TRIP TO LISBON-by Belén Mañá

TRIP TO LISBON

This month we all have to write about our trip. At first I didn’t know what to talk about specifically, but then I realized that the city I enjoyed the most during the trip was Lisbon, because I had always wanted to go there. So I decided to write about it: about the things we had time to visit and the ones we didn’t. 

 Let’s start introducing Lisbon, which is the capital of Portugal. It is a well known city in Europe and as a curiously, it is the western European capital. Lisbon has over 550,000 habitants and 100km².

I had never been to Lisbon before, but I think I will soon  come back because, as it is quite far* from Madrid, we didn’t have enough time there, so we couldn’t do all we wanted to do. It is not bad at all because thanks to this trip, I already have an excuse for my family to take me back to Lisbon.  

*In fact it does not seem too far from Madrid, only 630 km, but trust me when I tell you that it seems much more when you are sitting in the bus waiting to arrive (luckily we didn’t go straight to Lisbon, and did some stops along the way, because it would have meant a few more hours in the bus!!)

When we arrived Lisbon, we picked up our guides at Pombal Marquis’ Square, they came into the buses and they explained the history of Lisbon and its most important places while we were touring in the city.

We could see places like Rossio or Business squares, but when I first saw the 25^th April Bridge or the copy of the Brazilian statue “Christ the Redeemer” the first thing that came to my mind was that Lisbon was a mix of cities (and I imagined that, at any moment, I would see Alcala Gate or Ventas Bullfighting Square). We were also able to make a stop and visit the Belem’s Tower (my tower J) or the Jeronimos Monastery.

At the end, we had free time so my friends and I went for a walk and took some photos.  We also tried to buy a souvenir for our families so we entered some shops while we realized that most of them were identical to the Spanish ones. We “seized the momen”t and bought some Belem’s pastries, really typical from Lisbon (another typical food from Lisbon is the bacalhau (a fish), but we didn’t want to carry it our suitcases, so we opted for buying the pastries which, in fact, were delicious!).

I must say that we had time to do more things than I had expected but, as I said at the beginning, it was not enough. Here are some things that I want to do in Lisbon when I come back:

• ·         Taking the Santa Justa elevator: Some of my friends went there, and I had the chance but as I saw the queue I refused doing it because I was quite tired. But I still want to go, because of the amazing views.

• ·         Taking the tram: In some cities of Spain (like Seville) there are trams, nevertheless in Madrid we don’t have any, and I have never taken one! I wanted to take one, and I knew that Lisbon trams were famous for their ancient appearance when they’re actually very modern.  I wanted to take one, but I was not going to take the tram to get nowhere or get lost so…
  
  

  

  
  
  
  • Castle of São Jorge: just by looking at the photo you can get the picture of why I’d like to see it. 
  
  
  Due to all of these things that I still want to visit in Lisbon, I think that I will have to convince my family to travel there someday!!!