Portugal

After a good nights sleep we got ready and headed over to Lisbon. Having a car in Portugal is essential. Things are very spread out and there isn’t a lot of public transportation unless you’re in one of the big cities. Started our day off with a visit to Belém Tower. Built in the 16th century, it served as the embarkation/disembarkation spot for explorers from all over the world. If you want to go inside the tower make sure to book your tickets a couple months in advance.

Just down the boardwalk from Belém Tower, you’ll find another beautiful monument. This is the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, The Monument of Discoveries, a dedication to all the explorers and inventors of Portugal. There’s beautiful detail in each and every person displayed. This is a nice place to walk and enjoy the Tagus River. We also found a fabulous restaurant and enjoyed salt baked cod and locally caught Corvino. This kind of meal would be the theme for our two weeks in Portugal. We ate a TON of fish. It was so delicious.

It was on our very first full day in country that we discovered this delicious cod dish. It’s called Bacalhau à Brás. It was so tasty. We tried it about five or six times and it was slightly different based on where we were. It’s a simple mixture of salted cod, crispy potatoes, onions and olives. Some places serve it with egg as well. Really yummy.

After lunch we took a stroll over to the Jerónimos Monastery, built in the early 1500’s. I was particularly interested in this place ever since I read some very interesting stories about it. The humble Pastel de Nata may not be especially beautiful on the outside but it is so delicious. This recipe goes all the way back to the 17th century when monks at the Jerónimos Monastery needed to find a way to use all the egg yolks they had on hand. The monks used egg whites to starch their clothes and were left with massive quantities of egg yolks. This crisp, buttery pastry is filled with a warm egg custard. It’s simply a heavenly bite of food. As someone who loves sweets, this was my favorite treat of our entire trip. Some people sprinkle them with powdered sugar or cinnamon. It tried it all three ways, and I think it’s absolute perfection on its own without anything added. If you can get them while they’re still warm…even better.

We spent a full day in Lisbon. Unfortunately, about three hours was spent trying to tack down my iPhone. I accidentally left it in an Uber and Vic and I have separate Uber accounts, so we couldn’t track it that way. We ended up tracking it via Find My Phone on Vic’s iPhone. A very kind woman named Paula, helped us for over an hour via her tuk-tuk. We were unsuccessful and the Uber left the city across the bridge. Paula dropped us at our rental car and we continued the chase for another 2 hours. I swear we drove every street of Lisbon. All the one way streets made it especially difficult. Thankfully, we were able to finally catch him when he made a long stop. Talk about unnecessary stress. Word to the wise, make sure you have a shared Uber account with those you are traveling with.

This is probably going to sound weird, but my favorite thing in Lisbon was the Jacaranda trees. I’ve never seen anything like them before. Thankfully, we got to see them many times during our trip because they grow all over in Portugal and Spain. Their blooms are a an incredibly bright purple, and they smell really nice too. Truth be told, Lisbon was my least favorite place that we visited. It was your standard, large European city. There are tons of monuments, castles and cathedrals to visit, but it was quite dirty and we found ourselves walking on more than a couple streets where we didn’t feel safe. If I had it to do over again, I would have visited Belém Tower, Padrão dos Descobrimentos, Jerónimos Monastery and then had a long leisurely lunch somewhere along the Tagus River. I would have completely skipped going into downtown/central Lisbon.

 From there we did a short hike to The Moorish Castle. It was founded under Islamic rule and remained inhabited by the moors until 1147. There aren’t many structures left but the battlements are in fantastic condition. I recommend climbing the 220 steps to the top. The views are incredible in all directions. After touring both locations we went for lunch down in the village of Sintra.

After lunch we took another short walk to visit Quinta da Regaleira. This incredible place was built at the beginning of 1900 as a private residence. It was highly dedicated to the many mysteries of the Templars and Freemasons. Everything there had a special meaning behind it. The gothic style of all the architecture was so ornate and interesting. 

On our last day in this central location of Portugal, we enjoyed a delicious brunch then explored the sleepy ocean village of Ericeira. This is a hotspot for surfers. Waves get to nearly 100 feet tall along this area of the coast. We found a wonderful bakery that had such delicious pastries. The brioche twist was filled with an egg custard. I also love how they serve salad with breakfast and brunch.

The following morning we packed everything up and made the three hour drive south to the Algarve Coast. It was an easy drive and there were plenty of small restaurants to stop and grab some lunch. Our next villa was located in the small village of Olhos de Água. We adored the lovely place we stayed. It sat on top of a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. We had direct access down to the beach. I was in heaven looking for shells. There were tons of restaurants and shops nearby, so we didn’t have to venture out very far if we didn’t want to.

There are 180 steps that lead down to the water at Ponta da Piedade. After doing that we continued exploring the other trails and rock formations for the next three hours. We like to get off the beaten path, so we climbed a lot of rocks and traversed a bunch of crevices and canyons. We got the not-so-pleasant surprise of encountering a naked man on a tiny strip of secluded beach. He must have thought that no one would climb down there. I think we ruined his morning of nude sunbathing. After all our hiking, we enjoyed a leisurely lunch at the one sit down place directly in the park. I recommend taking a full day to explore this area. Take a picnic lunch or snacks and just enjoy the day.

Early the next morning we headed west along the coast to visit the Bengali Cave. This is one of many sea caves formed by erosion. You can no longer anchor your boat in this cave, as morons have damaged the walls and beach surrounding it. You can hike in the park up along the top of the cliff, but you get a much better view by water. Even though both Vic and I get seasick, we decided to brave the waves so we could see it. The trip took about an hour out and back. The caves were beautiful. Our boat captain was highly skilled. Most of the caves have to be backed into because it is too tight inside to turn around. Vic loved taking the wheel on our ride back.

The next day we headed east along the coast to the quaint village of Faro. It dates back to the 8th century and is filled with small cobblestone streets. We had a delicious lunch at one of the cute taverna’s near the old town center. We also enjoyed the some truly luscious gelato. There is an old castle surrounded by a long protective wall that you can visit if you choose to. We just meandered around and enjoyed the scenery.