Saturday, May 25: Food Tour & Sunset Wine Cruise
After an exhilarating night in Lisbon, jamming out to one of the most popular musicians to walk the Earth (Paramore, obviously), it was time to explore more of Lisbon! Our first stop was at Espressolab, where we enjoyed coffee and pastries following a late-morning wake-up.
Livraria Bertrand - Chiado
Since we had time to kill before our 3 pm food and wine walking tour, we decided now would be a good time to shop for some of our collectibles. Our first order of business was to find a bookstore and purchase the Portuguese version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
I found the closest open bookstore to our hotel and we were on our way. As we wandered around the bookstore we couldn't help but notice how crowded the place was; for a regular ol' bookstore, there sure are a lot of people here. Katie and I found our copy of Harry Potter while Sabrina and Caleb bought a Portuguese children's book to go with the Spanish book they bought in Cadiz.
As we completed our purchase, the cashier asked if we would like the stamp inside the front cover, to which Katie responded, "What stamp?"
Cashier: "The stamp certifying that you bought your books at the oldest bookstore in the world. Do you want it in English or Portuguese?"
Katie: "Uhh...both please!"
No wonder this place was packed. We just so happened to stumble upon the world's oldest continuously operating bookstore, which opened its doors in 1732! What a cool find!
And then you know Katie had to go back and take pictures around the shop! You know how upset that woman would have been if we had missed this place?!
Praça Dom Pedro IV
After dropping our books at the hotel, we made our way to Praça Dom Pedro IV to meet for our 3 pm food and wine tour. Since we had a few minutes to spare, we decided to check out the many stalls in the plaza set up for the Lisbon Spring Festival; Caleb even found a hat with "Panther" written on it, so he had to make that purchase! At 3 pm we met up with Martin, our tour guide, and the rest of our tour group!
A Ginjinha
Our first stop of the trip was at A Ginjinha, a small open-faced store right in the heart of Lisbon that sells Ginjinha, a cherry-like liqueur with tart cherries in the bottom of each glass. Nothing says it's going to be a great walking tour than when your first stop is ripping a shot.
Church of Saint Dominic: Igreja de São Domingos
Adjacent to A Ginjinha is the Church of Saint Dominic, which was originally established in 1241, but has since been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times (i.e. the earthquakes of 1531 and 1755). Most recently, a fire broke out in 1959 destroying most of the interior, but when it was reopened in 1994, the interior design left many signs of the fire in place.
Ginjinha Popular
Our next stop was Ginjinha Popular, where we enjoyed Portuguese pork sandwiches, known as bifana, and either beer or green wine. To add a little razzle-dazzle to our sandwiches, we could add piri piri (pronounced 'pitty-pitty'), a Portuguese hot sauce made from the malagueta pepper.
Manteigaria Silva
Our third stop was just up the street at Manteigaria Silva where we enjoyed bread, cheese, and jam, coupled with a port wine. I didn't realize how expensive port wines could be until Martin told us; some bottles go for as much as €500 in this tiny little shop alone! Although it wasn't a huge hit with everyone, it was cool getting to drink port wine in the country it originated.
A Tendinha do Rossio
The fourth stop, A Tendinha do Rossio, was a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant where we enjoyed a fried cod fishcake and another hefty pour of green wine. This shop was standing room only and packed with locals and tourists alike!
Caneca De Prata
Our journey continued at Caneca De Prata where we enjoyed arguably the best dish of the tour, duck fried rice, and a gracious pour of the house red wine. We were all relieved to finally sit down and rest our feet while Martin gave us city recommendations as we ate.
Elevador do Castelo
We were informed by Martin that there are actually numerous elevators spread throughout the city that are considered public transportation and free to use. This was good information to have, considering Sabrina was struggling to make it up all of these hills with her broken foot! On the way to our next stop, we utilized one of these free elevators!
Maria Palato - Wine Bar
Our last stop of the tour was at Maria Palato - Wine Bar where we had bread with olive oil and pumpkin butter, goat's cheese, chorizo, and a sardine. Everything on the plate was really good, except for the sardine; I was proud that everyone, including Katie (who hates fish), gave it a try! It was really slimy and gross, but at least we put forth some effort.
We didn't realize that sardines are a Portuguese favorite; Sabrina got excited walking into a shop that she thought was a chocolate shop....come to find out it was just filled floor to ceiling with colorful sardine cans! What a disappointment!
Rent a Boat - Boat Tours and River Cruises
Since we were somewhat pressed for time, we quickly said goodbye to Martin and the rest our tour group and jumped into a Bolt (the European version of Uber) and made our way back to Belem for a sunset booze cruise.
Promptly at 7 pm, we departed from the marina adjacent to the Monument of Discoveries, which we visited yesterday on our TukTuk tour. For the next 1.5 hours, we enjoyed bottomless green wine while we floated by the sites of Lisbon, from the Tagus River, at dusk.
A famous, and almost recognizable, landmark from the sunset cruise is the 25th of April Bridge. It seems so recognizable due to its design and color; it is painted the same International Orange as the Golden Gate Bridge and has the exact same design as the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Lisbon's version was originally named the Salazar Bridge (named after the Portuguese dictator) after its construction in 1966 but was renamed after the Carnation Revolution (where Salazar and his regime were peacefully overthrown) which took place on April 25, 1974.
As we sailed under the bridge, our skipper and beverage-mate shared local history and kept our glasses full! As the sun began to set, Sabrina and Katie donned sweatshirts, while we all huddled under the provided blankets.
Sanctuary of Christ the King: Santuário de Cristo Rei
Another recognizable landmark is the Sanctuary of Christ the King statue, which was constructed in 1959 to express gratitude because the Portuguese were spared from the destruction of World War 2. At least that's what textbooks, historians, and Wikipedia will tell you, but many Portuguese, including our sunset cruise guides, believe it's because Salazar refused to be outdone by a former Portuguese colony.
After seeing the popularity of Brazil's own Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Salazar erected Christ the King as a focal point here in Lisbon. Between the Christ the Redeemer and Golden Gate Bridge knockoffs, this Salazar guy seemed to be a serious copycat.
Desi Masala
After two hours of drinking and enjoying a beautiful sunset, it was time to head back into town and grab some dinner. Before grabbing food, we made our way back to the Spring Festival market to check out the Mojito stand!
Katie and I always try to make an effort to eat Indian food when we travel, so we found ourselves at Desi Masala for a late-night dinner. After eating our fill of curry and naan, it was time to hit the hay for another early tour tomorrow.
Sunday, May 26: Sintra and Cascais
The next morning started a little bit more stressful; Katie and I were sleeping peacefully when we were awoken by someone banging on our door. This hotel wasn't outfitted with peepholes, so I gently whispered, "Yes?" Sabrina on the other side of the door says, "Are y'all okay? We were supposed to meet 10 minutes ago." OH CRAP!
We had arranged to meet each other in the hotel lobby at 7 am so we could have time to quickly grab breakfast before our 8 am tour started. It was now 7:10 and Katie and I were just now waking up. My alarm on my cell phone just did not go off.
After getting ready in about 10 minutes, we were out of the door at 7:20 and heading towards the meet-up point for our tour to Sintra. We stopped at a Starbucks along the way for coffee and breakfast, since we didn't have much time to find a legit breakfast place. My bad!
National Palace of Pena: Palácio Nacional da Pena
After meeting our guide, we began our 40-minute drive to Sintra National Park; the first stop of the tour was Pena Palace. Nestled atop a hill within the Sintra Mountains, Pena Palace was originally built as a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Pena in 1493. A small monastery was built with the chapel in the 16th Century; during the Earthquake of 1755, most of the monastery was destroyed, but the chapel structures escaped significant damage.
Afterwards, the chapel and surrounding lands (including the 10th Century Moorish Castle residing on top of a neighboring hill), were purchased by King Ferdinand II in 1838. He then transformed the former monastery into a Romanticist castle, with vividly painted facades, beautiful tile work, and decorative battlements.
We were dropped off at the entrance thinking we couldn't be far from the castle, but unfortunately for Sabrina, we had a 300-meter climb on a 10% grade to get to the castle.
After arriving at the castle, we were not disappointed by the splendid primary colors of the castle; we learned that the right-most red portion of the palace was the former monastery while the blue (center) and yellow (left) portions were the palace additions from Ferdinand II. While waiting in line to enter, we were sure to grab plenty of pictures from the many terraces.
Although not quite as lavish of an interior as some other European palaces, this myriad of rooms treated us to stunning views of the Sintra mountains, the Atlantic Ocean, and downtown Lisbon!
After exploring the inside of the castle, we walked around the battlements that surrounded the exterior of castle!
Casa Piriquita
After leaving Pena Palace, we made our way down the mountain to Old Town Sintra for a little bit of free time. Our tour guides recommended visiting Casa Piriquita to enjoy two famous pastries from this area: the queijada and the travesseiro.
This bakery opened its doors in 1862 and has been perfecting these two pastries for nearly 100 years; the queijada is similar to the pasteis de Belem that we tried a few days ago, but with a more cupcake-like consistency, and travesseiro is a light, sweet pastry (literally known as pillow pastry.)
Páteo das Laranjas
Even though we tried Ginjinha yesterday during our walking tour, our guides told us that we had to try it in a chocolate cup because it completely changes the flavor of the liqueur.
Now I'm unsure whether that was true or not, but I wasn't going to say no to something tart coupled with chocolate! When Sabrina heard "chocolate" and "liquor" in the same sentence, her reply was an immediate "yes!"
Sintra National Palace: Palácio Nacional de Sintra
After a lot of walking and climbing, Sabrina's hurt foot was starting to take a toll, so her and Caleb decided to find a nice spot to sit in front of the Sintra National Palace. Katie and I did a little more shopping and found a Starbucks to buy a Portugal coffee tumbler to add to our collection. We are pretty sure they rang up our mug incorrectly because we were only charged €7, so I guess that was a win for us!
Regional Do Paço
Before meeting up with the group, we made one last pit stop for some shopping. Katie's been asking for a Portuguese tile for the last two days, so we bought a blue and yellow tile to serve as a pot holder while Sabrina and Caleb bought a decorative towel to take home with them!
Cabo da Roca
The next stop on the tour was Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of continental Europe. After pushing through a crowd of Chinese tourists to grab a picture of the cliffs in the distance, it was time to get back onto the bus! This area reminded Katie and I of a drier, sunnier, Cliffs of Moher in Ireland.
House of Wonders
Our next and final stop of the tour was Cascais (pronounced Kesh-Kiesh), a beautiful beach resort town just west of Lisbon. We were given 1.5 hours of free time and given lunch and ice cream recommendations. All of the lunch recommendations were fairly expensive and were mostly seafood options (which Sabrina nor Katie are fans of), so we did some perusing on Google Maps to find an alternative. We found a place nearby with colorful dishes and great reviews, so we made our way to House of Wonders.
As we entered the restaurant, we discovered that their menu was actually a visual menu, and not in the sense that you could see pictures of the food on a screen as you ordered it, but they had fully prepared meals on a table where the owner of the restaurant would describe each dish in detail.
After talking with the owner (the lady in the pink dress in the picture below), we discovered that this was a vegetarian restaurant. I guess that makes sense though given all of the bright colors in the dishes. Caleb ordered the shakshuka, Sabrina ordered the hummushuka (a hybrid of hummus and shakshuka), Katie ordered a Greek Yogurt bowl, and I had the "Happiness Bowl." We all split a pitcher of orange and white wine sangria! Who would've thought Sabrina and I, both notoriously picky eaters, would've eaten at and enjoyed a vegetarian restaurant?! And all the food was amazing!
Santini
Now, most importantly, the guides' second recommendation was Santini for the claimed "Best Ice Cream in Portugal." After seeing the long line, we knew it had to be good. Caleb had the caramel, Sabrina ordered chocolate, I had coffee, and Katie had the lemon chocolate chip, which was arguably the best flavor. After quickly scarfing down our ice cream, we made our way back to the van to head back to Lisbon.
Casino Estoril
Before making our way back into town, we drove by Casino Estoril. You might be wondering, "Who cares?" Well, during World War II, even though Portugal was considered neutral, it was a hotbed for spies and espionage, centered in the town of Estoril.
Ian Fleming, the author of the 007 series, was an Intelligence Officer for the British Royal Navy and was assigned to a mission based in Estoril. It is believed that he received inspiration for his famous character, James Bond, from a Serbian double agent named Duško Popov, who fed misinformation to the German intelligence organization, Abwehr, while working for MI6.
Just another James Bond location to add to our travels! (For those keeping count, we have now visited one in Japan, the one in Cadiz, and all the places in London!)
LX Factory
After making it back to Lisbon, we decided to take a Bolt over to the LX Factory since we didn't have much time to explore it on our TukTuk tour a couple of days ago. After wandering through the numerous shops and tents, and cringing at the food prices at the many restaurants, we made our way back to the Rossio district near our hotel. We are learning to avoid the tourist traps...and sometimes we get suckered into spending an hour walking around and regretting it.
Praça Dom Pedro IV
While Sabrina and Caleb did some packing and took showers before dinner, Katie and I explored the Spring Festival stalls a little bit more. After walking by and smelling all of the sandwiches, I couldn't resist, so Katie and I enjoyed a small ham and cheese sandwich and a glass of green wine each.
El Paso Cantina Mexicana y Cocktail Bar
Having felt like we enjoyed a lot of authentic Portuguese cuisine over the last few days, we decided to enjoy some Mexican cuisine for our last meal with Sabrina and Caleb! Although not as good as American Tex-Mex, it definitely scratched an itch for Katie and I.
After dinner, it was time to say goodbye to Caleb and Sabrina. Their flight leaves Monday morning at 6:30 am and we prebooked their Bolt to pick them up from the hotel at 3:30 am, so we said goodbyes before heading to our respective rooms for the evening.
It was such an amazing trip with them and it was tough seeing them go; we're stoked that we got this opportunity to spend time with Caleb and get to know him more and to see Sabrina again for just the second time in nearly three years.
Monday, May 27: Date Day in Lisbon
Santo António: Pastelaria Santo António
After a late start and checking out of our hotel, Katie and I decided to explore the Alfama district a little bit more. As we headed up the hill towards the castle, we made a pit stop for espresso shots and some coffee ice cream to make our own affogatos.
Castelo de São Jorge
As we made our way further up the hill, we stopped to do some shopping! Katie ended up picking out a Portuguese tile shaped like a "J" to hang on our wall and a watercolor from a local artist. Although we didn't enter the castle, we did walk around most of the external fortifications in order to get to our next stop!
Another fun little fact we learned while in Lisbon: the city's symbol is a ship with two birds. Take a look below and you will see the symbol on the sewage drain and built into the tiled sidewalk!
Secret Garden LX
One of the places Katie and I wanted to revisit from our TukTuk tour was Secret Garden LX, which offered us stunning views of Lisbon as we enjoyed a few drinks! Seeing the city from up by the castle was a great way to spend an hour and chat about the trip!
As we were making our way back down the hill to explore more of the town, Katie ran ahead so she could take a picture of me with the beautiful tiled buildings behind me. With her phone in hand and not paying attention to where she was stepping, Katie proceeded to sprain her ankle by stepping in a giant hole, where tiles were missing on the sidewalk. After having Sabrina power through walking on a boot for over a week, the second she leaves, Katie sprains her ankle and struggles to walk around the rest of the day...
Delirium Café
With Katie struggling to put weight on her left foot, we headed back towards the Rossio district to find a flatter walking area to explore. Instead, we found Delirium Cafe, where we enjoyed some yummy sour beers and walked away with a cool new Delirium glass!
Katie and I are notorious for permanently borrowing cool glassware during our travels. We aren't sure how those glasses end up in our bags, but it's a unique souvenir to remember our travels!
Gelados Santini
While walking to our next destination, we stumbled upon another Santini! After enjoying cups of this delicious ice cream in Cascais the day prior, we weren't going to miss out on a second chance! This time Katie and I both ordered the lemon chocolate chip ice cream! Don't knock it 'til you try it; I promise it's better than it sounds!
The Queen Ale
We stopped for one more drink at The Queen Ale before heading to dinner; their glasses were just plain pint glasses, so we will have to settle with our one glass from this trip!
Pizzico Pizzeria
For dinner, we enjoyed Napoli-style pizza and an Aperol Spritz at Pizzico Pizzeria, back near our hotel!
At 7:30 pm, grabbed our luggage from the hotel and went to the airport. This time the metro decided it wasn't going to break down and we were able to get to the airport without walking or taking a Bolt.
Our flight departed Lisbon at 10:30 pm and arrived in Sevilla at 12:30 am! Caleb and Sabrina had landed in Charlotte before we even left Lisbon and had made it back to Raleigh before we even made it home. It was a late night and an early morning the next day for both Katie and I!
Portugal is such a beautiful and wonderful country and we know we will be visiting again very soon! Thanks to Caleb and Sabrina for joining us on this jam-packed trip! Until next time!
Saúde!
Bryan
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