Tag: Portugal

Lisbon Day 3

We had a really busy day today. We started out with breakfast at a nearby cafe.

Brian had pancakes and Jo Ann had a vegan bowl. As you can see the pancakes were small by American standards.

Then we took a bus to the Belén area of Lisbon.

Waiting for the bus

The lines in front of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos and the church next door were daunting. Instead we walked along the waterfront to check out the Monument to the Discoveries and the Torre de Belém.

Monastery of the Jerónimos with the long lines in front
Monument to the discoveries
Torre de Belém

A couple of hours later when we walked past the church and the monastery there was no line for the church so we went in.

Tomb of Vasco da Gama in the church

Next we took a break and went to Pastéis de Belém the place the iconic original Pastéis de Nata were created in 1837.

Enjoying out Pastéis de Nata
We enjoyed fresh squeezed orange juice too.

From Belém we took the bus across town past our hotel to the Tile Museum. the museum is the Azulejo Musem. The word Azulejo comes from the Arabic word meaning small polished stone. It refers to the tiles Portugal is famous for. The museum about the development of Portuguese tile was fascinating. I especially enjoyed learning how the tiles evolved from 1500 to the present.

Iconic Portuguese tiles

The distance back to our hotel was about two miles, so we walked. We did have a nice break for refreshments along the way.

Our break half way back to the hotel.

Back at the hotel we played cards.

Playing 500 in Brian and Jo Ann’s room

For dinner we took an Uber to a Brazilian all you can eat meat restaurant, Prazeres da Picanah, that Duke and I ate at on our first trip to Lisbon in 2016. We thoroughly enjoyed our meal.

One of the 10 kinds of meat we enjoyed.

Lisbon day 2

This morning Duke and I took the metro to the airport and met Brian and Jo Ann who will be traveling with us for the next three weeks. It is great to have them here.

On the Metro going to our hotel.

After a bit of a rest we went out exploring. We had lunch overlooking the Plaça do Comércio and then went on a tuk tuk tour of Lisbon. It was quite an adventure.

Praça do Comércio
We started out in this vehicle
But then at our first stop, Lisbon Cathedral, the vehicle refused to start and we had to move to a different vehicle and a different driver.
The view from Miradouro do Monte

For dinner we went to Restaurante 1 de Maio. We each had fish and we enjoyed the Portuguese ambiance.

Dinner at Restaurante 1 de Maio

After dinner we walked back to the hotel. It was a great day and we had no rain and cool but very pleasant temperatures.

Outside the restaurant getting ready to walk back to the hotel

Sines to Lisbon

Today we had a few rainstorms but we also had a lot of beautiful blue sky.

Breakfast at our hotel..

About 11 we packed up and headed north to Lisbon.

Driving into a big city is always a challenge and although we made a few wrong turns we eventually got to the parking garage near our hotel and parked our car for the next three days. Tomorrow Brian and JoAnn will join us.

The toll plaza for the Ponte 25 de Abril

After resting a bit we went out to explore and then had an excellent dinner at Porter Bistro.

Praço do Coméricio
My Grouper
Duke’s Covina
Lisbon tram sighted on the way back to the hotel.

Aljezur to Sines

I think the storm is about over. Today we had some rain and a lot of wind but we also had sun and got to enjoy the beautiful coast. People continue to tell us that this weather is very unusual.

The power was out in our room for most of the night but it came back on this morning and we had a very nice breakfast in our room.

Breakfast in our room

About an hour into our drive up the coast. We stopped at Vila Nova de Milfontes to stretch.

The wind makes Duke’s hair stand on end
Duke and the statue at the lookout where we stopped
The coastal scenery has been stunning all along here.
Our hotel is the red building on the middle of the picture.

In Sines we are staying at a hotel called Casa do Médico de São Rafael. It a beautiful old building.

After checking in we walked around the town a bit.

We climbed around the old castle
A view of us from the castle

We had a really nice dinner in the hotel restaurant. We had thought about going out to find a place to eat but I’m glad we didn’t because the whole time we were eating it was raining and blowing

Duke’s octopus and my sea bass. They were each delicious.

Sagres to Aljezur

Tonight we are at a guest house called Herdade Monte Do Sol outside of Aljezur. The lady who checked us in told us that it is unheard of for Portugal to have a storm with this much wind and rain.

We stayed at the Pausada in Sagres until about 1:30 because the weather was just too miserable to go out exploring. I spent the time publishing our first YouTube video of this trip. You can watch it here.

Passing the time in the Pousada Lounge

When we left Sagres we stopped at the grocery store to get some food for lunch.

At the grocery store

We had a picnic lunch on a hilltop overlooking the coast.

Picnic lunch
Our viewpoint

The weather cleared up some and we stopped at Amada Beach.We saw lots of hikers in spite of the weather. The Rota Vicentina is a network of popular hiking trails in the south-west Portugal.

View of the coast
Map of Rota Vicentina paths

Our guest house has a nice view of the coast.

The view from our guest house.