Lisbon, Portugal 04 - 09 Feb, 2025

My whole life I’ve tried two cigarettes, both times I got about two puffs in, choked, turned yellow and threw the damned things away…always hated cigarettes (tobacco cigs, I mean). First time was in high school and the second was trying to impress a then-girlfriend, now-Wife, and that definitely didn’t end up impressing anyone. The smell of cigarette smoke has always been a gut-wrenching thing for me, even late at night in a seedy Memphis bar when I was younger and it seemed cool and fitting...no amount of beer helped me stomach the smoke (scratch that...not true!). But I still find myself walking away from clouds of smoke when I see them.

But for some reason it's not that way here. Here, I kind of like it. I still don’t want to smoke, but it doesn’t bother me when the person next to me in the soccer match lights up, which is a 93.6% chance they will. It seems that almost everyone in Portugal smokes. Cigarettes...vapes...roll-your-own's....whatever, they're everywhere. There is a haze outside the bar doors late at night that you have to walk through. The person next to you at the football match is pulling on his vape like it's an oxygen machine. The sexy-ass Fado singer sounds like she's chain-smoking filtrerless between the sets.

Oddly, it fits here. It’s not annoying or off-putting or nauseating…it just seems normal. Not sure why so many smoke or what the actual percentage of smokers is, or if it's simply my imagination, but I feel like smoking is more prevalent here than other places. Maybe it’s the sea or the salt air or the hard-scrabble fisherman/sea-faring ethos (I’m simply making shit up to sound like a writer) but be prepared to get a face full of smoke here. Don't let that jaundice your opinion of Portugal, though...it's amazing here!

We came here the first time for our honeymoon, 25 years ago. Didn’t have a clue what we were doing but followed Rick Steves’ books religiously and fell in love with Portugal then. I remember pretty vividly the beauty of Porto and the Algarve but I don’t remember much about Lisbon, which is a shame as it is stunningly beautiful. Character and soul and history. Everything about it is wonderful…the scenery, the food, the people, the football and even the smoky sea air. I’m a bit sad that it’s taken us 25 years to return, but fittingly, we made it back for our anniversary. Walking through the neighborhoods (and getting easily lost) is amazing and one of my favorite pastimes anywhere we go.

One of the things I loved about Mexico, and San Miguel, in particular, was the colllection of front doors. They were old, ornate, huge, beautiful and everywhere. Sort of like a meandering art exhibit. The thing that’s fascinated me the most about Portugal are the marble designs in the sidewalks and plazas everywhere. The amount of attention and care that they spend on civic planning, design and upkeep / maintenance is wonderful to see. Everywhere you go the sidewalks are marble mosaic patterns with geometrics, animals, sea creatures, emblems, etc. I know I looked a bit funny taking pics of the ground everywhere but hopefully the small section below offer a glimpse into the streets of Portugal…or at least the Portugal we were able to visit this trip.

If you are here during football season, I'd definitely recommend going to a game...for any team. We were lucky to see one of the storied Portuguese teams (Benfica) play at their home stadium. The pre-game alone was worth the money, as the fans are belting out the team songs at full volume, flying their colors/scarves and chanting non-stop and they also have a famous bald-eagle that flies around the stadium before the game. Getting tickets is easy, as everything is online, and the subways take you within a couple of blocks to the stadium.

Things are starting to blur together a bit from day-to-day, especially since this was a bit of quick trip - only 10 days.  We are coming back in a couple of months to visit friends and wanted to have a little extra time in Scotland and Ireland. Here’s a quick rundown of where we went:

04 - 09 Feb Lisbon

09 Feb rented a car and drove to Nazare, stopping in Sintra on the way for a hike and tour of the National Palace of Pena (12th century AD) and the nearby ancient Moorish Castle (8th-9th century AD). Strongly recommend this to anyone travelling through - the views are amazing and the history of the castles is always fascinating. If you go, wear proper walking/hiking shoes - Lyd racked up 75 flights on the trek up. Poles would also be helpful due to uneven stairs, moss, water and your head focused up on the magnificent architecture

09 - 11 Feb Nazare

A bucket list item for me (Chris) was to see the monster waves. I'm NOT a surfer ( I prefer being UNDER the water) but I'm fascinated with the courage and skill (and crazy) these surfers need in order to surf these monsters. Unfortunately, the waves were only 10 or so feet when we were there, but they held a big-wave sufing event here two weeks later and the waves were registering 30-40+ feet! I plan to make it back here some future December when the season is in peak.

11 - 13 Feb Aveiro and the nearby Praia da Barra (Barra Beach)

Last couple of days in PT on the coast and in the beautiful little city that is called the Venice of Portugal (called this by the Aveiro tourism and marketing board, btw). The city is worth a quick day trip but the nearby beaches (Praia da Barra) are truly amazing - miles and miles of nice big sandy beaches. And the little village of Costa Nova that is lined with cutesy little striped houses.

13 Feb - Fly from Porto to Edinburgh, Scotland

One of the cutest things happened on our KLM light out of Porto to Scotland…the attendant was picking up trash and a five-ish year old boy was helping collect all of the trash. He had a huge proud smile on his face as he dumped each handful of trash into the attendant's bag and got a bit of an ovation when they were finished. Nice to see wholesome/positive little acts of kindness wherever we go!

Benfica vs. Moreirense