As Someone Who Is Obsessed with

Travel and Food, I was really interested in last night's Piers Morgan interview with Anthony Bourdain about Bourdain's new CNN show "Parts Unknown".
What I was shocked to hear is the amount of Americans who are without a Passport; according to Bourdain, only 30% of Americans own Passports as compared to 60% of the rest of the developed world.

Shame on us America and no wonder we are regraded as ignorant and narrow-minded in other parts of the world!
Get a Passport, chart a path to discovery and go see and taste the world! and...take your kids with you!  
Jacob has had his passport since he was 6 months old and I will guess that at 8, has been to more countries than the average American adult.

Not to mention, can probably give Bourdain a run for his money when it comes to eating crazy unusual food...can you say Barnacles!?

As for Bourdain, it has been nearly one full year since chef/author/badass Anthony Bourdain announced he'd be leaving his successful Travel Channel show "No Reservations" for a totally new series on CNN.  Well that series is Parts Unknown and it premiers on CNN this upcoming Sunday night, April 14, at 9pm EST/8pm CST.

Unlike "No Reservations." the new show will branch out from eating 24/7 to include sampling the destination and culture of countries previously out of reach or out of budget for Boudain. 

The concept is simple, "Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown takes you across the globe to discover exotic destinations while sharing Anthony's unique perspective and insights."

It may call to mind what The Travel Channel attempted with the No Reservations Bourdain spin-off,"The Layover," except thanks to Anthony's love of Twitter, @PartsUnknownCNN, his fans already known that he's gone further afield than ever before, tweeting from places like Libya, Morocco, Granada (Spain), Peru, the Congo and Rwanda while shooting for "Parts Unknown". 

Can you say this guy has the best job in the world?

I can and already psyched for the Congo episodes that Bourdain described as "Most difficult, grinding, frustrating rewarding shoot ever. A Dream fulfilled."

Now how to turn my love of travel and all of our Adventures into a show?  Hmmm...

Day 1 Lisbon

What a fantastic first day!
We covered so much of everything and as I gather my notes and organize pics, here are highlights of Day 1 in Lisbon!

After an 8 hour flight, we arrived in Lisbon and checked into the Sofitel Lisbon Liberdade, a great choice and one I would highly recommend for its location, spacious rooms and modern decor!

With no time to waste, we walked down Avenida da Liberdade, Lisbon's main boulevard built in the 19th century in the style of the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

It runs north for a mile from Restauradores...

to Marquês de Pombal Square, and is more than 300 feet (90m) wide. 

The avenue still has a certain elegance with fountains and cafes shaded by trees, as well as a pavement decorated with abstract patterns...

Some of the original mansions have been preserved, and many are outstanding from an architectural standpoint. 
When booking hotels, it's often difficult to know exactly where you'll end up but I was happy to find that this avenue was the site of not only our hotel but others just as grand as well as banks, offices and designer shops like Louis Vuitton, D&G, Tods, Burberry and the like... 

Jacob's first purchase, roasted chestnuts from this nice man...

We then checked out Elevador da Gloria, a funicular that links downtown to the Bairro Alto district and one that most people take to go up and down the hilly windy streets.  

Us?  Nope!  We made the walk multiple times...good for buns and thighs became the joke of the trip! 

After exchanging money, we stopped off at the Post Office...that's our reflection in the ceiling... 

Made our way past Rossio Station, a train station that looks more like a theater or a lavishly adorned palace with horseshoe arched doorways and home to the one and only Starbucks in the city...

This monumental Neo-Manueline building is located between Rossio and Restauradores squares and was built at a time when train stations were seen as temples of technology. 

I couldn't stop photographing it, it's so beautiful!

Based on Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" we commemorated our first night in Lisbon with dinner at O Ramiro for what was probably the most delicious and memorable meal EVER!

Just make sure to get there before 7 or, you will be waiting in line indefinitely as they do not take reservation...haha!

We ate barnacles...

Garlic Clams, Swimming Crab, Stone Crab and Alaskan Crab...  

All made that much yummier with buttery, garlicky and crunchy fresh bread and a few Cervezas...

The meal was complete with Prego, a steak sandwich that's eaten with mustard at the end of the meal as "dessert"...

Full and happy...

we set out to explore more of this awesome city! 

One of my favorites was Lisbon’s Santa Justa Elevator that is said to have been designed by Gustave Eiffel (yes, of the Eiffel Tower), but that is not exactly true.  Mr. Eiffel had many disciples and one of them was Raoul Mesnier du Ponsard, a Portuguese architect born in Porto of French parents.  Ponsard was the real creator of Santa Justa Elevator which several publications have listed as one of the world’s best examples of iron architecture during the Industrial Revolution...it was truly fantastic especially, at night!

Zigzagging through the city streets...

Up and down hills...

we were finally ready for a bit of espresso and a hot chocolate before calling it a day...

I was ready for more but had to pace myself as this was, after all, only day one!

Let's get ready for day 2 in Lisbon!