We moved to Lisbon, Portugal

Two weeks ago we finally made a decision to /temporarily/ move to Lisbon and prepared to depart. I know, it’s crazy, right? I’ve been living in London for the past 5 years and I had 10 days to pack/get rid of my life belongings, solve all the issues, book tickets and find a place to stay in Lisbon. And I also worked 9 to 6…

Everything happened so quickly, from Thursday to Saturday I was running around the flat, trying to figure out what I should pack/throw away/leave/bring home to Minsk! The great thing about moving every year or two is that you don’t accumulate unnecessary garbage like a dress-I-will-wear-when- I-lose-2 kgs and endless piles of stationery and old makeup (girls will relate) – every time you move out you have no choice but throw it all away.

Me, thinking if I really need to bring 5 bags with me

Our flight was on freezing Sunday morning, so we left home at 4am and went to the airport. Unfortunately, the bus was 35 min late, and we rushed to registration desks 80 min before the departure. We found out that our suitcases weighted 16 and 25 kg, and you’re only allowed to bring 20kg per one. I think out heart rates went 5 times up, because not only we didn’t have time to re-pack our luggage, the staff was also reluctant to permit my boyfriend, Kostya, to go through – he has a national visa in his passport, which isn’t a tourist shengen, but…well it’s too complicated to explain, hehe. Basically it allows him to enter shengen zone, but very often airport personnel isn’t familiar with it (God knows why), and if you miss your flight as the result of their unawareness, well…you can’t do anything about it. Security policy, duuh.

London: Christmas spirit & Winter Wonderland

London. Can’t imagine a more festive place during this time of the year.

On Friday I took a 2h 20min flight from Lisbon, back to the capital of Great Britain, where currently the amount of people on the streets exceeds the amount of patience that you need in order to navigate yourself through these crowds. IT GETS CRAZY in winter season. Seriously, everyone is looking for presents, Oxford Circus gets intoxicated, and cars can’t cope with people who stop on crossroads to take pictures (including yours truly). Every year it’s the same old story, but I still get caught in this marketing trap – I spend too much money on treats & gifts, drink mulled wine, even though I’m not a fan of it, and come to the Winter Wonderland on Saturdays. I’ll show you some pics from this beautiful madness.

November in Lisbon: 20 pictures

Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world – the first mentions of it as a city date back to the 11th century, but its existence can be traced back to 1200BC. When the most disastrous earthquake (magnitude of 8,7) hit in 1755, everything disappeared under the water, including all the archives and pieces of art – anything that could tell us more about city’s past. You could say that since then, Lisbon was built from scratch.

I’m putting this introduction to give you a little bit of context:)

We live on top of the hill, in Graca – one of the oldest areas. It’s mainly a quiet residential area with close links to centre.

1. The views from our side. We live 200m from the most amazing miradouros (viewpoints).

2. The sidewalks are very narrow – you have to be careful not to get hit by a tram or a car! No heels allowed :D.

7 Things We Learned About Lisbon

It’s our 6th day in Portugal, since we moved here and I felt the urgent need to take notes on things that surprised me, while the first impressions are fresh. I don’t want to make generalisations, as every traveller’s view is subjective, but I’m sure that most of the listed things are close to reality. Note that even though I’ve been to many cities,countries, continents – unconciously I compare everything to the UK, where I’ve spent the last few years.

Então, shall we start?

1. It’s a city of pastries

Wherever you go, you’ll see pastelarias – cafes that serve all kinds of treats made from dough – from tarts, biscuits and baguettes to eclairs and cakes. They’re quite cheap – usually the prices start from €0,60. Nothing fancy, we’re not in France – locals have something sweet, like a tart or sandwich with coffee in the morning. Bread in grocery shops and bakeries tastes amazing, there’s a lot more variety, compared to England – UK is more leaning towards biscuits.

2. Locals can’t really speak English

Every time we spoke to Portuguese, they somehow understood, but couldn’t give us a helpful response. There were few exceptions with cashiers and drivers that knew basic vocubulary. But overall, it’s better to have a handy dictionary or an app to ask for help. Ordering in cafes/restaurants is also a problem, even if you know Spanish, since many words are completely unfamiliar and menus are rarely translated.

Day 4 & our butts are freezing here

Imagine a picture: me, last Saturday, leaving half of my sweaters and warm socks in London, thinking  – omg, we’re going to live in the South of Europe, it’ll be sunny, beachy and amazing, so I should probably bring a suncsreen, T-shirts and a few dresses. Well, surely, compared to rainy and foggy London (or to a snowfall in my hometown Minsk), Lisbon isn’t the worst place to spend the end of autumn, because I mean…it’s +17 here! But there’s one detail that we haven’t taken into account before arriving. THERE’S NO CENTRAL HEATING HERE. The properties aren’t really suitable for cold times, so insulation is pretty bad.

Since we won’t be paying astronomical electricity bills (usually they are included in all airbnb bookings), we turned on two heaters and tried to wear as many clothes as possible. On the plus side, sleeping under two blankets is cosy. I’ve heard that our bodies spend more calories when trying to warm up (insert emoji with cringe face) – I haven’t found a gym yet, which means less moving around. With all these pasteis de nata everywhere you have to find new ways to keep fit.