If You Go: Lisbon

Lisbon was such a lovely trip!  It was quick and very tourist friendly!  A few notes before I include recommendations:

• Lisbon Card: You can buy a Lisbon card at various tourist kiosks around town.  They are $18/day or $31/two days.  For us, the two day card was well worth it.  It includes all transportation in the city (buses, metro, trains, trams, funiculars), admission to most museums, admission to the monastery, and discounts at a few other attractions. 
• Public Transportation: Lisbon has some SERIOUS hills. Your feet will get tired, so use all of the various modes of transportation to get around - they are easy to use with your Lisbon card and very much frequent.  One note for parents: many of the buses did not allow strollers, so you may want to bring a baby carrier for your chest / back (or plan a funicular / elevator route)

Hotels

• Heritage Avenida Liberdade: We loved, loved, loved this hotel.  It's right on the main boulevard and walking distance to all of the sites in central Lisbon.  The rooms are graceful - with the large door-style shutters and little balcony-ettes overlooking the avenue.  Breakfast is complimentary and offers a lovely continental style (with fresh squeezed OJ!).  Not surprisingly, this is well reviewed on Trip Advisor.  ($120/night) 

Sites 

• Sao Jorge Castle: This overlooks the entire city - go at sunset and enjoy some wine like we did!  There are peacocks roaming around the property, castle ruins to explore, and amazing views.  All around the castle is the Alfama neighborhood which has cute shops and bistros to explore after you've finished at the castle
• Santa Justa Elevator: This is one of the many elevators around town.  If you have a half hour break, it's a lovely ride up and the view of the city is just fantastic.  Check it out - it's included in your Lisbon card 
• Jeronimos Monastery: This was a beautiful gothic-style monastery on the Belem side of town.  A great way to anchor a visit to that area.  Take time to explore, enjoy the gargoyles, and stunning shadows.  
• Berardo Collection: This was a lovely modern art museum that was organized by style (cube-ism, surrealism, etc).  They had an impressive variety of artists from each type style including a Picasso, several Warhols, etc.  If you have time and inclination, stop by! If you don't care for modern art, then no need to visit. 
• Belem Tower: We loved Belem Tower.  Beautiful views of the waterfront and 25 of April bridge.  It was neat to climb up and see how they used the Tower to protect the city's waterfront.  A great spot for photos and climbing around. 
• Pena National Palace: If you have more than 2 days in Lisbon, you MUST go to Pena National Palace.  It was so crazy beautiful and impressive.  We spent several hours touring, exploring, and taking photos.  There are other items to see in the town too - including the Moorish castle.  We did not have time for this, but it looked neat! 

Restaurants 
We went to two very notable spots for dinner:

• Sommelier Lisbon: This was a fancy-ish, modern dinner.  The food was beautifully presented - I had beautiful seared tuna with sweet potatoes two ways and P enjoyed the prime rib.  Our dessert was stunning with caramelized pears.  Most impressively, this restaurant has Coke Freestyle-like machine to let you try about 50 types of wines using a card.  This was super fun and allowed us to try many fancy Portuguese wines.  Note: you need reservations for this restaurant! 
• Mercado Ribeira: This is a carefully curated, fancy food court organized by the magazine Time Out.  It includes stalls from some of the best restuarants in Lisbon serving their fare in a casual food court like environment (note: this is not like a US mall-type food court).  This was recommended by the New York Times and we ended up going twice to try things like Piri Piri Chicken, garlic shrimp, mussels, seafood rice, and more.  Best spot!