JOANA MIRANDA STUDIO

On our recent trip to Portugal, we were fortunate in that the weather during our week in the Alentejo region was absolutely spectacular.  Unfortunately, the book ends of our trip – two weekends spent in Lisbon – were more typical of November weather with several days of showers or outright downpours.  But even on a gloomy day Lisbon is a spectacularly beautiful city.  Here are a few pictures to give you an idea…

Of the ornate iron grill-work balconies…

Historic shops (this one dating back from 1888!)…

(And this glove shop from 1925!)

Vintage street cars make their daily routes up and down the hills of the city…

And the hilly landscape provides for stunning vistas at pretty much every turn!

Being forced indoors out of the rain wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, either.  We browsed tons of bookstores (the Portuguese are rightly proud of their literary heritage – author Fernando Pessoa is one of the most significant literary figures of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets of the Portuguese language), and I even came across the lesser known but equally charming Fernanda Pessoa in Livraria Bertrand (a charming bookstore which has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest bookstore in the world still in operation!)

Lisbon is a city with charm, history, beauty and culture.  I feel rightly proud to have been born there, so I’m raising this glass in thanks.

Saúde!