{"id":627,"date":"2020-01-06T03:55:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T04:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fremzoltukari.com\/?p=627"},"modified":"2025-07-21T15:14:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T15:14:10","slug":"slowing-down-learning-to-love-lisbon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fremzoltukari.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/06\/slowing-down-learning-to-love-lisbon\/","title":{"rendered":"Slowing Down & Learning to Love Lisbon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I\u2019ll probably mention this throughout my coverage of Portugal, mostly because I find it so strange, but until a few weeks ago I had never visited this small but fascinating country. I suppose by itself that\u2019s not such a bizarre anecdote, but given my own intense and life-long love of Europe and the frequency with which I find myself there, I find it odd. Regardless, I finally managed to visit when I took a river cruise with Viking Cruises<\/a> along the Douro River. Since it was my first time, I decided to arrive in Lisbon a few days early to adjust to the time difference as well as to begin my Portuguese wanderings in earnest. The way I tackled this new city was somewhat of a departure for me, so today I want to share the approach I took, what I experienced and why ultimately I walked away in love with Lisbon.<\/p>\n

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Slowing Down<\/strong><\/p>\n

Normally when I travel I plan every detail to the last minute and, not surprisingly, that almost always killed whatever potential for fun was involved. I approached this trip from a different point of view. Maybe it\u2019s the influence of that yoga practice I recently started or the fact that 2019 wore me down mentally and physically, but I had no desire to race around Lisbon. I bought a simple guidebook and did about 10 minutes of online research, but that\u2019s it. No binders, no color-coded tabs \u2013 nothing that even hinted I was involved with the trip. The results were also not so surprising, I enjoyed every second of my time in the city. Slowing down doesn\u2019t mean I didn\u2019t do and see a lot, I did, it just meant that I went into the experience with a different outlook which, in turn, improved everything else. I felt no desire to do it all, since I knew it wasn\u2019t possible. Instead every day I picked a different part of town, took the metro over and just enjoyed it. Again, this is how most normal people travel but for me it was a revelation.<\/p>\n

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The first day I took the metro, which is easy to use and inexpensive, to the historic heart of the city to wander, visit famous sites and start my introduction to Lisbon. This included a tram to and from the city\u2019s famous castle, a spot that offers incredible views across Lisbon. But it also meant doing things that were a little kitsch, like visiting the Time Out Food Market which, although amazing, caters to tourists and foreigners. I didn\u2019t really care about that though. It didn\u2019t bother me that I wasn\u2019t trying to be Anthony Bourdain as I delved into the city. I liked the Time Out Food Market because it features great cooks and menus from around the city, all conveniently gathered in one spot. I easily sampled many classic Portuguese dishes, but I also returned later on to get a pizza. No guilt was attached, I was on vacation and enjoying every second of it.<\/p>\n

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A final positive attribute to slowing down was the ability to be spontaneous. No longer tethered to a schedule or timetable, I was able to do what I wanted when I wanted to do it, and even switch things up at the last minute. That\u2019s how I found myself somewhat unexpectedly spending the day in nearby Sintra. A very popular day trip for visitors to Lisbon, when I was doing my initial research I didn\u2019t think I had time to go. But then once I arrived, and after everyone \u2013 everyone \u2013 I met in Lisbon told me that it wasn\u2019t to be missed, I decided to hop on a train and venture out. A very easy 45-minute trip outside of Lisbon, in spite of some wet weather it was a wonderful day out of the city and a fun new place to explore. Travel should be about those spontaneous moments, ones that for many years have sadly eluded me. <\/p>\n

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Relaxing in Style<\/strong><\/p>\n

This slow style of travel was facilitated by where I stayed
\nduring my pre-cruise adventures in Lisbon \u2013 the Corinthia. One of the luxury
\nmainstays in Lisbon, even though the Corinthia has a long history in the city,
\nthe entire hotel felt fresh and new. It was also the ideal spot for me to relax
\nand just enjoy myself. I arrived into Lisbon in the mid-afternoon, and since it
\nwas early December I only had a couple hours of daylight left. Coupled with
\nextreme exhaustion from jet lag and a long trip, I made the very unusual
\ndecision for me not to do anything touristy that day. Instead, I devoted what
\nremained of that first afternoon in Lisbon to relaxing and self-care, all facilitated
\nby the Corinthia. <\/p>\n

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The hotel features 518 guestrooms and suites, 76 of which are Executive Club rooms on the top floors. Settling into my spacious Junior Suite, I very quickly made good use of the Executive Club Sky Lounge not only for the one of a kind views, but for the many amenities offered there, most notably fantastic food and a generous supply of drinks. My room itself was very much a haven throughout those first days in Lisbon. Very well appointed with every amenity one would expect from a great luxury hotel, it was honestly one of the most comfortable rooms I\u2019ve enjoyed in a very long time. What ultimately helped me relax the most though was totally unexpected – the Spa at Corinthia Lisbon. One of the largest in Europe, this incredible spa is not at all what I expected to find. This massive 3,500 square meter facility has everything anyone needs to decompress properly, from just about every treatment imaginable to a relaxing Aqua Therapy Facility the likes of which I\u2019ve never seen before. When coupled with the room and fantastic hospitality, the Corinthia Lisbon<\/a> not only helped me relax, but set me up for success as I slowly explored Lisbon.<\/p>\n

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Mindful Travel<\/strong><\/p>\n

All of this leads to one thing, a more mindful way of
\ntraveling. Several months ago I did one of the best things I\u2019ve ever done for
\nmyself \u2013 I started attending a yoga studio on a very regular basis. I\u2019d never
\ntried it before, but it always interested me and I was excited to try something
\nnew. What I honestly didn\u2019t expect was what it has done for me mentally in addition
\nto the physical benefits. My brain has always raced a million miles a minute
\nand I have always, always, found it difficult to de-stress and relax. In fact,
\nI had just resigned myself to a life of always being on edge. That\u2019s not
\nhealthy and it\u2019s my yoga practice that has since put me on a path towards a
\ncertain level of both mental and physical peace. This necessarily translates to
\nall aspects of my life, including travel. Racing around a new city just doesn\u2019t
\nmake sense to me anymore and it certainly doesn\u2019t sound fun. Instead, I looked
\nto friends and others and was inspired by their travel style; namely, enjoying
\nthemselves. It sounds weird, but for far too long I\u2019ve approached travel as a
\njob and not always as something I love passionately. You can imagine the
\nresults; I had begun to fall out of love with travel. Lisbon was a chance for
\nme to see and do exactly what I wanted and when I wanted to do it, which has in
\nturn had amazing effects on my state of mind. I enjoyed my time in Portugal
\nmore so than any other long trip in recent memory and it reawakened that basic,
\ninnate love affair that I have always had with travel. I\u2019ll explore these
\nthemes in a longer post, but I wanted to share it here to demonstrate how much
\nit transformed my experience in Lisbon.<\/p>\n

When I first started writing this post I thought I\u2019d include 4-5 places to visit, a few things to eat and so on. I\u2019ll probably do that at some point, but I first wanted to share the process through which I enjoyed and ultimately fell in love with Lisbon. Anyone can look up museums in a guidebook, but understanding the practice of travel is a much more nuanced concept and much more important than visiting the major attractions in a new city.<\/p>\n

The post Slowing Down & Learning to Love Lisbon<\/a> appeared first on LandLopers<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ll probably mention this throughout my coverage of Portugal, mostly because I find it so strange, but until ...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fremzoltukari.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fremzoltukari.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fremzoltukari.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fremzoltukari.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fremzoltukari.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fremzoltukari.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":639,"href":"https:\/\/fremzoltukari.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627\/revisions\/639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fremzoltukari.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fremzoltukari.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fremzoltukari.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fremzoltukari.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}