Lisboa baby

Alentejo was great; it had beautiful beaches, kind people, and offered me a glimpse into small town living in Portugal. Lisbon, however was not great, it was phenomenal. I arrived on Friday morning via bus with my new British mate (see, I'm learning the lingo). We each checked into our respective hotels- she into her $20/day hostel, me into my not $20 apartment-hotel. Upon my arrival, I immediately wanted to move in:

Situated amongst the winding alleys in Bairro Alto (the East Village of Lisbon) I found myself in a cozy room, with a hell of a view, it came with AC, wifi, a local cell phone, kitchen, and marble bath room. I showered in luxury for the first time since arriving in Portugal (the shared showers at surf camp left something to be desired) and texted my new bevy of international surf camp mates who had all made their way to Lisbon in the preceding days.

"Come meet us in Chiado, we will get lunch." The message read. I walked the five minutes to Chiado, the high end square in the middle of town. Once in Chiado, I received another message that my friends were running behind (Portuguese time), which meant that I had time for a cafesihno. I walked towards the closest coffee shop- Cafe Brasileira-naturally the one that my father had recommended-what were the chances?

I sipped my coffee at the counter. I'm not going to bother describing the experience-I can't do it justice. The coffee in Lisbon is worth the flight ticket...as is the green wine...I will get back to that later.

After finishing my decadent coffee, I took this photo and texted the only Lisbon native I knew before my trip, Nuno.

He knew where I was instantly. He then directed me around the corner to get a "nata", the favored pastel (baked good) of Lisbon. Everyone I know who has been to Lisbon has told me that no trip would be complete without a nata. So off to Manteigueira bakery I went. They did not exaggerate-the magical pastry was ingested within ten seconds:

It may look humble, burnt even, but nata is glorious, nata is worth every damn calorie. I love good food, I'd even go so far as to call myself a foodie, but I'm not the kind of person who shares food photos on Instagram, but this is my blog, and if I want to extole the virtues of a custard pastry that people will wait in line for, that has kept a store in business since 1837, then I will.

Yes I did try nata in two different places within the span of three hours stop judging me thankyouverymuch.

Anyway, after my first nata, I met up with my new travel mates, and we headed to lunch.