The day started with a short walk to the nearest point of interest in Lisbon close to our hotel, the Sao Jorge Castle sitting on the top on Alfama.  The castle is, well sort of Castle-y, fun to wander, and the views in all directions are splendid.  If I had my favourite hashtag it would be #HighUp, as I so enjoy getting those panoramic views that places like the castle provide.  Lisbon glowed in the moment.  The view from the castle allows for an opportunity to be thoroughly impressed with Lisbon.  Taking photos for me is not just about keeping memories, or one more selfie, in fact I hate selfies, but about capturing the character, if you photograph well I believe you can do just that.  Travel photographers have been doing that for a long time.

 

The final day in Lisbon was much like the others, enjoyable finding new and interesting places, food, weather and sites to see, but tarnished by continued frustration with navigating beyond the tourists.  So much so, that one of the most enjoyable visits was today at the Estadio Jose Alvalade Stadium, home of Sporting Lisbon FC.  It was an interesting tour learning about the likes of Ronaldo and Figo as they set out on their football playing journeys starting here, but also this stadium tour experience was not inhibited by fighting queues, listening to inane chatter that seems to be a requirement with tourists here.  Each time I like to find to follow a tradition of seeing a new soccer club.  The tours are always similar, but different in enough ways to make it worthwhile. Sporting Lisbon is a great club that I took to it immediately, and means I am required to dislike their local rivals Benfica.

Ultimately, Lisbon provides a fabulous background to allow for a thoroughly interesting visit, though is lost in the clamour to see it. If you were marking Lisbon out of 10 for the place it would get 8-9, but if I were considering Lisbon for the experience it provides it would be more like an average.  I can only dread to think what Lisbon would be like in the high season.

Having lots of people visiting must mean it is a special place?  Well, yes sort of, but at some point, you begin to lose that sense of character that only comes with the local environment & feel, unfortunately Lisbon was lost in those, and it is such a shame.  Portugal, however, does have great character and potential that visiting outside of Lisbon would certainly appeal.  I would recommend a visit to this excellent country, but unless you are ok with tourist overload, Lisbon wold not be the answer.