Being a young and thriving company, we try to keep a healthy balance between work and fun, so it seems like a good time to share some travel joy and discuss our first company trip.
We’ll tell you about Lisbon, with its narrow streets, delicious food, old trams and fado.
Before praising this wonderful place though, it is worth mentioning that Lisbon was not picked at random: it beat many great candidates to the top of our list during a heated debate. Each team member had a chance to propose destinations and vote for their favourites; where possible we always like to get everyone involved in the big decisions.
We also shared the responsibility of organising transport, sight-seeing, food and dancing to make sure there was something arranged to cater to every taste. No one expected that anything would be arranged and we’d end up wandering the streets but, like some of the best things in life, everything just fell into place.
As soon as we arrived the perfect weather set the tone for a great trip, so we knew that nothing could go wrong. Two authentic Portuguese apartments in the heart of city provided somewhere to rest our heads and were split into “fun” and “rest” zones (though we spent most of our time in the “fun” zone).
Having rested after the flight, we went to our first destination — Park Bar — a terrace bar located at the top floor of a parking lot. We enjoyed our first drinks in Portugal accompanied by a breathtaking sunset over Lisbon.
As the sun set, we continued our journey exploring the rugged streets of Lisbon and made our way towards restaurant Chimera. At Chimera, we relished the harmony of varied ingredients, with plenty of small but heavenly portions and lots to drink, made even better by their cosy atmosphere. After spending a considerable part of the night here, we headed towards the Baixa-Chiado coast, home to a variety of clubs and bars, so we could enjoy a few more drinks and show each other our skills on the dance floor. Even after midnight Lisbon was very generous in sharing her warm weather and beautiful coastal views.
The next morning was thankfully blessed with a great breakfast to help us recover, and we hit the road on our TukTuks. No wonder they are widespread in Asia, they made our journey even more fun and allowed us to enjoy another gloriously sunny day. After a short ride, we were at Belém Tower, an absolute must see; it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of the significant role it played in Portuguese maritime history in the Age of Discoveries. Great culture is always followed by great food and drink so we headed to Portvgália Cervejaria, a famous Portuguese beer hall, not just famous for its fresh, top quality draft beer but also delightful seafood. As the sun started to set a tram ride through the city took us back to our apartment.
After a short recharge, the night was underway. You won’t be surprised to hear that we went to another great restaurant, Lost in Esplanada. As if offering a wide selection of world cuisine and fine bottles of wine was not enough, the place also had a wide angle view of Lisbon with a hint of São Jorge Castle. This was a place where it was impossible to make a bad choice — everything was just perfect.We all agreed that we did not spend enough time on the dance floor the previous night, and this needed to be fixed immediately. And so we did. It was even better than the night before, we’re not sure if the secret ingredient is Ale’s choice of finest quality champagne, or Lisbon’s full moon shining like a diamond on the way back to our apartment.
We definitely had a great time in charming Lisbon, where you can spend all day just sitting in a café or watching the bay with delicious food and nice weather. We could talk much more about all the fun, drinks and dancing we had, but more important is what we take away from this — sharing the world with our amazing team, seeing new places, doing things we’re passionate about and having a good time doing it.
To be continued…
Originally published at https://blog.findhotel.net on November 26, 2015.
