Portugal: Day two // Hanging with the monkeys..

After a good breakfast at our hotel, we headed out for the day. Pretty much everyone in my family is obsessed with zoos. I really don't know where it comes from but it's something that those who have married into our weird clan have had to get used to... to their dismay.

Lisbon Zoological gardens was super easy to get to from the main city (it even has it's own stop on the Metro/tube) and the journey only took about twenty minutes. We popped our heads out from the metro station and saw this glorious sight immediately. Our excitement was palpable.

My step-sister, Savannah, was pretty chuffed to find a restaurant named after her ;)

Had to get a picture of the rhinos spotty bottoms!

My step-dad pretending to be a turtle....

This little guy was the biggest show off in the zoo. We had us captivated for about forty minutes with his acrobatic skills and fearless jumps.

Those our people's apartments - how amazing would it be to live looking over the animals?! I can't say i'd love the smell though... 

Steve had his very own Harry Potter moment inside the reptile house. This creepy guy was pretty friendly.

I've seen a lot of dolphin shows and the majority of them were pretty similar, give or take a few flips. What was fantastic about this one was the depth of the water. It's not visible in this photo but the tank was really deep and a lot of the show took place underwater. I was holding my breath the entire show with what the trainers were able to achieve underwater. Incredible!

Portugal: Day one // Wandering through the streets of Lisbon

 

My beautiful mumma celebrated a pretty big birthday this last February. I won't tell you how many candles she had on her cake, that's not the way she brought me up ;) Luckily for us, to celebrate reaching this milestone, my mum and step-dad took all my siblings, partners and a couple of family friends for a few days in beautiful Lisbon. 

Tucked away in the colourful backstreets, just off one of the city's main squares, we found our home for the stay. Residencial Florescente is classified as a budget hotel on trip advisor described in my mum's trusted guidebook as 'feeling significantly more expensive than it is'. We concur. The communal rooms were all decorated beautifully and it had a fabulous cocktail bar. Our rooms were a little basic but what the room lacked, the powerful shower more than made up for! We had some problems with late night noise as our room was directly above the main street but that is the downside of a fantastic location, directly in the centre of a bustling capital city.


After settling into our rooms, we all went for a little wander, taking in the charming Portuguese architecture before settling down at Restaurante Andorra for the first of many enormous beers and what turned out to be one of the best meals of our trip.

Residencial Florescente on the left, with the street it's located on to the right. 

It's normal for restaurants in Portugal to serve cheese, pate, bread and olives on your table before you eat. Unlike in Spain, these nibbles are not free. If you don't want to pay, don't eat. That being said, I absolutely commend you if you manage to sit by this yummy cheese and not slice off a slither...

Despite my brother's expression, we all agreed this octopus was fantastic. Seafood is a daily staple here.

With full bellies, Steve and I stole an hour or so for ourselves. We wandered down more charming streets and come across a LOT of squares/plazas, all with their own statues. It seems that the Portuguese are BIG on statues with each square trying to outdo the others.

In the middle of one of these plazas, there was an art installation. You can guess the idea, you paid 3 euros for a padlock to fasten your love eternally to the metal structure. I love the idea and have wanted to do one since some friends of ours secured their lock in Paris. Unfortunately, my husband wasn't quite so keen. You'd think marriage would be commitment enough! ;)

If your stroll leads you through the main city down to the waterfront, you'll find yet another plaza peppered with lots of trendy cafes and, you guessed it, another couple of monuments. Perfect for people watching for a couple of hours, sitting with the February sun on your back and a cocktail in hand.

 More from Lisbon to come.