Ben Pier takes great photos, and that’s why he gets to go on holidays with his camera and get paid for getting drunk and (probably) being a nuisance.

You might remember Ben from a recent series of photos taken in his hometown that never sleeps, or from his suss-as-fuck trip to Mexico. This time, our buddy with the camera traveled to Europe, and his first stop was Portugal. Please enjoy Ben’s informal guide to Portugal, which will be closely followed by an even more informal guide to Paris.

First off we flew to Lisbon from NYC. Crazy short flight. Legit felt like we just jumped the pond. I had never been to Portugal before and didn’t know what a total party spot it was until we were in the air. Pilot straight up got on the horn and announced honeymoon couples by name and people were clapping and stuff. Lisbon is the new Waikiki, apparently. I got drunk on free wine and played video poker and quietly vaped into my little pillow.

Landed in Lisbon and pretty much walked into this postcard.

Took a TukTuk with my man Shawkat here. Highly recommend finding this dude and whipping thru the streets of Lisbon while trying not to spill a giant cocktail. You can book him at shawpt9000@gmail.com. He knows all the good graf spots. Tell him I said hey.

The Tuk Tuk scene is popping off.

Go grab one of these pastéis de bacalhau. It’s a salted cod fritter and it’s bomb. These things saved my life. Try to find a little local divey spot and have a couple of small beers and you’re set.

Walk around with your headphones on in the morning before the tourists wake up.

There are throngs of tourists everywhere but they usually hang out in front of churches and statues, so it’s pretty easy to avoid them.

If you’re sad in New York City, you’re gonna be sad in Lisbon.

Locals!

There was a heat wave on. Although, I don’t think it was never not hot as fuck there. Oddly enough, every connect I had (that was actually from Lisbon) told me the number one thing I should do is to rent a car and head to the beaches or to Sintra. So we did that.

They were right. this is a rad tide pool in Azenhas Do Mar, Sintra, Portugal.

I could eat this every day.

Rental Car setups with the 5-speed Fiat. Don’t be fooled, Alexa is having a great time.

The seaside towns to the south looked all but deserted. We drove fast thru the countryside most nights. Sometimes we got lost and argued about what Ryan Adams record was the best …and if it’s okay to listen to him anymore.

We completely lucked out and found this dude’s spot. Local fisherman who also runs and operates his own restaurant. One of the best meals we had. They even let you pick out your own fish in the kitchen and give your girlfriend free shots of fernet.

These looked cool but I’m not into eating giant bugs.

Before I could really blink we were Paris bound.

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