Our flat in Lisbon

We venture this time in renting a flat instead of staying in hotels considering we will be traveling for a while. I used VRBO which is the same as Home Away to find our apartments during our trip in Europe. We decided that this was the best way to kick off Ed's retirement with an amazing trip. I love to plan our itineraries, I read and study the countries we want to visit and develop a plan city by city with transportation, lodging, activities and believe or not I stay on budget, yes for the most part. This time will be a long trip, over 2 months of trekking. I believe it will be out of this world with God's help who continues to provide for us. Amazing!!!

Keep in mind our flat selections are based on the listing information, photos and more importantly the prior guests feedback.  Picking one place only, may be an easier task, several...can be stressful...but nevertheless its part of the adventure. Our goal is to live like the locals for a few days and experience their style of living, something we couldn't accomplish staying in a hotel.

Our flat is Lisbon Is located in the Graca district, at the top of the hill, in a 5 story building with two elevators. I mention this because many buildings throughout Europe do no have them.  It's modern, built in 2003 and recently refurbished. We are on the second floor, which here is the third, as the first floor is the lobby and it called 0. 

Here are some pictures:

A view from the living area

The entryway and view of dining and living area

Our bedroom

The tiny kitchen, but it's well equipped.

It's very close to the historic district of Alfama, the fancy shopping districts of Baixa and Chiado where you find the big stores H&M, Zara's, United Colors of Benneton, etc plus nicest restaurants like Hard Rock Cafe and many local fancy ones. The supermarket is a block away, coffee shops on every corner and many little shops such Talhots=butcher shop, Queijaria=cheese shop, Fruteria=fruit shop plus the typical clothing, shoes, electronics mini shops, etc. We also have a farmers market every morning a couple of blocks away. 

                       Talhots 

    

  

                 Queijaria 

Getting to places is easy, we are fairly close to everywhere including old town, city center and the chic neighborhoods. We walk down the hill everywhere from our flat, but coming back is uphill. We take tram 28 to return if we are too tired, but we have done the uphill walk a few times already. Lisbon is a big maze with narrow streets up and down the hills.  The good news, dieting is not required as we burn more calories than we eat with all the walking.

Thank you for reading it!