Después de aterrizar en Lisboa, hicimos una escala corta antes de seguir hacia nuestro destino.

Because después normally needs the preposition de before a noun or an infinitive.

• después de aterrizar = after landing
• después de la comida = after the meal

So in this sentence, después de + infinitive means after doing something.

A very common pattern is:

• después de + infinitive
• antes de + infinitive

For example:

• Después de comer, salimos. = After eating, we went out.
• Antes de salir, cerré la puerta. = Before leaving, I closed the door.

After después de, Spanish usually uses the infinitive when the subject is the same as the subject of the main verb.

Here, the people who landed are also the people who made a short stop:

• Después de aterrizar en Lisboa, hicimos...

That is more natural than repeating a full clause.

Compare:

• Después de aterrizar en Lisboa, hicimos una escala corta.
  = After landing in Lisbon, we made a short stop.

If the subject changes, Spanish often uses a full clause instead:

• Después de que aterrizamos en Lisboa, ...
• Después de que el avión aterrizó, ...

So después de + infinitive is especially common when the subject stays the same.

Hicimos is the preterite of hacer, and it is used for a completed action in the past.

• hicimos una escala corta = we made a short stopover

The sentence tells a sequence of completed events:

1. we landed
2. we made a short stop
3. we continued toward our destination

That is why the preterite fits well.

Hacíamos would be the imperfect, which usually suggests background, habit, or an ongoing past action. In this sentence, that would sound unnatural because the stopover is being presented as one finished event.

Also note the irregular form:

• hacer → hicimos
• not hacemos and not hacíamos

In travel, escala means a stopover, layover, or intermediate stop during a journey.

So:

• hicimos una escala corta = we had/made a short layover

This is common in air travel, but it can also be used more generally for journeys.

Useful related expressions:

• hacer escala en Madrid = to stop over in Madrid
• un vuelo con escala = a flight with a stopover / connecting flight
• sin escalas = non-stop

In this sentence, escala does not mean scale in the English sense of size or measurement.

Both are possible, but una escala corta is the more neutral and everyday order.

In Spanish, adjectives often come after the noun:

• una escala corta
• un viaje largo
• una parada breve

Putting the adjective before the noun can add emphasis, style, or a slightly more literary tone:

• una corta escala

That is grammatically correct, but it sounds less neutral here.

Also notice agreement:

• escala is feminine singular
• so the article is una
• and corta agrees in feminine singular

For the same reason as después de aterrizar: after antes de, Spanish normally uses de, and if the subject is the same, it often uses the infinitive.

• antes de seguir = before continuing

Pattern:

• antes de + infinitive

Examples:

• Antes de entrar, llamó a la puerta. = Before entering, he knocked on the door.
• Antes de dormir, leo un poco. = Before sleeping, I read a little.

If the subject changes, Spanish can use antes de que + subjunctive:

• Antes de que siguiéramos hacia nuestro destino...
• Antes de que el avión siguiera...

But in your sentence, the same people are doing the continuing, so antes de seguir is the natural choice.

Seguir here means to continue or to go on.

• seguir hacia nuestro destino = to continue toward our destination

Hacia means toward/in the direction of. It emphasizes movement in the direction of the destination.

Why not just a?

• seguir a nuestro destino sounds unnatural here
• seguir hacia nuestro destino is the normal phrasing
• seguir hasta nuestro destino would mean something slightly different: continue until reaching our destination

So:

• hacia = toward
• hasta = as far as / until
• a = to, but not the best choice with seguir in this context

Spanish often uses possessives when English might or might not use them.

• nuestro destino = our destination

This makes it clear that it is the travelers’ final destination. El destino could also be understood, but nuestro destino sounds more natural and specific here.

Compare:

• Llegamos a nuestro destino. = We arrived at our destination.
• El destino del vuelo era Roma. = The flight’s destination was Rome.

So nuestro helps tie the destination directly to us.

Because Spanish usually leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

• hicimos already means we did/made
• nosotros hicimos is possible, but not necessary

Spanish is a pro-drop language, so subject pronouns are often omitted unless needed for:

• emphasis
• contrast
• clarity

Examples:

• Hicimos una escala corta. = We made a short stopover.
• Nosotros hicimos una escala corta, pero ellos no. = We made a short stopover, but they didn’t.

In your sentence, there is no need to add nosotros.

Yes. In Spanish, Lisbon is Lisboa.

So:

• en Lisboa = in Lisbon

Many city names are different in Spanish from their English forms:

• London → Londres
• Lisbon → Lisboa
• Munich → Múnich

This is completely normal and something learners just have to get used to.

You could say something similar, but it would not mean exactly the same thing or sound as natural in a travel context.

• hicimos una escala corta is specific to travel and sounds natural for a journey, especially by plane
• paramos poco tiempo means we stopped for a short time, which is more general

So if you are talking about a flight or an organised journey, hacer una escala is the better expression.

Compare:

• Hicimos una escala corta en Lisboa. = We had a short layover in Lisbon.
• Paramos poco tiempo en Lisboa. = We stopped only briefly in Lisbon.

The second is understandable, but less precise in this context.