Six months ago I booked tickets to the NOS Alive festival Lisbon for July (which was amazing, and an upcoming blog post of its own). I'd scheduled it so we'd arrive in Lisbon a day early so we could actually see some of the city before the festival started (and also because I didn't want to risk flying on the day of the festival and worst case scenario miss seeing my favourite band of all time the Pixies if there was a delay).
As it turned out Wales, incredibly, had got through to the Euro 2016 semi-final! And it would take place on our first night in Lisbon... against, you guessed it, Portugal! I could not have planned it any better if I'd tried!
So, of course there was only one place we could really go to watch the game - the massive fanzone in Main Square by Lisbon beach (Praca do Comercio). And of course, I was never going to miss the opportunity to take my Fuji X100S with me - so here's a handful of my favourite images from the night.
First off, the sea of people when we first arrived at the Square was bonkers.
And I wasn't the only one who was nervous...
It was a pretty unique feeling being a Welshman in Portugal for that game, but there was a great atmosphere, people were super friendly and it goes without saying that Lisbon is an absolutely incredible city. The perfect venue for a fanzone - a beautiful city square, next to the beach, lovely weather, with everyone in good spirits and an awesome sunset going down behind us.
But as we all know by now the result, unfortunately, didn't go Wales' way...
So even though Wales lost we had an amazing time. We even bumped into some fellow Welshmen there... and of course they'd have blowup daffodils and leeks and sheep. Because WALES ini mun.
We drunk our sorrows in the bars of Lisbon and had a great rest of the night (from what I can remember - I mean, the gins are EXTRA LARGE in Lisboa). The next day, ever so slighly hungover, we continued to explore a little bit more of the old town in the city before we went to the festival.
All in all, it was a great night in Lisbon. I'd definitely go back, especially to the old town where we stayed. Not just because it's so beautiful, but it was also surprisingly super cheap. Like three euros for a beer cheap.
Obrigado, Lisboa.
Next up... Being in Portugal for Euro 2016 Part II: The Final, Portugal vs France