Last year’s love affair was with sLOVEnia. This year’s love affair, though it’s early in the year, seems destined to be with Portugal, and in particular, Lisbon. Portugal works for me on so many levels. The people, culture, food, geography, and general vibe of the place just suited me perfectly. I know for many travelers, Portugal is likely to be a been-there-done-that destination. For me, it was my first visit, and if I had been-there-and done-that before, I for sure would have gone back over and over again. That’s how much I enjoyed it! Please check out Part 1 and Part 2 of my pastry love affair. Without gushing too much about how wonderful Lisbon is, I want to give you 6 ideas for what to do and see that won’t likely end up on any MUST SEE lists you’ll find online.
1. Campo Pequeno is a bullfight arena that hosted the Portuguese bullfights since 1892. The building is stunning! It’s a beautiful neo-arabian building, all made of bricks, that was entirely renovated in 2006. There’s a museum dedicated to the history of bullfighting. The lowest level is now a shopping mall with a movie theater and restaurants. As I’d never been inside a bullfight arena before, I really found it very interesting just to walk around. I thought turning the bottom level into a mall was actually a good use of the space. It’s always fun to walk through malls when I travel and see what’s different or unique.
Campo Pequeno Bullring. Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campo_Pequeno_bullring
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