The Lu’s
Portugal
Praia Paradise
That time I rode a scooter in Lisbon
If we were to give an award to the day so far that plans didn’t go as we’d thought, today would be the winner.
Miguel, our tuk tuk driver from the day before, had mentioned his love of surfing and was heading to a nearby beach called Carcavelos. Kezia thought this was a great opportunity to learn how to surf, and Sarah and I were down for a beach day.
To get there, we had decided to rent scooters and this was an idea we had been thinking of for a few days. We headed to the rental place whose friendly owner set us up with our helmets and scooters, gave us the debrief on them, and let us on our way. At no point did I ever start to second guess my choice, we hopped on, Sarah as my passenger, twisted a few knobs, and literally within five seconds hit a taxi. Taking out his mirror, the scooter turned on its side and I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Even looking back, it was all a blur and happened so quickly. I rushed inside the rental shop to grab the owner, and the taxi driver was incredibly nice. He popped the mirror back in place as if this wasn’t the first time, and the owner of the shop only charged me my initial 35 euros. Physically, I walked away with just a little bruised knee, mentally, I had learned my lesson that trying something such as riding a scooter in a foreign country, with cobble stone-filled roads, and a passenger was not a bright idea.
All of us decided that scooters weren’t going to get us to where we wanted to be, so we hopped on the train towards the beach. We could feel the surfer vibes in Carcavelos, with the beaches filled with a younger crowd. Sarah began to feel under the weather, and I’m hoping the incident from earlier that morning didn’t have anything to do with it. We tried to connect with Miguel, but had just missed him at the beach, so we just soaked up some rays and headed back to the hostel. Kezia and I then checked off a Lisbon must-do and we headed to a nearby town called Belem, famous for a tower, but more importantly, their pastries. We headed to the pastry shop quite a bit later in the day, but could tell that this place would be bumpin’ throughout the day, and for good reason. Pastes de Belem are custard-filled tarts, and compared to ones we had tried before, these ones by far are the best. Served warm, they’re the perfect mix of custard and flaky pastry, topped with cinnamon and icing sugar. Portugal, you know how to do you pastries. Props.
We then walked to the Belem Tower and as it got darker, headed back to our hostel that was having a BBQ. We grabbed our food and sat at a table with the three Lu’s from Australia, (Lucy, Lucy, and Louis) who will be making more appearances in the next few days. A great conversation starter was “I hit a taxi while driving a scooter today” and from then on, the night was full of sangria, serenading, and salsa. Even though the entertainment was probably unintentional, Adam, the DJ, was a character, whose improv dance moves and lip syncing had us all in stitches. I may have joined him in a few duets, including Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and my personal favourite of Outkast’s “Hey Ya”. Luckily, a rough morning ended in great laughs and good vibes.
Tuk Tuk Time
Death by Chocolate
Working for My Dinner
Another travel day! Yay….
Well, before that…we decided to spend half the day in Sintra and leave for Lisbon in the afternoon so Meg could get some work done and I could check out the palace I skipped out on the day before. It was a short 10 min walk from the hostel we were staying at so I got up early for breakfast and headed out on my own. I got a map and started wandering the gardens. There were many things to see all over the place, but it was actually quite smaller than it seemed from the map and I wasn’t really following the paths I thought I was on so I put the map away and just walked, choosing this way and that. I eventually found myself at a fountain and this was my favourite part about my trip to the palace…not the fountain itself, but who I met there. He was quietly working away, sorting through pieces of marble, completely concentrated on the task at hand. Jorge, as I learned later, had been working on restoring the fountain facade for 7-8 months at this point, removing and cleaning pieces that had become covered in mold and were dislocating from the wall. I probably ended up watching him for what ended up being about 1/4 of the time I actually spent at the gardens and palace. He didn’t mind me capturing some photos of him and worked away quietly as I watched, explaining things here and there in his broken English. I love how much care and focus he clearly put into his job. Testing this piece and that to see how it would fit until he found the perfect one, and measuring and comparing the pattern to the opposite side to make sure everything was accurate. I finally left to explore the rest of the grounds, but that was definitely the highlight of my trip there.
Before heading back to the hostel to leave, I stopped in for a pastry, one of the ones Sintra is known for, at one of the many cafes. It was a rectangular flaky pastry filled with something delicious…couldn’t tell you what, but it was yummy! That basically ended up being my lunch and Megan and I left shortly after to begin the short trek to Lisbon.
After getting a little off course (as per usual), we finally made it to our Airbnb. It was a beautiful little place! Since Megan booked it and I didn’t see all the details, I didn’t even realize we had the entire place to ourselves! It wasn’t big at all, but so nice to have a quiet space to ourselves to relax in. The main floor had a little living room/kitchen/dining room combined as well as a bathroom, and the bedroom and a second bathroom were on the floor above, with a slanted ceiling and window right above the bed (which was incredibly comfortable I might add). After we got settled, the first thing on our to do list was finding food. Luckily, we didn’t have to wander far. We found something literally about 10 steps from our apartment and sat down. After perusing the menu and much debate with myself, I ordered the grilled sardines. Not that I like them or anything, but it seemed to be one of the things to get in Portugal and since I’m open to trying new things I figured I should go for it! After all, I wanted to try some authentic Portuguese food.
Our plates came out and I looked at my 4 little grilled fishes. Megan and I didn’t have much conversation that meal. It took all my concentration to eat my dinner. I felt like I was doing surgery to remove the meat from the fine bones and avoid eating the internal organs. It would take me forever to build up a little pile of fish before I could finally I could take a decent sized bite. I think that’s the most effort I have ever put into eating a meal. I can’t say I loved their intense salty, fishy taste, but it was an experience I’m glad I didn’t miss out on.
After picking up a few groceries at a nearby convenience store and letting our food digest at our temporary Lisbon home, I somehow came across a gelato place on TripAdvisor and I decided I deserved a sweet treat after all the energy I put into eating dinner (fair enough, right?). We were staying in the Alfama area, which was a bit of a maze, but luckily it was a straight shot to our destination. Amorino was the name of the cafe, and we quickly found out for ourselves why it had such great ratings. Not only was the gelato delicious, but you just paid for the size and could mix and match as many flavours as you wanted. That meant you could have every single flavour and they would divide your medium sized serving into 23 portions in a cup or cone! Megan and I both only chose 4 flavours and even that was amazing to watch them portion out. We walked back as we ate and that concluded our first night in Lisbon.
Meet Jorge…
Dinner!
My favourite thing
That Portuguese Coast…
After spending the previous day in Cascais, this was the only other full day we would be in Sintra and I had heard there were some beautiful beaches and a town right on the cliffs. This, I wanted to see! While Megan met up with a friend in Sintra to explore one of the palaces (see previous post), I decided to head to the coast for the day. I caught the bus there and found out the buses only run every couple hours so I planned out the one I had to catch back to make it in time for dinner with Megan and her friend, Marion.
The coast was beautiful! I started at Azenhas do Mar and walked along the cliffs to Praia das Maçãs, where I just laid in the sun and relaxed for a bit before catching the bus home. In typical Portuguese fashion, it was late, and I barely made it back in time for dinner (this is when no wifi is especially hard and I can’t text to say I’ll be late). But I made it! (See Megan’s previous post for more dinner details)
Sintra, You Are Oh So Charming
To me, Sintra was a very alluring and quaint town. About a 45 minute train ride from Lisbon, we decided to spend three nights here while many tourists only take a day trip from Lisbon. Our hostel, Nice Way Sintra Palace was the perfect fit for this enchanting town, whose decor consisted of quirky photos and a whimsical backyard. As if we were in a fairy tale, our room was even called the “apple room”, whose bed frame consisted of branches and fake apples.
Sintra not only has natural beauty, but is surrounded by beautiful palaces and castles that could truly have been inspiration for any Disney movie. While we avoided the touristy Pena Palace and Moorish Castle, we were fortunate to still be in awe of them from a distance, as they were perched on hills overlooking the town.
I had the pleasure of having a personal guide through Sintra and met up with “Aunty” Marion, who has been greatly inspired by Sintra’s beauty and had decided to stay here for a month and explore her love of photography. Have a look at her work.
Marion knew all the spots to show me, and a day in Portugal can only start off with pastries. We went to this adorable cafe called Piriquita and then explored a few of the streets. Quinta da Regaleira was our next stop, and the garden was filled with grottos, statues amongst greenery, and the “Initiation Well” which meant a journey down into the darkness to explore each level. The palace’s timeline was interesting as well, and was actually built in the late 1800’s with the intention of having an architecture style that was centuries older. There was one particular floor with intricate tile work, but different than the other style we had seen throughout Portugal, that created shapes of animals and mythical creatures.
We then met up with Kezia and headed to Marion’s cottage for dinner, and if Sintra wasn’t charming enough, this cottage was the icing on the cake. Situated on one of the hills, it gave us the perfect view of the town and was a great ending to our evening.
A Day Off from Churches and Cathedrals
Today was just what we needed. So chill and relaxing. Took things as they came and went with the flow all day.
Cascais was in the plans for today and so after breakfast we walked to the bus stop to wait for the hourly bus. Of course, there were stops on either side of the street, both with the number 403 bus we needed, but neither stated the final destination. We took a chance and picked a side to wait on, thinking we would just keep an eye out for either. Turns out we weren’t that good at paying attention and the bus we needed to get on passed us on the opposite side as we sat there and watched it go by, too late to do anything. We crossed the street to wait an hour for the next one. An extra 10 mins late, the bus finally pulled up and we jumped on. We had already realized something that this bus ride solidified even more… you have to a be a confident driver in Portugal. The speed they go and the way they rip around corners is a little daunting, especially with the size of streets they have here. We went down streets that looked like there was only enough width for one, but we had to pass cars, and seemingly barely squeezed through with the cars on one side and a stone wall on the other.
After arriving to Cascais, our first stop was a cafe, where we both bought our first Portuguese pastries! Next stop was a grocery store and then we headed south towards the water. As we walked through streets and I noticed the difference between here and Porto, with the stone and houses being much lighter. Instead of the dark stone and bright colours of Porto, the stones were much lighter and houses were painted white and light pastel colours.
We finally saw the ocean ahead and walked to the edge of the cliffs. We stayed there for lunch and soaked in the sun, enjoying the view. We went on our way, following the coastline until we came to the beach. It was really nice just lying in the sun relaxing. No plans, nowhere to be, nothing in particular to see.
After awhile we decided to walk to Boca do Inferno, back the way we had come. We didn’t realize, but it ended up being about a minute walk from where we started… just in the opposite direction! We got there and I was a little disappointed. It wasn’t as epic as I thought it would be after seeing photos, and it was just so sunny out which made for very contrasty, harsh light… not the best for photos. But then, just as we were about to go, we saw a pod of dolphins! They were too far away for me to catch a decent photo, but it was the coolest thing ever!
We walked back towards the beach we had come from to catch the nearby metro into Lisbon. After a last minute decision and hectic emailing, Megan headed back to Sintra while I stayed in Lisbon to meet up with a friend for dinner. After some bad timing with the buses and my phone dying, I finally made it to the hotel she was staying at, unsure if she even thought I was still coming or not. Thankfully it all worked out in the end! We went to her favourite pizza place nearby. Now I was starving at this point so anything probably would’ve tasted good but this pizza and the strawberry lemonade we got to accompany it was to die for! Amaaazing thin crust pizza! It was so great to be able to catch up with her- she is from Barcelona, we met in Vancouver, and here we were reuniting for dinner in Lisbon. So great!
