The Spain leg of our Western Europe trip was done and we landed at Lisbon, the capital of Portugal (you can read the Seville and Barcelona blogs after this one). We left our bags at the airport itself and only carried the backpack. We had to get back by night for our flight to Ponta Delgada.

A short day in Lisbon

The plan was to spend the day in the Baixa area of the city. We took an Aerobus from the airport which is a convenient way to get to the city and got down at Martim Moniz.

The plan was to explore the district by foot. We saw the famous egg custard tarts (pasteis de nata) at one shop and tried it – it was really good!

We continued walking and saw the old trams – a historical symbol of the city which started in 1873.

Another historic structure which is worth a visit is the Elevador de Santa Justa – an elevator walkway to negotiate the hilly terrain of the city. It was constructed in 1900 and originally operated using steam!

It was a cold, windy yet sunny day and the sun provided relief from the chilly breeze. As we reached the large town square at Terreiro do Paco, we saw that a music festival, Eurovision, was ongoing. On the other side of the square was the Tagus river.

We quickly grabbed dinner from a restaurant called El Rei dom Frango (amazing sangria and lasagna). Initially, we weren’t sure if it was a good restaurant – the tables were empty when we entered. But we finished our meal and stepped out to see a long queue of people waiting to get a table.

In case you are wondering why we didn’t just check the ratings on Google Maps, we were travelling without SIM cards and going “with-the-flow”.

With happy tummies, we took the next bus back to the airport for our most unique experience in the Azores. We would be back in Lisbon for part 2 of discovering the city (below).

Another day in Lisbon

We were back from the Azores. The luggage we had left in the airport locker was still there. We unpacked and re-packed our stuff, took essentials for a 1-day stay and put the bags back. It was super convenient to have a system like this – all that lugging around had been prevented. This time we took the metro instead of the bus.

On the way to our guesthouse, we entered a cafe for breakfast – the worst food of the trip so far. We checked into our room and immediately left – looking for better food.

Onwards to Belem

The metro took us straight to Terreiro do Paço where we transferred to a tram going towards the Belem district. The single ticket for the tram is pretty expensive – so it is always a good idea to get a day-pass. It works on all modes of transport and works out much cheaper. You can buy it at a metro station.

Our destination – Pasteis de Belem – home of the legendary pasteis de nata (egg custard tarts). We had to stand in line to get a table. Inside, we had an overload of tarts! It was soooo good – the hype was totally justified! It wasn’t as sweet as the one we had eaten on the first day – which meant we could eat a lot more! In fact, I even took a box full of tarts to go when we left.

Making new discoveries

We definitely needed a long walk to burn off those pasteis! We crossed a park (a Thai festival was going on with Thai food, costumes and everything – pretty cool) and walked to the Descobrimentos monument (the Monument of Discoveries). It stands right at the bank of the Tagus river estuary and marks the spot where ships departed for exploration and trade to far off places like India and China. It celebrates the Portuguese Century of Discovery. Vasco de Gama was among the frontrunners in the statues depicted there. Fun fact – Vasco de Gama first landed in India in the town of Kozhikode – where we lived for 2 years!

A nap near the tower

Next stop was the Torre de Belem (Belem tower). This served as a point of embarkation and disembarkation for Portuguese explorers. As we passed through a park on the way to the tower, the others decided to stop and take a nap under a tree! There was no way I was going to sleep – I decided to head closer to the tower and see if I could enter it. Sadly, there was a long line there and I skipped it.

I spent the rest of the time munching on those egg tarts (great decision to get the takeaway) while the others napped away! My love for egg tarts continued when I found them again in Hong Kong and Macau.

The Alfama district and Port Wine

We took a tram back to Terreiro do Paço and walked towards Castelo de São Jorge in the Alfama district. One word of caution – while Google Maps may show you places that are very close to each other, it does not do a good job of depicting elevation. So, be prepared for random uphill sections.

As we walked, a small shop caught our attention – Antiga Wine Bar with its port wine boards. Port wine was something we were looking forward to trying – typically a sweet red wine made in Portugal. We ordered a bottle and a cheese board to go with it – we had loosened our pockets a bit for this one. It was a fancy experience and we loved it!

My friend Felipe

By the time we walked up to the castle, it had closed. A tuk-tuk driver offered to take us around the viewpoints in the district and give us a tour. He was very chatty and told us his story – his name was Felipe. Originally from Brazil (who also speak Portuguese), he came here as a student. He was driving tuk-tuks to earn some extra money and also to meet tourists and practice his English. The lasting memory of Felipe is how he would say, “My friend!” at the start of almost every sentence.

Felipe showed us the 25 April Bridge – the one that looked like the Golden Gate bridge of San Francisco and the statue of Cristo Rei (Christ the King) – the one that reminded us of Christ the Redeemer in Rio. We had a nice evening with Felipe showing us around.

African and Portuguese food

We continued to walk and entered a unique looking restaurant called Mesa Kreol – it was African and Creole food – brought by people from the erstwhile colonies. There wasn’t much we could find on the menu that was worth eating for dinner (an experience we had later in Seychelles as well). So, we ordered a small dish of sweet potato and ginja (a traditional Portuguese liqueur made from sour cherries) to go with it.

We continued walking and found a cute restaurant called Cantina ze Avillez where we decided to eat dinner. The octopus salad was too good – it was the first time we tried octopus too! As always, the wine was excellent and paired very well with the food.

Time to say bye

Our time in Lisbon was done. We headed back to our room for the night. Next morning was our flight to Madrid. Our western Europe trip was coming to its close.

Check out our other Portugal blogs here:

• The Azores Itinerary – the volcanic islands in the Atlantic
• Ponta Delgada – Whales, Volcanic Craters and Thermal Pools

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