The Praça do Comércio (Commerce Plaza) and Pink Street in Lisbon, Portugal

On May 31, 2024May 31, 2024 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn PortugalLeave a comment

Located on one of the busiest streets in Lisbon, The Praça do Comércio or Commerce Plaza is certainly worth strolling around or stopping for a meal in one of the restaurants in the plaza. There are several features within the plaza that can’t be missed including the Rua Augusta Arch and the Statue of King Jose I. Located on the shore of the Tagus River, it was the location of the palace until the great earthquake of 1755 destroyed the palace and the plaza was rebuilt. The actual plaza is 175 meters by 175 meters or 30,600 square meters (574 feet by 574 feet or 329,000 square feet) making it one of the largest plazas in Portugal.

The Rua Augusta Arch is certainly quite impressive and is dedicated the valor and history of Portugal and was built after the earthquake of 1755 to commemorate the rebuilding of the city. There are several statues on the arch including one of the famous explorer Vasco da Gama. There is certainly no missing the statue of King Jose I riding his horse that is located at the center of the plaza. There is also a beer museum located in the plaza, but we didn’t visit it during our trip to Lisbon. We did, however, stop at one of the local restaurants to enjoy a charcuterie board with a variety of artisanal meats and cheeses.

Located near the plaza is a unique attraction in Lisbon that is known as “Pink Street” for obvious reasons. There are many restaurants and stores located on Pink Street, but you are likely to find lots of tourists posing dramatically as they take selfies of themselves. The rainbow-colored umbrellas that are suspended above the street add to the ambiance. We happened to be there just as the light of day was disappearing, which gave it an interesting glow. We decided to grab dinner at one of the local restaurants and sit outside by the street so that we could people watch while we enjoyed our meal.

If you are going to do any walking in the old town area of Lisbon, you will likely end up at Commerce Square at some point. The weather was overcast during the day that we visited, but that didn’t detract from the beauty of the arch and statues or of the architecture of the buildings. Pink Street certainly isn’t a must when visiting Lisbon, but it is a fun destination, especially in the evening, for those looking for a different experience.

Weekend Getaway to Ocean City, Maryland

On May 9, 2023May 9, 2023 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn MarylandLeave a comment

Ocean City in Maryland is a popular destination due to its beaches and boardwalk with all of the activities. It is a location that is important to us as it is where we met thirty-four years ago and this was our first time going back since that time. It was interesting to see that much of the city was the same as it was years ago, but obviously a lot of it had changed and it has certainly grown over the past few decades. The city resides on a narrow strip of land that has the bay on one side and the ocean on the other, which makes it very scenic. You can watch the sun rise over the ocean side of the city and then watch the sun set over the bay side.

We spent most of our time walking along the beaches along the ocean and enjoying the different places along the boardwalk. Even though the official beach season has not quite yet started, the boardwalk was definitely quite busy with a lot of tourists. We can only imagine how busy it actually gets during the summer when all of the tourists descend upon the beachside city. There are many resorts along the beach as well, which is where we stayed, but there are also lots of vacation rental properties as well.

In addition to enjoying several wonderful meals while were in Ocean City, we also made sure to get some ice cream and we brought home some saltwater candy as well. Another common item to get while walking along the boardwalk is fresh fudge and you will likely see people walking with small buckets of fries. The biggest draw to the end of the boardwalk are all of the carnival rides and giant Ferris wheel. Although we didn’t go on any of the rides, we certainly saw lots of children and adults enjoying all of the various rides.

Besides the boardwalk, the main reason that people go to Ocean City is to enjoy the beach and swim in the ocean. We also saw several surfers out riding the waves as a storm had passed through the evening before. We will definitely go back to Ocean City at some point, but probably not until autumn when the summer crowds have subsided. It was certainly an interesting trip down memory lane for us and brought back lots of wonderful memories.

Going Around in Circles

On December 5, 2016December 5, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge4 Comments

Sometimes life can feel like you are running as fast as you can, but getting nowhere. This can definitely be true of travel as it is with life when it seems like you are spending all of your time doing the same things over and over again. To some extent, we have been trying to change things up a little and that was one of our main reasons for going to Würzburg after traveling to Cologne. With that in mind, we are about to try and change up things starting with this weekend with a trip to Strasbourg, France. Afterwards, we hope to go to some other places outside of Germany, but we still have a lot to see inside of Germany itself. Work, travel, work, travel, repeat, repeat. With only a few months left, we are starting to feel some pressure to see as much as possible. Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is Musical Chairs. With that in mind, we are seeing a lot merry-go-rounds at the Christmas markets, so we thought we would share a couple of photos from our trip to San Francisco a few years ago where we rode the famous merry-go-round at Fisherman’s Wharf.