Lisbon must have once been a great beautiful city.  It still has much of the original charm however it is really dirty and rundown.  Sunny and I were in Lisbon about 7 years ago.  We had spent a week in the Southern tip of Portugal and drove to Lisbon for a day.  I know we jammed in a lot that day, and had an excellent time, so maybe I overlooked what I saw today.

The first thing I noticed was that every building seemed to have graffiti on it.  From new constuction buildings to the hundreds of years old properties.  It was really sad.

The sites in Lison remain impressive.  Check out the monastary and the ocean tower used to guard the port entrance.  I will name these spots later when I know I have the correct spelling.  Lisbon also seems to have an endless supply of monuments.  Most are well kept up but the outside areas feel rundown.

Our experience with the taxi driver was horrible.  One of the few times it has been a problem.  We agreed on a 3 hour tour for 100 Euro.  The final time did turn out to be about 3 hours and 40 minutes and somehow the final price was 160 Euro.  I couldnt figure out the math.  In the end we paid the guy 130 but it left a bad taste in our mouth.  The only other bad experience we have had in Europe with cab drivers was in Edinborough Scotland.  Best tip, make sure you know exactly how much the trip will cost and what any deviation will cost as well.

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