Episode 52 - Lisbon 🇵🇹

An unexpected side quest in the Portuguese capital due to a catastrophic Iberia-wide power outage? Yes, please!

I’ve heard the phrase “Don’t celebrate too early” many times in my life, but it was just recently that it finally applied to me.

I have had the best time traveling around the UK, and was quite surprised by how well and hiccup-free the entire trip was going. I was telling Joe and Emma this back in London, and lo and behold, it looked like I celebrated too early. While getting pints with the gang + Billy the night before leaving for California, I got an email that my flight to Lisbon from London the next morning was delayed by two hours due to a catastrophic power outage in Portugal and Spain. Classic.

This was quite the problem, because my layover in Lisbon was only one and a half hours before I was to catch a connecting flight to SF. See the problem there?

I certainly did, and was quite panicking the night before leaving because neither Chase Travel nor TAP Portugal (the airline I was flying with) were providing any help or guidance to resolve the issue. After talking to Joe and calling my dad, I decided I had to get on the plane to Lisbon anyway, because otherwise the airline would say I missed my flight and I’d be on the hook to buy a new ticket. Oh my goodness.

Jesus, take the wheel (of the plane)! Lisbon awaits!

If this is your first episode and you’re like “what in the world is happening”, start off here.

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Tuesday, April 29th, 2025

After the fiasco with the delayed flight the night before, I said bye to Joe the next morning and had an uneventful journey back to Heathrow. Bye-bye Britain! It’s been a pleasure.

The flight over to Lisbon was super chill, and I slept the entire way over. We land, and about half of the passengers on the flight are diverted to a special waiting area — apparently, so many people missed their connecting flights that they created a separate holding area for us, and we were given new tickets for flights the next + a 30€ voucher for airport food.

Sooooooooooo it looks like I have an unexpected free afternoon in Lisbon. Bruh.

Or maybe, hooray?

There’s really nothing I can do at this point than enjoy the day off in Portugal and make the most of it. It was honestly a pretty funny situation, and once I accepted it, it felt a lot like the Berlin metro fiasco or taking the ferry back to Paris from London — a shitty situation, but one that I couldn’t do anything about and might as well have fun in. And that’s exactly what I ended up doing.

I texted Joe and Emma to send them updates about the situation, and within 15 seconds, Emma sent me an EXTENSIVE list of recommendations for what to do and see in Lisbon. My personal hero, Emma Versteak. Looks like I have some things to do!

Fortunately, the Lisbon airport has a metro station nearby, so I hopped on that bad boy and went straight into the city center. I walk aboveground, and boom, I’m in the Portuguese capital. Didn’t have that one on my Bingo card, that’s for sure!

Lisbon is a very pretty city — buildings are painted in all these different beautiful pastel colors, there are cobblestone streets everywhere, and everyone is walking all out and about. A delightful vibe, truly. The city is also famously very hilly (that, plus the cobblestones, makes this city a terrible place to be in a wheelchair or with luggage, that’s for sure, no problem for my Hyperlite bag tho!), and Emma’s list of recommendations had a few scenic viewpoints overlooking the entire city center.

I headed over to the nearest one, and really appreciated the epic views from the top of an ancient church. It was actually so relaxing, and you even got a complimentary glass of wine with your 5€ ticket to the top of the iglesia. I was reading my book up there, and honestly, I need to give a huge shoutout to the power outage for giving me a vacation from my vacation. You really do need those sometimes.

The seagulls were flying, the music was playing, the wine and coffee were being sipped, the pain au chocolat was being eaten, the book was being read, the endorphins were being pumped through my brain. It was just a wonderful time. I think we need to have more power outages.

After the church, I walked around the old city center some more, got myself a delicious ice cream cone, checked out the oldest traffic sign in the world (from 1686!), watched an amazing street band play, then headed over to the waterfront to check into my hostel.

I was recommended the Sunset Destination Hostel by a geology classmate of mine, Silas, more than two years ago, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. The staff there were super friendly, the rooms were large and spacious, there was free coffee (huge), and there was a rooftop terrace and pool overlooking the nearby train station and pier. Amazing stuff.

I got some dinner at the hostel¹ and spent the evening chatting with Jason, a French guy from Dijon on his first international solo trip. The flight over from Paris was his first time being on a plane, and he was clearly very excited and nervous for his first adventure. He studies languages (English, Spanish, Korean lol) at uni, and honestly, that entire interaction was super wholesome.

I introduced him to Polarsteps (“eet eez so cul!”), had a nice glass of wine, and called it a night. I’m not trying to be hungover on my flight back tomorrow, I have a lot of blogging and traveling to do!

Wednesday, April 30th

My high opinion of this hostel tanked after last night. At 3 am, some super drunk dudes came into the room and were hella loud, and then another super drunk and definitely-on-drugs dude came in, thought our dorm room was the toilet, pissed all over the floor, and fell asleep in a random bed. The poor girl in the bunk above me was freaking out (and she’d just checked in a few hours ago) , and the hostel staff had to come in, wipe down the floor, and put the girl into an all-female dorm. Poor her!

I had a very stressful sleep after that, then decided to cut my losses and check out early. Even though it’s technically not the hostel’s fault, it still left a very bitter taste in my mouth and a stain on my socks. I’m outta there!

I still had a few hours to kill before I needed to be back at the airport, so I rented a Bird and scootered along the waterfront to check out the epic Monument to the Discoveries, which commemorates all the Portuguese explorers who sailed out of Lisbon. It is WAY bigger than the pictures make it out to be — it was literally 100 feet tall, and those carved people are a good 15 feet tall. Super duper cool!

It was also on this Bird scooter that I had the epic realization that Lisbon reminds me of the UCLA co-op. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it all day, but it suddenly clicked that they’re the exact same — everything works, but it’s also all kinda slightly falling apart. You wouldn’t really describe the place as “nice”, but there’s a bunch of history and culture, everyone’s nice and friendly, and it’s a special, special place. What a connection.

Made it to the airport and onto the plane with no problems, and now I have two new stamps in my passport from ~Lisboa~. Nice!

Freedom, here I come! 🇺🇸

My metro buddy on the way to the airport

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Some more anthropological observations:

• A really interesting thing about Portugal is that it’s the first place I've been to where the signs are in Portuguese. That obviously would be the case, but it was still super cool to see that. The neat thing is, Portuguese is such a close derivative of Spanish that I can pretty much read every sign, or at least deduce what they mean

• The metro in Lisbon is a tap-on, tap-off situation, and literally half the price of London’s. Huge dub there

• After a month in the UK, it’s strange to see people driving on the correct side of the road here. I have to relearn how to jaywalk all over again!

• If you're flying on TAP Portugal, just know that everything will automatically be at least 30 minutes delayed

• Lisbon airport’s trash cans have funny signs on them. See below:

Emma’s list of recommendations (mostly so I can access it easier later):

Brunch:

• Dear breakfast, Fauna & Flora, Hello Kristof, Boutik, Marquise, Café da Garagem, Simpli Coffee

Dinner:

• Madam Bo (dumplings), The Decadente, Ponto Final, Tasca Pete, Cervejaria Ramiro, Corrupio, Sem, The food temple

Bars:

• Park rooftop, Pensão Amor, Toca da Raposa (cocktail bar), Boavista Social Club, Java (rooftop bar for sunset), Topo, Machimbombo, Ladidadi (natural wine bar), Comadre & Feitoria speakeasy, Imprensa Cocktail and Oyster Bar, Black Sheep Lisboa, Ippolito & Maciste, Antu Cais do Sodre (fun on weekends apparently)

Places to go:

• Manteigaria (PASTEIS DE NATA YUM), Pasteis de Belem, LxFactory (cool industrial complex with bars and shops), R. da Bica de Duarte Belo (tram viewing street), Palacete Chafariz d'El Rei (pretty hotel), Miradouro de Santa Luzia (Lookout over Lisbon), Teatro da Garagem (teatro taborda)(cool lookout), Feira da Ladra (flea market) (only on Tuesdays), Graça Viewpoint, Praça Júlio de Castilho (viewpoint), Ceramicas na linha

Shops:

• Arquivos vintage, Anjos70, A Outra Face da Lua (Baixa)

Media appendix:

1. There was a slight hiccup where you had to pay 12€, in cash, to get dinner at the hostel, but the ATM downstairs had a minimum 20 euro withdrawal, a 5€ fee just for using it, and a highway robbery exchange rate. Fortunately, a Canadian in my hostel room, Justin, had cash on hand and let me pay him back on Wise. Dub