Depending on what you want to do in Lisbon, two days gives you only a glimpse of the city.

In the interest of time, I decided to request a private car service to pick me up at Lisbon airport. After a short 2.5 hours direct flight from Geneva, I glanced nervously at the sea of people holding cards, but my name was nowhere to be found. Granted, some of the names were so badly written, I couldn’t tell if we were all still using the same alphabet.

The information desk was inundated with people and when my turn arrived, the person manning the desk was unable to assist me.

After several phone calls, I was told that there was a woman at the airport waiting for me but that my driver was running late. When the “Meet and Greet” finally took place, I realized that my name had been handwritten with a blue ballpoint pen on a crumpled piece of off-white paper. Only a bird with excellent long-distance vision would have been able to spot it. Nonetheless, I was thrilled to meet a representative of the car service.

After waiting for almost an hour, the driver finally arrived. In addition to the name of the hotel, I gave him the exact address. Given that it was my first visit to Lisbon, I didn’t have my bearings and thus relied exclusively on the expertise of my driver. So, when he dropped me off and wished me well, I had no reason to doubt his service, albeit tardy.

At the hotel check-in, I was then told that my hotel was part of a chain and that unfortunately I had been dropped off at the wrong address. Luckily for me, however, the correct hotel was only down the street. So off I went down Avenida da Liberdade in search of my hotel.

After mumbling curse words throughout my entire route, I finally made it to my hotel. Frankly, the best part of TURIM Boulevard Hotel is their location https://turimboulevardhotel.com-hotel.com/en/. Aside from being surrounded by designer shops to the left and right, it’s an easy walk to Rossio Square.

The highlight of my trip was my private half-day tour. Nothing beats hearing about Portuguese history and culture from a local. Some of the sites visited on the tour were: Parque Eduardo VII, Alfama Cathedral, Castelo de S. Jorge, and Torre de Belem. (https://www.viator.com) And lastly, you mustn’t forget to try Portugal’s famous custard tarts (https://pasteisdebelem.pt/en/).

Although 48 hours is not ideal to visit any big city, you still walk away with an introduction to Lisbon’s historic landmarks.