Lisbon, Portugal
Ola!
After Porto, our next city was Lisbon - the capital of Portugal. The train left from Sao Bento Station, an azulejo-decorated station in Porto and dropped us off at the station closest to our hotel in Lisbon. We stayed at Eurostars Museum, a fantastic and centrally-located hotel in the Alfama neighborhood. It's the oldest district in the city filled with "miradouros" (viewpoints), cathedrals, and charm. We ate at Cantina Zé Avillez based on a recommendation from the hotel and enjoyed a light lunch before starting our Lisbon sightseeing.
We started by walking by the Arco da Rua Augusta, then up to the Carmo Convent passing by the Santa Justa Lift. We went inside the museum which formerly was a Gothic church that was destroyed by the Lisbon Earthquake of 1755. There were tons of different ruins but we felt it lacked some important context to help us understand what we were looking at. (This link explains some of it!)
We walked back to the main plaza, Praça do Rossio, where we caught a Tuk Tuk (rickshaw) with LX Tuk Tour to get a guided tour of the Alfama District. A few stops on our tour included the Miradouro da Nossa Senhora do Monte, the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora, National Pantheon, and a cool mural with references to the connections Lisbon and France have. Unfortunately, it started raining really hard so we asked our driver to drop us back at the hotel for a while.
Once it cleared up again, we walked up to the Lisbon Cathedral ("Sé") where we watched a few trams go by. From there, we continued to the Miradouro de Santa Luzia (viewpoint) and the Miradouro Graffiti Fado (mural).
After a short break, we got some drinks at our hotel before heading to dinner. The fabulous staff at the Eurostars Museum got us a reservation at the nearby Clube de Fado for dinner and live performances of Fado music. We watched three artists perform the traditional Portuguese music while eating a seafood and rice dish.
Day 2
The next morning we got up relatively early to see the remainder of our Lisbon sights. But first, we ate breakfast at the hotel, where they had the cutest Easter pastry! Dad and I may have been the first to cut into it... We started with the Ascensor da Glória because there was a really short line and it's covered in graffiti (by design). We did a little exploring at the top before heading back down to explore the other modes of transportation in Lisbon - more specifically, tram 12! There are two main trams that go in a circle around Lisbon: the 12 and the 28, which makes a longer loop. We waited in line for a while but had a really fun ride/sightseeing tour of the city.
From there, we caught the train to the Belém area of town. Our first stop was the famous Pastéis de Belém, known for their pastel de nata, a custard pastry. We got a few of them and went to the Starbucks next door for a drink and place to sit!
Then, we walked over to the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jerónimos Monastery). This was absolutely worth the visit for the large green cloister and the small exhibit that walked through hundreds of years of history showing the monastery's connection. Bonus: we were inside for the huge rainstorm and visited the choir when mass was in session.
From there, we wandered along the river to the Padrão dos Descobrimentos (Monument to the Discoveries). According to this article, it "is dedicated to the adventurers and explores who helped establish Portugal as a 14th century superpower." Next, we walked to the Torre de Belém, a tower on an island in the river.
We picked up some crepes (one sweet, one savory) at a stand on our way back to the tram so we could eat something before heading to our next destination, LxFactory. There, we saw more art by Bordalo II, this time in bee form! Then, we got some chocolate cake at Landeau Chocolate - it's amazing!! We then headed to the Ascensor da Bica, a cute yellow tram in the city. We watched it go up and down before dinner. We went over to the Time Out Market so we could try a bunch of different Portuguese foods but decided it was a little too busy. We went to the restaurant upstairs (Pap'Açorda) instead of fighting the crowds and had a great meal! Our final stop for the night was Pink Street, the former Red Light District of Lisbon turned trendy hangout spot. (read more here)
The next post will be about our final day in Portugal!
-A
After Porto, our next city was Lisbon - the capital of Portugal. The train left from Sao Bento Station, an azulejo-decorated station in Porto and dropped us off at the station closest to our hotel in Lisbon. We stayed at Eurostars Museum, a fantastic and centrally-located hotel in the Alfama neighborhood. It's the oldest district in the city filled with "miradouros" (viewpoints), cathedrals, and charm. We ate at Cantina Zé Avillez based on a recommendation from the hotel and enjoyed a light lunch before starting our Lisbon sightseeing.
The next morning we got up relatively early to see the remainder of our Lisbon sights. But first, we ate breakfast at the hotel, where they had the cutest Easter pastry! Dad and I may have been the first to cut into it... We started with the Ascensor da Glória because there was a really short line and it's covered in graffiti (by design). We did a little exploring at the top before heading back down to explore the other modes of transportation in Lisbon - more specifically, tram 12! There are two main trams that go in a circle around Lisbon: the 12 and the 28, which makes a longer loop. We waited in line for a while but had a really fun ride/sightseeing tour of the city.
The next post will be about our final day in Portugal!
-A
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