Portugal

Lisbon & Cascais, Portugal

This was SUCH a great trip. It felt like everyone I knew at the time was going to Portugal, and so I was super excited to go. We split our time between Lisbon, the capitol, and Cascais, a beach town. With a short stint to Sintra. It was lovely, lovely. 

First day, we got this cute little Airbnb (with a balcony, no less!) in Lisbon and walked all around town. Cute cobblestone streets. It was very sunny. Passed a lot of pastry shops and learned about pasteis de nata, a Portugese egg custard. Got a lot of these throughout the trip - they're delicious!

There were several lookouts around the city, and we climbed to the highest one (I think). There were so many pink roofs everywhere! We also took some back alley roads to weave our way up the hills, so that was fun. 

We went to the main square area (forget what it was called) and waited for a tour guide that we booked, but never found them, so we just joined another random walking tour. It was really great!

Also, to make it down in time, we took an e-scooter, and at one point we were riding on cobblestones and it was SO BUMPY that literally my vision blurred out. I couldn't stop laughing. I still think about that and giggle to myself. It was so funny. 

Okay, a bunch of these pictures are out of order, but oh well. Seafood is a big part of the cuisine there. One of the nights we just wandered the cobblestone back-alleys and found this tucked-away restaurant with ourdoor seating (a lot of them had that), and got sardines and octopus. I never would have thought to order those, but it was recommended, and they were SO good. Also tried green wine, which was also really good. 

The Convento do Carmo was an old church that was damaged in an earthquake in 1755. The gothic arch ruins were left to open air eventually as a memorial and turned into a museum. It was very beautiful, and I very much enjoyed visiting this site.

There was a look-out point a ways from Lisbon (I think it was 20 or 30 minutes by car from the city?) where you could see the whole city, so we went to visit. There weren't many people here, but there was a lot of graffiti, which was interesting to look at and read.

We noticed a lot of similarities between Lisbon and SF - the proximity to water, the long bridge, the weather, the cable cars, the hills. We checked out some of the historical buildings/structures by the water. The Belem Tower, we probably spent an hour the night before googling it and trying to figure out how to properly pronounce it. It was a point of entry/exit via water and had defensive fortifications. Also a lighthouse. Also held prisoners.

The statue with sailors was the Monument to the Discoveries, led by Henry the Navigator.

There were so many jellyfish in the water! I was surprised to see so many. We were told these ones were harmless, and the famous Portugese Man o' War was much less common. 

We did a sunset boat cruise. :) It was soooo fun. At one point we were just dancing and vibing on the raised part of the boat, drinking Portugese wine and meeting people from all over the world. It was a great time. 

Halfway through the week, we made the trip out to the west coast to visit Cascais, a cute little beach town!  Also had to take a while to learn how to pronounce Cascais. It's not how it looks. 

We rented these cute little mopeds, but I fell on mine pretty early on and got really spooked, so the rest of the trip just rode on the back of my friends'. It was a blast. Pure joy. 

God, I love a good beach town. I love a good beach. We frolicked pretty hard. Took a lot of photos with the sand and the water and the sun. 

While we were in Cascais, we took part of a day and traveled up to Sintra, an area known for its beautiful fairy-tale-like castles. Wish we spent more time here, but glad at least we got to see some of it! It was indeed very beautiful and romantic. 

One of the days we walked back to the place we were staying and walked along the water. We passed by the Devil's Mouth (Boca do Inferno), which was a cool rock formation in the sea. Next to it, there were lots of fisherman fishing on the cliffs. One of them pulled out a squid and handed it to me. I was terrified, because I vaguely remembered squids having "beaks"? Or something sharp that could harm me? But he shoved it towards me (speaking in Portuguese, which of course I couldn't understand) and so I grabbed it by I don't even know what anatomical part and just screamed - in delight and terror. I handed it back pretty quickly, but it was a neat experience!

The last day in Cascais, went to visit the lighthouse, Cabo Da Roca, which sits on the westernmost point of mainland Europe. Very cool! Some infographics there called it the "Edge of the World".  Very beautiful and very windy. I wish I had more time to explore the hike down to the beach, but it was enjoyable enough to take in from above. 

The last day in Portugal, made my way back to Lisbon and got a cute little AirBnB. Made it a point to find the Pink Street with its colorful umbrellas. Also went to the Timeout Market, a giant food hall with lots of great food, for a last Portuguese meal (seafood!). 

Portugal, you were so dreamy and lovely. Hope to visit again, especially up to Porto and Madeira!

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