faces of lisbon (lisbon, portugal)
The photos that happened in between everything else. Streets, the Cristo Rei watching over the river, the bridge stretched across the water, small moments that did not fit anywhere else but felt too good to leave out.
Not a theme, just a city, caught in passing.|07/26
the black swan (lisbon, portugal)
Somewhere in the gardens, gliding through one of the ponds like it owned the place. First time I had ever seen a black swan in person, and it looked genuinely unreal, that deep black plumage against the red beak. Small surprise, but a good one.|07/26
palácio fronteira (lisbon, portugal)
Barely anyone knows this place exists, three or four other visitors the whole time I was there. Which makes no sense given what it actually is. I only made it around the gardens, not inside the palace itself, but that alone was enough. Some call the interior the "Sistine Chapel of tilework," and even from outside you get a sense of why, cobalt blue walls wrapped around a red palace facade, statues and fountains tucked between hedges, tile panels running along the terraces. The family that built it still lives here.
Completely underrated. |07/26
a peacock and his peachick (lisbon, portugal)
On the way to see an estate, I passed by a huge zoological garden and figured I would take a look inside. Turned out there were peafowl wandering around, one adult and what I am fairly sure was a chick, my first time ever seeing one that young.
Ended up spending a bit of time photographing them before moving on.|07/26
the botanical garden, and a pigeon standoff (lisbon, portugal)
A stop at the botanical garden near Avenida da Liberdade, mostly for the plants. Got a couple of shots of those.
Then I noticed the pigeons. One was grooming another, who was clearly loving every second of it. Then a third pigeon showed up, scruffy-looking, and things escalated fast, the two locking beaks in what looked less like affection and more like a full territorial dispute. I have genuinely never seen anything like it. Obviously I photographed the whole thing.|07/26
when the doors closed at jerónimos monastery (lisbon, portugal)
Booked one of the last entry slots of the day, mostly on a hunch. Turned out to be the right call, at some point they simply closed the doors to new visitors, and the cloister emptied out around me.
Standing there completely alone in a space like that is not something most people get to see. |07/26
the gulbenkian museum (lisbon, portugal)
Reopened this past July after eighteen months of restoration, so it was the perfect timing to go there. The collection is genuinely wild in scope, Rembrandt paintings, jewelry, Egyptian artifacts, glasswork, practically everything in one building.
The lighting was a bit rough for photography, darker than I would have liked in most rooms. But standing in front of an actual Rembrandt still gets you, regardless of what the light meter says.|07/26
convento do carmo (lisbon, portugal)
The Carmo Convent, or what is left of it. The great earthquake of 1755 brought the roof down and it was never rebuilt, so what stands now is just the bare Gothic arches, open straight to the sky.
Today it houses an archaeological museum, artifacts scattered under a ceiling that is really just the clouds. Strange and beautiful at the same time, a ruin that became the exhibit.|07/26
alfama at sunset (lisbon, portugal)
Lisbon's oldest neighborhood, all narrow streets and steep climbs, with the Castelo de São Jorge sitting above it. Made my way up to one of the miradouros with my dad and my brother just in time for sunset, the whole city spilling out below in that same gold light Lisbon seems to specialize in. Worth every step up.|07/26
symmetry, algarve style (portimão, portugal)
More from those four hours in the Algarve. At some point the cliffs gave way to hotel fronts, all clean lines, repeating balconies, windows stacked in perfect rows. A different kind of beauty than the coastline, but just as satisfying to look at.|07/26
four hours in the algarve (portimão, portugal)
Landed from the jump with nothing planned and four hours to kill before my flight back.
The Algarve does not need much of an excuse to look incredible, the cliffs, the water color that should not be real, all of it right there for anyone who happens to have a few hours to spare. Turned out to be the perfect amount of time for absolutely no plan at all.
cascais to portimão, by propeller (cascais, portugal)
Getting to the skydive meant a small propeller plane from Cascais down to Portimão first. First time I had ever been in anything like it, tiny, just a handful of passengers, completely different from a commercial flight.
Watching the coastline unfold below through a window that small hit differently than any window seat ever has.
And that was just the warm-up. The actual jump came after.|07/26
first night in cais do sodré (lisbon, portugal)
Straight off a flight from Valencia, and suddenly I am in Lisbon for a week with my dad and my brother. First evening, and the light does exactly what Lisbon light does, everything turning gold, the bridge catching the last of the sun over the water.
Different city, different pace, completely different trip.|07/26
