Lisbon's youthful side

Winter is my least favorite season, so at the beginning of the year with my resolution to travel more in mind I decided to escape chilly Britain and take a trip to Portugal. The initial plan was a week by the pool in the Algarve, but that didn't feel adventurous enough for me, so I started reading about the Portuguese capital Lisbon and felt immediately inspired to visit. The plan was formed; 3 nights in Lisbon then a bus to Vilamoura for the rest of the week.

Now although the Algarve is beautiful and we had a great time in Vilamoura, Lisbon completely stole the show for me. Not only did it deliver the pretty back streets, pastel buildings, terracotta roofs and slow paced local life I had been promised, it had an exciting youthful side I had not been expecting.

I stumbled upon Lisbon's youthful side while mooching around Calcada da Gloria. This street hosts a legal street art gallery promoted by the city council and is immediately followed by Largo da Oliveirinha which is a free zone for street art. I'm a big fan of graffiti art so this was an amazing find for me, but I think anyone would enjoy wondering around these streets discovering the variety of art on display.

After making this exciting discovery I decided to google 'Lisbon graffiti' to see if the city had any more hidden gems... and to my complete delight I read about art on a much bigger six-storey-high scale on Av Fontes Pereira de Melo. This vast collection is the work of the Crono Project which is commissioning artists to transform abandoned buildings in the business district instead of handing over Lisbon's heritage to the developers. I had seen photos before hand, but this art was even more spectacular (almost breathtaking) in real life.

Lisbon also had a surprisingly great night life, I think I was surprised because I had pigeon-holed Lisbon as a pretty heritage-city and didn't expect it to have so much energy.

After a delicious five course menu at a Pharmacy themed restaurant (featuring soup served in test tubes!) we headed over to the Bairro Alto district to discover Lisbon's night-life hot spot. The streets surrounding this area held no indication of the revelry going on, and I must admit our expectations were low as we walked through the city... but Lisbon totally delivered! Every bar in Bairro Alto had it's own fun personality and they were buzzing (even on a Monday), cocktails were the drink of choice, Eurotrash was the music of choice and fancy-dress was the clothing of choice but it equaled a very memorable, very fun night out.

Water served in medicine bottles

Test-tube gazpacho soup

Mojitos by the pint

Lisbon is definitely one of Europe's most underrated cities and is often ignored by tourists choosing to flock to Portugal's sunny south instead, but this fantastic city really does have so much to offer. Why not start you next trip to Portugal in fabulous Lisboa?