Lisbon in November
The last years we spent the Christmas holidays in the sunnier, warmer regions and enjoyed this little break from cold, dark Denmark a lot: Teneriffe in 2020 and Madeira in 2022. This year, we did something similar again. However, our little D-vitamine break happened in November and not as far as an island in the Atlantic: Lisbon. (Yes, we do like Portugal! As we’ve also been in Porto in 2019. :D)
The weather was a bit mixed with sunny days and rainy days, but it was always warmer than at home, so we were definetely happy.
Lisbon turned out to be a great place for street photography! There’s both quiet sidestreets for authentic photos of locals just doing their business, and bustling areas with action, light and opportunities for photos of people interacting. Because of the warm weather, people were spending a lot of time outside: tourists sitting along the promenade and enjoying the sunset or merchants trying to sell their wares to these very tourists.
We asked multiple people whether it was okay for us to take pictures of them, and they were all open and welcoming and we got to talk with a lot of them. This is definetely a difference to the more Northern European countries where people tend to stick to themselves and are not used to being talked to by strangers.
Dani sat down in front of the panorama view of the city behind her and started rolling a cigarette. By the time I had pulled myself together to ask for a photo, she was unfortunately done rolling, but was just about to light her smoke. Thanks for letting me photograph you!
Sora and Eira were sitting in the middle of a plaza and playing. Even though it was a bustling plaza, Eira had only one thing in mind: the toy Sora just took out of her bag and started throwing for her (not too far, no worries!). We liked the interaction they had and how they were in their own little bubble, so asked for a photo - and as Eira was so focused on her toy, she didn’t mind at all.
Lisbon Rollers are a group of skaters that meet on a weekly basis with the goal to make skating accessible and approachable to the masses. They bring gear, obstacles, music, good vibes and tips for everyone wanting to learn or improve their skill.
The guys were pretty impressive, flying around on their wheels reversing through a slalom parcours and doing full stops only mere centimeteres in front of us. It was a great initiative and fun way to interact with others and maybe pick up a new hobby. Go check out their Instagram account!
Geovane Lemos is part of a group that similarly arranges activities out in public, bringing skateboards, slacklines and juggling gear that everyone is welcome to try. Again we stayed a bit with them, watched them to crazy tricks and even had a bit of a try at juggling clubs ourselves … (it’s been a while!)
A chill dog owner in the packed metro.
This old lady was textbook mediterranean vibes for us North Europeans. She was sitting at her window in a sidestreet in city centre, looking out and observing tourists and birds right in front of her window.
An old man playing and singing in front of a church in the city centre. He was good at it and people stayed around to listen. He also seemed to enjoy people recognizing the The Third Man theme.
Roasted chestnuts are the thing in Lisbon and we saw small wagons selling them in paper bags. In Denmark, they are not a thing (however, roasted almonds are sold very similarly around Christmas time), but we’ve seen them in West-Germany before.
The trip was a nice break and Portugal once again convinced with good food, friendly people and mild weather. Lisbon is a great city to enjoy by foot and very walkable - as long as one is okay with steps. It was the first big trip after an accident resulting in a torn ACL for Judith, so the steps were a concern. However, we could still easily explore the city and there were plenty of cabs and rickshaws around.
