This post is all about the random photos I have taken in my walkabouts in Portugal. These photos don’t have a “theme” or a consistent feel to them. They were just interesting tidbits that I happened to capture with my camera along the way. I guess in that sense they are like a stew of random scraps, odds and ends, left overs, and other things you have in your refrigerator. Add some chicken stock, some spices, some soy sauce, boil, and there you have it. Enjoy.

ZOMG. Bacalhau, in bite size form. These are ridiculous. I can see fat Americans eating these by the bucket full at the movie theaters. Hey, if deviled eggs were the precursor to popcorn then pasteis de bacalhau could definitely be the successor. I’m just saying!

I don’t even remember where this was. I think I just snapped a picture when I walked by on my way back to the metro. I think there was a Benfica game going on this night.

Teleportation! Suddenly we are in Palmela. After another splendid dinner at Sara Funny’s house we walked around Palmela at night. Here is the church. Right next to it is a mansion where the priest of this church lives by himself. Bastard.

This was a picture I snapped in Sines when I was there during the World Music Festival. This rock wall is very nice during the day but at night when the drunkards come out it basically gets urinated upon every 22 seconds. Sorry Santa Luzia, young people just don’t have any respect nowadays.

Ahh…so we are back in the relative calm of the Gulbenkian Garden in Lisbon. It is near the São Sebastião metro station and the El Corte Inglês. It is one of the best gardens in the city.

The Gulbenkian garden is amazing. When I was taking my CELTA training course at International House Lisbon, the Gulbenkian garden was my retreat from the incredible stress of possibly having to teach a 40 minute lesson in one day. My how things have changed post-CELTA. We only had to teach six hours total during the CELTA training course that lasted over a month. Now that I’m teaching English full time I will teach six hours Monday and halfway through Tuesday.

And here’s where I took my midday naps during the CELTA. You can’t see them in this picture, but there were beanbags under the tent that you could chill out on. This is why Lisbon is amazing. I can’t think of any public parks I’ve ever been to before that provided the public with beanbags and a multicolored tent. Awesome.

Yep! I’ll have some of the 1912, please. That’s like, before WWI man! El Corte Inglês has to be the most epic “hypermarket” ever. They have pretty much everything (actually, we will see if they have Boston lettuce for my lettuce wraps).

So now we are in the Praça do Comércio near the Tram 28 stop and the cafe where Fernando Pessoa actually drank his coffee. Even though the bronze statue of Pessoa is near Cafe Brasileira, he actually frequented this cafe facing the Praça do Comércio. Notice how the walk signal is green while a 3 ton tram barrels through the walkway. Nice.

Now we are going to see some pictures of my CELTA class of August 2011. After a grueling month of training and teaching maybe 2 whole hours a week (my have things changed), we decided to go out for a night on the town to celebrate our success.

This particular restaurant is in the Largo do Carmol, next to the ruins of the old church and the top of the Santa Justa elevator. It was still light out but some of our crew had already began drinking (what tense is that?) the hard stuff. I knew it was going to be a long night so I paced myself with some beer. Check out Vasco in the back proudly nursing the beer tap.

I think Joe just took a sip of his Jameson in this picture and realized what he had gotten himself into.

You see some crazy things in Bairro Alto sometimes. We stumbled through the alleys and found this restaurant, proudly displaying their best table in the house. The first dinner we had in the Chiado (not depicted) apparently wasn’t enough after our after dinner drinks so we went to another restaurant and had another meal.

After an incredible meal of grilled fish and wine we headed to the bars in Bairro Alto. Vasco took us to a bar that was far outside the crowded areas and had a cool atmosphere. There was even a stand-up piano in a corner.

Yep! Jameson makes you want to do the Irish jig. Colleen (center) was teaching us how to do the dance.

And then Kate decided to give a ballet master class as well.

Hmm. I probably shouldn’t show this picture to her boss. Bartenders are cool in Bairro Alto. They mix strong drinks, are friendly, and will drink with the customers!

I really don’t remember the rest of this night. I eventually took a cab back home, making sure to speak in Portuguese so the cabbie didn’t take me on a grand tour of Lisboa. The next morning the sun was shining and I decided to take a walk to clear my head.

This amazing Buganvilia tree (or vine?) is at the Miradouro Santa Luzia. It is really fragrant and the color is so intense. There are many of these plants sprinkled throughout the city. They really tie the room together.

Portas do Sol is a particularly nice area of town because it is situated on the edge of the large hill the Castle sits on but faces the river. Since it faces mostly South it gets really great sun all day long. That’s why it is called “the doors of the sun”.

Some days later I strolled through Avenida da Liberdade, what Fernando Pessoa called “the finest artery in all of Lisbon”.

The avenue gently slopes from Marques do Pombal to the roundabout in Restauradores. The whole way is tree-lined and shaded, with a central arcade for pedestrians. Each day I discover something new I like about Lisbon. A new cafe, a winding street, a breathtaking view. It has been more than three months already since I packed my bags and said goodbye to the States to make a new life on a distant shore. It has been an adventure and a blessing. I thank God that I’m here.

What’s the most random thing you have seen in Lisbon or traveling abroad? Post them in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!