Easing into life in Lisbon
Ben and I have been slowly, but surely, settling into life here in Lisbon. Just before Christmas, we signed a short lease on a nice, bright apartment near the pretty and historic Graça area and Ben signed up to a great nearby coworking space.
It’s very exciting, but it is definitely taking us time to settle in and we’re very much still stumbling to find our way. No matter how gorgeous your destination, a move always has its rough sides – your easy, autopilot routines broken, many of your favourite things in boxes, the streets unfamiliar, the language even more so.
We had tried to pack a few things that would bring us instant comfort; a ziplock bag of tea bags, some favourite prints, loads of cables (😂) but of course you can’t recreate 4 years of steady home-making in a few weeks so you end up in a kind of limbo; some things familiar and comforting, others new and strange.
But the exploring! The exploring has been fun. Ben has become an expert in our half dozen or so local frutarias, aka small grocery shops. We haven’t done much touristy stuff, but enjoyed checking out the the MAAT and trying not to eat our weight in delicious custard tarts. Some iPhone snaps from our first few days below.
We’ve also met some wonderful people – just last weekend, friends of my lovely buddy Liz took us under their wing, bringing us for pizza on the beach and a gorgeous drive along the coast to Cascais and on to Sintra for insanely delicious ‘pillow’ pastries.
In between the trying to make our place home and creating little pockets of familiarity comes the fun of the unfamiliar. Heading out for a stroll and seeing oranges on trees, pastel-coloured buildings, or a breathtaking sunset makes me giddy with the newness of it all, with the sense of adventure and with a hunger to explore and discover new things.
This weekend, we’re hoping to pop over the river to the port town of Cacilhas, maybe check out this fun looking cereal cafe, or revisit the lovely brunch at Dear Breakfast.
I’m working on a post sharing some of the blogs, books and other online resources I’ve been using to acquaint myself with our new city, and look forward to sharing more as we discover it! Of course, please hit me up with any tips or recommendations 🙂
Top pic: View from our nearest miradouro (viewpoint), the gorgeous Miradouro da Graça.