When I plan a trip all by myself, I usually start with a city. Obviously for practical reasons as well, trying to settle first after having seen just airports and airplanes, but also because I like to take some baby steps first in a new country. Being lost without the feeling of losing it completely (do I even make sense here?): getting to know a new culture, but still being able to explore, roam and eat easily, having everything accessible. I stopped in Lisbon twice, deciding to stay in two different districts because they could not have been more diverse from each other. The first stop of my solo trip to Portugal was in the Alfama.