just wandered up and down the streets, taking pictures. The museum was closed but honestly, I'm all museumed out. It was just nice to stroll around in January with a light jacket instead of the 20 kg ski jacket I'm used to. I tried some traditional Portuguese pastries and even used the metro. I thought I was arriving at the main train station, but no, I was a few blocks away. I had to catch the yellow line, and switching to Cais Do Sodre involved me using every metro line, but it was worth it. Helped me learn my colours in Portuguese, anyways!