Hello!
This weekend I went to Portugal! I loved it – it was so beautiful and the weather was gorgeous!
I got into Lisbon late on Friday night, so I started my touring with a Tuk Tuk tour on Saturday morning. My tour guide was quite a character – he’d already had three espressos and was very enthusiastic! He was still informative and had some good recommendations though! We went first to the highest point in the city, on the hill of Alfama — Lisbon is made up of 7 hills. It had a beautiful vista over the entire city!
I asked the tour guide to get a photo of me and he said he would, but he was really bad at taking photos. And, I thought it can’t be that bad, I’ll just crop it if it’s framed weirdly. Then, he proceeds to raise the camera as high as he can above his head and I realize it’s going to be pretty bad. So, uhh yeah…
After the tour, I walked around visiting all of the highlights of Lisbon, including the Lisbon Cathedral, which my tuk tuk tour guide pointed out is hundreds of years older than the Notre Dame in France.
I also saw the Tower of Belem; pretty cobblestone streets; stunning churches; the oldest bookstore in the world, Livraria Bertrand; the Santa Justa lift, which was closed due to renovations while I was there, so I didn’t get to ride it; and various viewpoints or miraduros. Overall, the city is just really pretty with a lot of little decorative details. Pictures below!
That afternoon, I went to the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT). It has one of coolest approaches to a building I’ve ever seen. You walk across a bridge that brings you onto the roof of the museum!
The building is perfectly situation, so that, once you’re on the roof, you see a gorgeous view of the water on one side and get to look back at the city on the other.
Unfortunately, they were installing a new exhibit while I was there, so the museum was closed. I’m still glad I went because its one of the must unique buildings I’ve seen. If the exterior is any indication of the impressiveness of the exhibitions, I’m sure they are amazing!
Saturday evening, I went to mass here. This is the Basilica de Dos Martires, which is quite beautiful. I couldn’t really understand what was going on, so I just spent the mass taking in all of the details.
After mass, I went to the Sao Jorge Castle to see the sunset! It has a gorgeous view over the city and the castle grounds themselves are beautiful!
There are also just peacocks roaming around everywhere. I didn’t realize peacocks could fly, but they can, I saw one do it in front of me! At one point, I looked up and there were probably ten peacocks sitting in the tree above me!
On Sunday, I took a train to Porto, which was also a beautiful city! I had to take the metro from the train station into the city center and coming up out of the metro was one of the coolest experiences just because of the wow factor.
Just imagine getting on a train at 7am, riding the train for two hours, figuring out how to turn the metro ticket machine into English, finding the right metro train, then walking up the stairs of the Sao Bento station to see this.
I mean it was really crazy to walk up and boom! This building emerges in front of you!
I ate this yummy breakfast right along that street, enjoying the view! In general, Portugal had some of the best food I’ve ever had – of every cuisine! In both Lisbon and Portugal there is a Time Out Market.
This is a market where top local chefs from different cuisines are selected to work and the food is amazing! If you are ever in Portugal, you simply must go! I had the best quesadillas I’ve ever had in my life at the one in Lisbon. I really, really wanted to go get them again, but I didn’t have time 😭
Oh, and the gelato! Best ice cream I’ve ever had! I had gelato like four times in three days, it was so, so good!
Their famous dessert Pastel de Nata is also amazing! The hotel I stayed at had them for breakfast and I saw people literally eating a plate of five of them for breakfast!
Ugh, I want to go back for those quesadillas and more gelato now…
Anyways, after my delicious breakfast, I walked around and saw all of the sights, like I did in Lisbon. Porto is much smaller, so everything I wanted to see was within a ten minute walk of each other. It is a steep walk though, my knees were not loving the descent down to the water.
That afternoon, I went to Livraria Lello, which is the (seemingly self-proclaimed, though I wouldn’t argue) most beautiful bookstore in the world. It has a striking red staircase and beautiful, intricate details everywhere!
All of the buildings in both Lisbon and Porto were very pretty. Even their Starbucks’ were gorgeous!
On Monday morning, on my tuk tuk guide’s suggestion, I went to the LX Factory. It is an abandoned industrial site that has been transformed into a street art hub with cool shops and restaurants. It was quite a cool spot!
Then, sadly I had to go the airport. My only complaint is that the trip was too short! I definitely want to go back at some point! Obrigada Portugal for a fun weekend!
– From Portugal
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