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From cobblestoned Portuguese alleys navigated one-handed with a stroller to reef dives in Fiji, this is where the trips live. Told through words and whatever camera happened to be with me.
I shoot film and digital and travel with family in tow. These posts are part travel journal, part photography log, and part love letter to the places that made an impression. I hope they make you want to go see them for yourself.
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Portugal - Lisbon
The last leg of our trip was here in Lisbon. We had several days to explore the city and the idea was to do so on foot, rambling the narrow and hilly cobbled streets with one hand on the stroller and the other with the camera. No plan of action here, so let’s see what the city decides to show us!
Our place was tucked up behind that castle, Lisbon, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO100 1/100 f11
Lisbon
Read Part IV: Portugal - Nazare →
The GPS was spot-on for our first foray into Lisbon, which is great because it’s easy to get turned around until you have your bearings. We had four nights here to explore, and (with one exception) we knew we’d be covering it by foot (and that parking was near impossible where we were staying) so after dropping off the family to sort out the apartment, I drove to the airport to drop the car off and took a rideshare back. We’d have to figure out how we’d get back to the airport for our eventual departure (not so simple with a 2-year-old as rideshares don’t typically have car-seats!) but left that as a problem for future-us to figure out.
Not entirely sure our tour-guide knows where he’s taking us. Lisbon, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO800 1/200 f4.5
Navigating Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal ISO125 1/160 f5.6
Old & New, park where you can in a tightly spaced city! Lisbon, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO100 1/25 f16
Entrance to our apartment on the right, Lisbon, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO 100 1/25 f16
Our stay was an apartment on the fourth floor of an old building in Alfama. Almost all of the buildings here are hundreds of years old if not more, of course, and that often means no elevator, (or handrails on the stairs) which was the case for our accommodation. So, not toddler friendly let’s say, and our calves and sanity got a bit of a workout whenever entering or leaving, but the apartment itself was spacious and clean. If you’re used to old European cities, you are likely used to some of the less pleasant odours than can emanate from ancient plumbing and sewers and that was unfortunately a bit of the case in this building, but overall a non-issue in the city. The location was excellent, sitting near the top of the hill beside the walls of the Castello de Sao Jorge. This meant more steep workouts were guaranteed as we wandered, but we quickly found out that this is common feature of Lisbon’s natural topography anyway.
That’s a tight squeeze, Lisbon, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO160 1/125 f8
Walks, Meltdowns and Burgers
We didn’t have much of a plan for Lisbon, rather, content to ramble the varied neighbourhoods, sample the food, take photos and see what there is to see. The architecture and character of the classic heart of the city is fascinating. There are historical influences here from many cultures, a classic defensive layout, occasional modern touches and stunning tilework harkening back to the Moorish period, all making for an eclectic atmosphere. It also makes for a bit of a maze, and despite what many others have said, is not exactly ideal if you have a toddler in tow.
Wandering Alfama, Lisbon, Portugal ISO400 1/125 f8
The streets are narrow, often steep, and largely cobbled which can make them a bit tricky to navigate while pushing a stroller, and I imagine rather treacherous in the rain as the stones are worn slick over centuries of use. Many parts of town don’t really have sidewalks and where they occasionally do, they’re about half the width of the stroller. So, when a car, scooter, or trolley does zip by it’s a bit of a squeeze. That isn’t too challenging, but when your toddler decides he’s had enough of the ride and wants to walk, you’re on heightened vigilance. Even more so when dashing across the street, vehicles be damned, appears to be his new favorite pursuit.
Pro-tip for the parent traveller; when buying a travel stroller, get one with the largest wheels possible that still allows it to fit in an airplanes overhead bin. This will help it navigate uneven surfaces and make it exponentially easier to push around than the small-wheeled, albeit lightweight, variant we used.
Gotta make use of the alcoves, Lisbon, Portugal ISO160 1/125 f8
At this point I regretted not having a neck strap for my Ricoh GRiii, because it was increasingly difficult to get a hand free to remove it from my pocket, and when the wrist strap was on, it took too long to free my hand in a moment when I needed to (and with little kids, speed can be of the essence). I’ll admit, at a certain point I had to stop and have a bit of a tantrum of my own. Maybe it was the heat and a bit of travel fatigue, or “missing the shot” for the nth time, but your author was losing his patience with the situation and possibly a bit hangry as well. Let’s find some food.
Luckily, there’s no lack of places to eat, and many of them were delightful and that always works to shed some stress. Among our favorites were;
Copenhagen Coffee Lab in Alfama. Amazing coffee, excellent pastries, sandwiches and baked treats. They have a very cool vibe, being seemingly tucked away in a basement, but with a large atrium open to the sky should you prefer. Augusto Lisboa was also a hit, absolutely unreal French Toast, but get there early or be prepared to wait in line a while.
Time Out Market is a must visit location and foodie’s delight. Easily 20 restaurants organized in what appears to be a repurposed fish market/warehouse with seating in the middle. Cocktails, seafood, donuts, burgers, pasta, traditional Portuguese from various regions, how about wine tasting? It’s all here. I think we came back here three times, and you could honestly just eat here every day and not get bored. Try “Ground Burger” for salty, cheesy, burger deliciousness that will make you question why you don’t fry your cheese before putting it on the burger every single time.
Time-out at Time Out Market. Best burger I’ve ever had. There, I said it. Lisbon, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO3200 1/100 f6.3
Precarious patio at Clara’s em Castello, Lisbon, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO2500 1/60 f4
LX Factory was another neat spot for food and a bit of the arts scene. There were numerous options here in this gentrified factory district from Mexican food to gelato. I suspect this area livens-up in the evenings, but it was plenty busy mid-day as well.
LX Factory, Lisbon, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO100 1/125 f8
In the neighbourhoods of Chiado and Bairro Alto, you’ll see a number of ‘old fashioned’ looking cars roaming the streets carting tourists about. These are actually new builds that are entirely electric, and can be helpful when wandering the town given its hilly topography can wear you down quickly in the heat. Negotiating rates with the drivers is doable, but getting a toddler on is a bit of a challenge. While a couple of drivers didn’t seem to mind, it seems it’s not entirely legal to do so and in one case we were asked to hide-out a bit before climbing on board when a traffic cop wandered by! These cars aren’t quick, but the suspension is really tight so prepare for a jarring ride. If you had limited time in Lisbon, I reckon they’re worth a try and most offer something of a guided tour as well. There are also tuk-tuks that seemed a bit cheaper for those not needing the faux-vintage vibe.
Tourist cars in Lisbon, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO160 1/125 f16
Are we on the roof?
Given it’s undulating nature, Lisbon has a few tricks up it’s sleeve for the uninitiated. One night, having made our way quite far from our accommodation and well into the evening, we decided to walk back drawing a relatively straight line from the hilltop we stood upon to the one opposite us in the distance where our apartment was. Seemed easy enough, the little guy would more than likely fall asleep in the stroller, and we could enjoy a peaceful wander home. All true, except for when, after a kilometer or so of twists and turns, we found ourselves looking down six or more storeys to the street we thought we were about to intersect (no heads-up from google maps either). We were walking on the roof of a building for the last little while and had no idea! It so happens that Lisbons’ famous elevator was adjacent us but closed for the night, so we’d have to double back and make a big loop to get back on track.
Oops, no way down from there. Lisbon, Portugal ISO 1600 1/20 f2.8
Lisbon by Night
At this stage of the trip we were quite content to let our kiddo fall asleep in the stroller as we wandered, allowing us to stay out a bit later and see how the city evolved at night. The Portuguese seem to start dinner late (not unlike many European cultures I’ve encountered) regardless whether it was mid-week or a weekend, so the streets come alive as the sun goes down, particularly where there’s an abundance of restaurants. Occasionally you’d come across a Fado musician playing their characteristic melancholy songs, a genre I knew nothing about before this trip and found to be a delightful addition to the character of these streets.
I hadn’t used the Ricoh GRiii much in the evenings before this trip, so was learning on the run as we explored Lisbon after dark. The IBIS in general seems very good allowing handheld shots down to 1/4 without much blur, complimenting the lens thats decently sharp wide open. A handy evolution compared to the GRii, which lacked it (and largely pre-dated that tech I think). Low-light autofocus is not great (even interior shots with ambient daylight can challenge this cameras’ AF), but what I’ve learned since is to shoot in Snap-Focus mode and make the best of zone focusing rather than waiting for the AF to catch-up. I think a tripod or monopod would go a long way to aid in image quality in the evenings, but sometimes you’ve got to make do with what you have -which occasionally is the handle of a stroller.
Still need to make our way up to that castle to find our apartment, Lisbon, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO640 1/20 f2.8
Fado Musician sings a melancholy tune outside a tavern, Lisbon, Portugal, ISO1000 1/13 f2.8
Lisbon by night, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO6400 1/50 f4
Quieter streets as we got closer to our place, Lisbon, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO2500 1/20 f2.8
Lisbon by night, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO3200 1/20 f2.8
Scratching the Surface
Our visit largely covered just three neighbourhoods in this expansive city, namely Alfama, Chiado and Bairro Alto. These are likely the most tourist-centric areas in Lisbon, but we’re tourists, so that’s ok! Looking at the map it’s evident we barely scratched the surface of Lisbon even despite covering upwards of 15km a day just walking. I don’t think we walked into a single museum, gallery, or even the castle next door for that matter. You’re never going to see it all of course, and we enjoyed our care-free approach to getting a taste of the town.
Lisbon street art, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO160 1/160 f8
Lisbon Street Art, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO100 1/160 f8
Obligatory church shot, Lisbon, Portugal, Ricoh GRiii ISO320 1/100 f8
One more Stop
After a few days of wandering Lisbon, we decided to conclude our visit to Portugal with yet another impromptu side-trip to somewhere special. We’d be departing the capital by train (much to a certain two-year-old’s delight) for a day-trip in search of a picturesque and ancient town of stunning palaces, hidden tunnels, and natural beauty. Learn about Sintra in the final installment of the Portugal story coming up next!
Light and shadow, Lisbon, Portugal. Ricoh GRiii, ISO100 1/125 f8
The Road to Hana and beyond — narrow roads, raw coastline, and the question every traveler faces: turn back, or keep going?