Explore: Portugal

The next stop in the whirlwind tour of Europe was Portugal! To be honest with you, I didn’t know much about Portugal. But so many people that I knew that traveled there had such great experiences that we added it to our trip!

Day 1

We landed in Portugal in the early afternoon and ended up taking a cab to our Airbnb. Our Airbnb was this cute cheery apartment in the older part of Lisbon, with an upstairs loft. FYI, most staircases in Europe are narrow and don’t have elevators, so if you do get an Airbnb be prepared to lug your suitcase up some stairs.

We were starving and wanted to find some good food fast. We went to A Cevicheria, Kiko Martin’s restaurant, and the food was delicious, fresh and flavorful, particular standouts, were the ceviche with mango foam and grilled octopus, slightly chewy with a slight sweetness to it. The staff was friendly and helpful with recommendations and pairings.

We then went for delicious gelato. Passionfruit is a popular flavor in Portugal, get it! It’s so fresh and delicious

We then went walked around to a square to explore Lisbon, and Lisbon has HILLS, and lots of them, the streets are narrow, and hilly, so bring comfortable shoes and prepare for a good workout.

 

We then went to Timeout, time out is a food hall of carefully chosen pop ups to present the best of what Portugal has to offer and doubles as a music hall to showcase different musical acts.

Timeout market can be overwhelming, when we went in the evening, it was in full swing, bustling and CROWDED.  There’s also so many delicious stalls that it’s hard to make a decision. We finally decided on fish and chips and it was fresh and the batter light. Seating can be difficult  when it’s busy as it’s first come first serve.

The next day we started out at Copehagen Coffee Lab. This cute cafe, has fresh homemade bread and delicious coffee. The bread was thick chewy, studded with seeds perfect with butter and jam.

 

We then went to Santa Maria de Belem and Belem tower. It’s the parish and its respective fortified tower, the towers dating all the way back to the 16th century.

Next was Pasteis de Belem to try the famed, “pasteis de nata.” Pasteis de nata is an egg tart, akin to a Chinese egg tart, but, the crust is crispier and flakier, the custard creamier and slighty sweeter and SO DELICIOUS. There is usually a long line, but it moves quickly. You can choose to get the tarts either to go or to eat at the restaurant. I suggest eating at the restaurant, it’s a big and airy room with yummy food and coffee. Use the cinnamon and powdered sugar shakers to liberally sprinkle your egg tarts. A generous sprinkling of cinnamon somehow makes it even more delicious!

We then headed over to LX factory, the art district of Lisbon, housed in an industrial complex it’s filled with retailers, unique restaurants and pieces of artwork and sculptures on walls makes it unique and also very instagrammable.

Here are a few of the places we found.

Nanarella near our Airbnb has the BEST gelato

Day 3

The last day we took a tour to Sintra, it’s a town with lavish palaces and natural beauty. Our tour guide said that because of it’s hotter weather and natural beauty, the noblemen in Europe would build big summer mansions. All of the mansions are in different style reflective of the styles of noblemen’s countries in Sintra. It was nice to get out of Lisbon and see a different part of Portugal, get away from the city and experience more of the natural beauty. We then went to Cascais a picturesque town along the coast, with it’s sunny blue skies, and sails boats dotting the water, it’s a great escape from Lisbon. It has a cute  downtown square full of shops and restaurants.

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Cascais

Off to Spain next!