Portugal Part I : Lisbon

The flight to Lisbon is 2 hours, 10 minutes. Thankfully there are no major queues and it’s an easy check-in (which is delightful considering all the drama there’s been at Dublin airport in recent weeks). On arrival we are greeted by Shanes name on a piece of paper which is great as that confirms we are getting picked up just that there’s no person with the piece of paper! After a couple of phone calls our driver arrives and we travel in a comfortable 6 seater to our home for the next few days. [By the way there are 6 of us on this trip.. two other couples traveling with Shane and I for our two week Portugal adventure. I am outnumbered by Australians but I’ll keep the Irish flag flying!!] 😀

The Airbnb is right in the centre of Lisbon in the Chiado neighbourhood. It’s on a steep hill – no surprise there, as Lisbon is built on 7 hills so there’s virtually no avoiding them! It’s a 4th floor apartment with a fabulous rooftop terrace that has a magnificent view of the castle.

We are surrounded by restaurants and bars so right in the thick of it. Our Airbnb host has asked us to be “silencio” when navigating the staircase at night…. 🤫

The host explains everything in minute detail, even how all the light switches work!!!! Rich is upstairs for about 15 minutes getting instructions on the air con and the awning over the terrace… Once she’s gone, we hit the streets and find our local super market – Pingo Doce (this will feature quite a bit in our Portugal holiday). Once we stock up on some essentials, we decide to send the boys home with the groceries so the ladies can order some white sangria and check out a local establishment. We have a drink and some appetizers and then hit a restaurant recommended by our host called Sinal Vermelho. It’s very popular so we are lucky to get a table. We have a delicious first dinner which includes two dishes we just saw Rick Stein have on his weekend in Lisbon… pork and clams and horse mackerel.

It’s surprisingly quiet for such a well located apartment and everyone sleeps well. Next morning I take my tea up to the terrace and enjoy a few minutes reading my book before we get our site seeing groove on. We enjoy a pastel de nata (Portugese custard tart) for brekkie each morning in Lisbon… sure you’d have to!

A few minutes walk takes us to Santa Maria maior and the gothic ruins of the Carmo convent which was devastated by the earthquake of 1755

Next we head to Casa St. Jorge hoping to catch the famous, and clearly very popular, 28E tram. Unfortunately, after waiting for about 20 minutes a very full tram arrives which doesn’t have space for us and a few minutes later when the next one arrives which looks like we could fit on, it passes us by and doesn’t stop…… looks like we’re not taking the tram

We join a fairly long line to get tickets for entry into the castle (should have booked them online but the website wasn’t very mobile friendly!). I can’t resist falling into the tourist trap and getting a bacalhau cake – that’s a salted codfish cake… I’m not sure it’s authentic to have cheese in the middle but it’s very tasty.

We walk around the castle which has beautiful views of the city…..

We wander down the hill winding our way through narrow streets enjoying the old buildings and lots of amazing tiles and stop at a small cafe for some lunch. We all order extremely well and it’s a very tasty local lunch.

We continue down the hill toward the train station passing through Praca do Comerico.

At the Cais to Sodre train station we catch the train and travel just 3 stops to get to Belem. I’ve been a number of times and have climbed the Monument to the Discoveries but I’ve never gone into Belem tower – I really want to go in this time so I’ve booked a ticket online to avoid any queues (Note: The Tiqets app is very handy and means no standing on a long line to buy the ticket)

After a day of exploring we hit the terrace for drinks and grub from our local pingo doce. They do some great iberico pate, sausage and various local cheese along with some really nice rosé and various other beverages for the boys! Oh and did I mention our view… we are happy out!

Next morning we have an array of both sweet and savoury pastries, along with our pastel de nates. The pastelerias are hard to resist! We are fed and ready for a day in Sintra. Sintra is one of the most beautiful towns I've ever visited. It has a charming old town feel to it and is surrounded by beautiful palaces and castles. I came here a few years ago and did a walking trip and loved it, it's great to be back and remember some of the sites and see some new ones.

We start with a visit to the Palacio Nacional (I don't think I went inside here last time so I'm very keen to take a look around). It's not very busy but I booked the tickets using the Tiqet app and I got 10% off)

It's a pleasure walking around and exploring all the different rooms - it's huge and the majority of it is accessible with your ticket

After the palace visit we have a very cool lunch at a place called Villa Craft Beer & Bread. (Seriously if there’s a craft beer bar in town Shane will sniff it out!!). Not only does it have craft beer (and a nice rosé) but they make bread fresh when you choose your order…. it’s not quite a sandwich but also not a pizza… mine has blood sausage (i.e. black pudding).. it is absolutely delicious.

Sintra is a busy town with a lot of tourists all year round. The majority of the hoardes will visit the Pena palace and the Moorish castle which are up the hill. We decide to take a tuk tuk (which is actually a jeep so a bit more appropriate for our gang!) to do a tour of the mountain so we can see the palaces but we’ve decided to avoid the hoardes and not actually go in. It’s a great way to see it all.

Our driver stops at all the best viewpoints…

Tonight we eat in a restaurant that's been recommended by our host. I call and make a reservation to ensure we get a table as it's in the busy Bairro Alto area. As we are walking toward the restaurant I get a phone call to say the restaurant is actually closed and we must come to a different location. It's not too far away and we arrive at Maio which looks very local and old school. The reviews say that the food is as authentic as it gets. They weren't wrong.... We have a delicious meal and local wine and fall into bed after a busy day. 

Tomorrow we head north….