Even though Lisbon has a long rich history, it feels like a pretty young hip city and it's crawling with German tourists. Probably for a good reason. Lisbon is great but I only ran into a handful of other Americans.

[caption id="attachment_4698" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Stairs and Tiles!"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-4698" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/11/lisbon-portugal/img_7705/"><img class="size-large wp-image-4698 " title="Stairs and Tiles!" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7705-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

It got me wondering why Portugal isn't more popular among American travelers/tourists and frankly I couldn't come up with a good reason. That's okay with me though. American tourists are often loud and while I think other tourists can be loud it's more annoying when you can understand everything that's being said--from which stop to get off at, to the price of meals, to which museum to go to, to perceived rudeness or slights in any shape or form.  It's tiresome and I get embarrassed easily for these tourists so it's better that the streets of Lisbon are relatively American-tourist free when compared to the Germans. <!--more-->
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[caption id="attachment_4699" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="The City and part of the Castle "]<a rel="attachment wp-att-4699" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/11/lisbon-portugal/img_7658/"><img class="size-large wp-image-4699 " title="The City and part of the Castle " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7658-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

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I think one of the biggest lessons from all of the traveling I've done is this speak softly, tone down your voice and consider the fact that you never, ever know who speaks/understands English near you. All in all, teenagers across Europe are loud but seemingly almost everyone else is much quieter on public transportation, in cafes or on the streets than we are in America.
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[caption id="attachment_4700" align="aligncenter" width="368" caption="Greenery in the Castle"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-4700" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/11/lisbon-portugal/img_7676/"><img class="size-large wp-image-4700  " title="Greenery in the Castle" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7676-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="368" height="245" /></a>[/caption]

But back to Lisbon, I spent a lot of time wandering around this town. There's so much to see.  I was impressed by all of the tourist sights but one unexpected thing were all of the beautiful, large, well maintained parks in the city. Lisbon seems to be a city that cares about green space and in a big city it's a pleasure to turn a corner and find a park, benches and an outdoor cafe.

[caption id="attachment_4701" align="aligncenter" width="614" caption="Historic Downtown!"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-4701" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/11/lisbon-portugal/img_7752/"><img class="size-large wp-image-4701 " title="Historic Downtown!" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7752-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

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I hit up all of the major sights in the city. The view from the castle is impressive. I spent a night drinking on the streets of Bairro Alto. This was intense with street after street packed full of people drinking and walking around. I did some shopping in Baixa. And I took my fair share of trolley rides. Hello #28 and #15!!