Lisboa In One Year - The Best Of:

Lisboa in one year - the best of:

After 12 months living in Lisboa I opened my Lonely Planet guide for Portugal and looked back what has been done and should be done before once I leave Lisbon. Yes, I have decided I’m gonna stick around for another year for professional and financial reasons but after that I’m gonna start looking for something else. Even thinking of returning to Montréal. But here are the wisdom of the first year living in the portuguese capital. I know I have learned some. 

MOMENTS / EXPERIENCES:

After a photo shoot gone wrong because the sun rose in a wrong way I realized that the old trams which I have been wanting to take since I came here were EMPTY! So ended up taking one, actually severals on this random winter, sunny morning and just enjoying the ride while people rush to work, kids to school, shops open and the city awakens. The beauty of everyday life and that evident only for me. 

Numerous Couchsurfing nights that went on forever untill the morning without plans and with random people you had never met before nor meet again. Good times and definitely fun times!

Tinder dates that last for 7h while learning new areas of the city, stories, tips etc! Nothing major romantic but time well spent definitely!

Sunrises seen almost as many as the pasteis de natas eaten thanks to my early schedule at work. No matter how cold or hot it is - and how badly which ever of those suits you I love how the amount of light changes according to the seasons. Even in here. 

My hair looks so much better here than in Finland! No idea if it’s the vitamin D + zinc pills, the sun, the new SYOSS hair products or the combination of all of this - it is working! 

My previous experiences abroad have been intense but none of them has lasted as long as my time in Lisbon. I don’t feel like this is my final destination but I’m feeling the time in here will play a significant role in my life however. 

Obviously, Portugal gave me Eurovision. Despite of mixed feelings of how I look back at those weeks - obrigada! 

1 museum, 3 palaces, 2 fortress + multiple churches visited and about 1000 left to visit more.

 LOCAL KNOWLEDGE:

Hundreds and hundreds of Pasteis de Nata eaten. I know the best spots! Dare to say that I’m probably more expert than some locals.

After the negative first impressions I opened my eyes to my neighborhood and how great it is to live right here. Just local people without the tourists but still nice cafes, restaurants and shops. Whatever I need I know I can find it here! Can’t imagine living in anywhere else than in Alvalade-Roma-Areeiro area!

Seeing the beauty, the charm and history of the city and this country and why people come here and more importantly why they stay. 

How unique is this city compared to anything else I’ve ever been and my experiences in the moment of time. Lisbon grows and changes rapidly and how I see it today will be already gone by tomorrow. Thanks to this it is innovative, international, personalized and different but also fragile, dying what it is old and local. I think of my touristic choices more from now on and their affect after I’ve done whatever I came to do and left the destination.  

Knowing Lisboa spirit and understanding it a bit better every day. Embracing the details and colors around me – everything that makes Lisboa wrong and right but what makes it real. This city is a book to be read slowly and pages that continue forever.  

 LIFESTYLE:

Used to do Yoga before I came to Portugal but it was more random and not regular. Here however I can do it in my room as often as I can – just put some yoga music on from Youtube and tadaa! Another new hobby is bouldering/climbing which I don’t know how to do but I am still enjoying it!

Wherever you are and which ever turn you take on the streets of Lisbon – there will be a coffee shop! And not one of those international chains but an actual local portuguese cafeteria.

Never leaving empty handed from the markets where the hand made products are being sold (jewellery, clothes, souvenirs, etc). Especially the ones that you bump into randomly and unexpectedly.

Thousands of photos taken. I think I took better photos while living in Finland but I do have more material to go on here.

Exploring the country outside of Lisbon but not too far away not to be able to do day trips to visit the coast, amazing beaches, forests and mountains.

I ain’t a big fan of Portuguese food since I don’t eat seafood but instead I’ve had my eye on on the pastries and sweets since the beginning.

 PEOPLE:

Knowing all the right people when your computer crashes, or you need a photographing buddy who knows all the best places or you need a new portuguese teacher etc. Lisbon is not that big and the international crowd with the locals is easy to navigate if only you make an effort!

Portuguese are a proud nation realizing its faults and are always happy to show you around and share their expertise.

 When you break the ice with your neighbors, staff at your local store with people from here in general cause they are shy and somewhat distant in the beginning. But in the end you’ll get help, a friendly advice or whatever it was what you needed. They will go great lenghts for you. 

LANGUAGE:

I’m still a far cry from a fluent Portuguese speaking but when you notice you understand quite a bit of what’s being said around you – in Portuguese.

Finding music in Portuguese which I love – and it’s not Fado.

Diogo Picarra - Paraiso (2018) 

OVERALL:

When looking back the list I made before I left Finland - I've accomlished more or less everything I wanted. Only the language learning is the thing I'm a bit behind. So I’m on the right path here :)