What did I know about Portugal prior to going there? Not much… If my Airbnb rental wasn’t canceled in Ireland, I wouldn’t visit this wonderful country for who knows how long, perhaps never. Cumulatively I’ve spent 1.5 months in Portugal, however, for the convenience of an itinerary, I will review visited places in chronological order.
The bus came and it took 2 or 3 hours to get to Obidos. A lady met me at my Airbnb rental. The place was amazing just like Obidos itself. I was very tired after a long day traveling. Quick shower without a dinner and I fell asleep.
I woke up, went to a nearby grocery shopping. Obidos has a number of restaurants, but only 2 coffee shops. Actually, the one cafe that I would call a coffee shop, their coffees and pastries suck. Since I was staying there for some time, I got groceries and came back.
Nazare. I took a bus with a transfer at Caldes de Rainha. Nazare is a little cute town with awesome cliff views (climbing stairs had to be done). I saw the largest ocean waves in my life over there, by a lighthouse. That’s where famous surfing records were taken. After a lunch, I had to rush back to a bus station because the bus service in Portugal is not so good and there are not many buses available for the return trip to Obidos. It took me a whole day with bus transfers and walk around to visit Nazare, although distance-wise it’s somewhat close.
I had to wait for a tour, I’ve spent more time at the cave than planned. That made me skip a few items in my itinerary. If you like caves, then visit it. It was very informative though with local history and geography insights. Plus, the cave was very pretty. I’ve skipped a Dinosaur Park and headed directly to Fatima.
I was rather disappointed by Fatima. I’ve read too many dithyrambs about the city, what I saw wasn’t exactly what I’ve expected. I had a decent lunch there. Around 3 PM I drove to Castle of Ourem.
The castle is in ruins; however, if you have time just go there. The tiny village on the top of the hill is very pretty and the views are awesome. The ride itself on a windy road uphill was an adventure itself. There were only a few people at the top.
At 5 PM I was at Tomar’s hilltop castle, which is not a castle, but a church. However, it looks so magnificent that I call it a castle 🙂 I had a tour there and then headed to a historical center where I had a cup of coffee and a pastry for 2 euros total!!! It was already a sunset time, I actually wished I had more time to spend in Tomar, I liked what I saw. There is a Matches Museum, which unfortunately I didn’t visit. I also put Almourol castle on the itinerary, but I didn’t have time to go there.
One hour of driving and I’m back to Obidos. I walked Obidos city wall when it was dark and I loved it so much. During a day the wall is filled with people, at night (and I’ve done it a few nights) no one is there. Again, Obidos is an incredibly pretty town. One of those fairytale towns you can see in book drawings or cartoons.
Coffee and breakfast and back to the car. The plan was to stop at Torres Vedras first, but I decided to skip it because in the pictures it looked like what I’ve already seen before. Instead, I headed to Mafra. The city itself doesn’t have much to offer, however, its main central building is beautiful. I paid an entrance fee and spent about an hour walking around. It was raining that day, I didn’t spend so much time walking in the city. Perhaps there are some interesting sites, but I didn’t see anything eye-catching. Ericeira is the next stop.
Ericeira is very similar to Nazare but very hippy and a lot more touristy. I had a lunch there. Octopus salad was the best! A coastal ride back to Obidos reminded a lot of California. Along the way, I made a couple of stops to take pictures, but I cannot even say names or anything particular about the stops. I still had to make it to Peniche before the sunset.
By the time I’ve reached Peniche, the sun was close to the horizon. I didn’t visit its old fort and castle. I did walk around its lighthouse. Then Obidos again. No pictures from there.
Today’s itinerary is hiking. A drive to Lousã was early and enjoyable. I parked by some kind of small factory along a river and walked on a trail, which was not so apparent. Later I saw I could drive and park at Castelo da Lousã. Well, an extra mile or so of walking didn’t hurt. Hiking through old schist villages was so beautiful. The hike wasn’t hard, sometimes confusing at where to turn. I didn’t immediately figure marks on stones with directions. All in all, it took about 3 or 4 hours to walk. After the hike, I drove to Piodao.
The drive itself was really something. High mountain, narrow road kept me hoping no big cars would pass by me. Villages in the area were painted in white, making the drive even more scenic. Piodao is tiny and touristy. It looked as no one really lives there, but businesses cater to tourists only. It is definitely a memorable town.
The top of the mountain in the park was covered in snow. I saw some people hiking, but I only took a few pictures and continued to Manteigas. I decided to stay overnight in Manteigas because I’ve read the town has hot springs. Well, a hotel I’ve book did have a hot spring kind of pool. BUT first, it was only open from 9 AM till 6 PM, and it was a common pool.
After checking in at the hotel, I drove to the city center. Manteigas has an interesting layout. Usually, towns are concentrated along river pathways, Manteigas, on the other hand, is all on steep hills. There is not so much to see in the town. There are few restaurants and a couple of grocery stores. I ended the day by sipping local wine at the hotel’s bar.
Yes, I booked a 9 AM pool swimming hour. A receptionist didn’t understand what I was asking regarding hot springs. Per my understanding, it was a private pool for one hour. Plus, I didn’t have a swimming suit with me. When I walked to the pool area, there were only a handful of employees and no other visitors. I had a pool all to myself for one hour. They provided a swimming suit, which was very big, but who cares.
After the pool, I asked the receptionist about local hikes. He pointed to one. I went out per his directions, however, got lost and didn’t find a trail. That made me return to the hotel, check out, and drive to a hiking spot. Signs for a trail were unclear. Although I followed a hiking app with a map of the trail, I still got lost. Few tourists were lost too asking where trail goes. I figured it thanks to the map, but circled a bit around one place looking for a turn of the trail that was hidden in grass. The total hike was no more than an hour. It was nice and elevation fluctuations made it more interesting. After the hike, I went to the Bread Museum.
The museum was very small. A restaurant inside the museum was pretty, a bit pricey because it was a buffet style only. But I was hungry and decided not to drive around looking for a place to eat. No one spoke English. I didn’t understand at first that salads and appetizers were unlimited, but the main dish I had to order. There was a selection of a few dishes. I got fish. Then a long drive back to Obidos. By the time I’ve reached Obidos, it was already late evening.
Back to Obidos
Today I headed north. Coimbra was the first stop. I arrived during breakfast time. I had a nice coffee somewhere in a city center. I packed the car in a paid parking lot somewhere very close to the old town. Without visiting museums and other tourist attractions, it took me a couple of hours to walk around. If the city was maintained, I would love it. However, broken windows, shattered glass, and graphite were everywhere. What’s up with that? Aveiro is next.
Well, its fame for a smaller Venice is exaggerated. Yes, it’s a nice, manicured center with everything catered to tourists. However, it doesn’t stand even close to Venice. I had one of the best lunches in my life there: grilled fish with super tasty sauce. I’ve booked a hotel in Guimarraes that was next on the itinerary.
Guimaraes is very small and walkable. It has a number of great restaurants. What surprised me is a number of expensive cars I saw there. The hotel I picked is/was located in a former bank building. It was just interesting to see intertwined bank character with a newish stylish hotel.
In the evening I went for a walk. An easy stroll took me to a castle. I believe there is a museum inside the castle, however, everything was closed when I was there.
I woke up, had breakfast, and walked to a cable car that took me to the hilltop park. The park was simply amazing. Huge boulders covered in bright green moss, very narrow passages, and peopleless… everything that I like. Maybe there were no people because I was the first going up. I came right at the opening time of the cable car.
Around 11 AM I left Guimaraes and headed to Lamego. In Lamego I’ve walked to Castelo de Lamego. On the way back to the car, I saw an Old Water Tank turned into a museum with free entrance. Lamego is a small town. Stairs leading to Shrine to Our Lady of Remedies were awesome. A typical lunch café recommended by one local girl was interesting. Apparently, the local specialty is a piece of bread covered by French fries in sauce and piece of ham.
At 2 PM I’ve reached Pinhao. My goal was to visit a couple of Douro wineries. The first one I chose: Quinta do Vallada. The next available tour in English was in a few hours. I didn’t want to wait and drove to the second one: Quinta da Pacheca. Google maps took me to a passage that doesn’t even look like a road (picture attached). While making a U-turn on a super narrow alley, a car going out of one of the nearby houses stopped by to see where I’m going. A driver told me to follow him after I’ve mentioned Quinta da Pacheca. It happened that day, the winery received a high number of tourist buses. An employee apologized to me saying they don’t have any more people to run tours. All right, there was one more I wanted to see: Caves da Murganheira. Guess what? It was closed for a private event. No tasting for me. In the end, it was all good. Otherwise, I would be driving tipsy. At the last winery, I bought the most prized bottle (had many awards) to try it later. Then I had long 3 hours of driving back to Obidos.
And back to Obidos. An evening wall walk was already waiting.
Today I returned the car to the rental agency. Then I walked around Caldas da Rainha and visited a central park. Caldas da Rainha is a very non-touristy place, nevertheless, I liked its numerous bakeries and non-rushing locals. Many beautiful buildings were in a state of abandonment. It was sad to see nice architecture in ruins. I actually saw it all over Portugal. It made me wonder what’s happening with real estate in the country. There are abandoned, semi-broken houses everywhere. There are unfinished constructions of apartment buildings that also looked neglected and forgotten. In Caldas da Rainha I also visited a tile museum. It was very small, but the house it is in and a garden around is beautiful.
In the afternoon I walked from Obidos to Lago de Obidos. It took me over 3 hours altogether. A countryside road had few cars. It would be a really nice bicycle ride, but I didn’t find where to rent a bicycle. There used to be bicycle rental in Obidos, but no more.
I started the day early by taking a bus to Lisboa. From Lisboa, I took a train (I bought a ticket online) to Porto. Unfortunately, there is no direct transportation from Obidos to Porto. Going to Cambria and catching a train there to Porto, would take even longer than going to Lisboa and departing from there. I have to say a train station the train departed was so incredibly confusing. First, there were no signs of departures, so I didn’t know which platform I had to go to. Apparently, locals know. I had to ask around. After a few people pointed all to the same platform, I went there. The platform had a tiny monitor showing the next train only. I got all confused because the monitor showed another city, not Porto. I had to ask again to confirm I’m on the right platform. One guy told me to wait and the sign for Porto will appear after this coming train is gone. Sure, it did… right at the moment when the train for Porto arrived. I didn’t have time to go to my assigned seat. So I’ve entered where I was and then had to walk through multiple train cars. The whole train experience was stressful due to the lack of signs and clarity.
My hotel was 5 minutes walk away from Sao Bento train station. The station was packed with people taking photos and traveling to/from it. There is a reason why Sao Bento is so popular with tourists. The station is plain beautiful. A plan for the evening was to go to Casa da Musica. It seemed like every day a performance or a few were taking place. However, everyday events were late in the evening starting at 10 PM and running until midnight. 4 days I that I spent in Porto, none of the days I could make it that late. After making a list of famous restaurants and cafes in Porto, I arranged lunches and dinners for each day. Unfortunately, I didn’t visit even half of them. A lunch on the arrival day was planned at Majestic Café. When I came there, it had so many people waiting, that I skipped it. I had a lunch in a nearby café.
At 3:30 PM I’ve walked to the Garden of the Crystal Palace. I’ve read about Romantic walks around the garden. I actually didn’t immediately understand what those walks were. Only next day walking around the area I saw maps with colored routes. The Garden of the Crystal Palace had an amazing sunset view point, which I found by taking stairs down.
Around 6 PM I headed to Rua de Bombarda. While researching for what to do and see in Porto, many were referring to Rua de Bombardia as some kind of art street. I saw some galleries and some businesses, yet the street looked semi-deserted with many storefronts closed. Also recommended mall on the street wasn’t up to my expectations. Perhaps I just expected too much from reading reviews and recommendations. Inside the mall, few stores were interesting with souvenirs that I didn’t find at other places. I also liked an organic shop with soaps and some cosmetics. I wanted to buy a few things, but a lady at a register kept talking to another woman, who didn’t even look like a customer. None of them paid any attention to me. I’ve waited for 15 minutes staying right next to them holding a few things, the girl at the register didn’t even move. Then I left.
A dinner was supposed to happen at Camafeu Restaurant. Didn’t make it. Because I had to wake up so early to catch 10 AM train from Lisboa to Porto, at 7 PM my eyes were closing and energy level was close to zero.
After Camafeu I put in the itinerary Bonaparte Bar, which I also never visited as well as mentioned above a concert at Casa da Musica.
Another place I wish I visited
the hotel I stayed at provided coffee. I had a bit of coffee to wake up and headed out for a breakfast. Padaria Ribeiro was on the itinerary. When I approached it, I actually didn’t like how it looked, so I went on and had a breakfast at another pastry shop.
A quick walk to the top of the tower was rewarding. Although the day wasn’t sunny and colors were not there, a morning stair walk was nice.
Slightly before 9:30 AM, I’ve approached Livrario Lello that claims to be the most beautiful bookstore in Europe. A line to enter was already long. I purchased an entrance ticket. Then I realized I had to stay in another lane to enter the bookstore. The first line was to purchase tickets, the second is to enter. All in all, I’ve spent over an hour staying in lines and waiting. Was it worth visiting? Hmmm… when there is enough time and not so many places in mind to visit, then yes. I thought that online pictures would be sufficient. English section was small. The most notable part of the store is a huge staircase, undeniably super beautiful. There is a big huge BUT. The staircase was filled with people. Some were going up, some down, some stayed still posing; chaotic stairs. After a quick run through the store, I went to a photography center.
After a quick run through the store, I went to a photography center. I really enjoyed walking around the spacious building with many old cameras on display.
For lunch, I put Brick Clerigos. When I came I was told I need a reservation. Not a problem. I walked down the stairs to the waterfront where many many cafes and restaurants were to choose from. The place I picked was mostly a beer, drink place. It had some food though. I had a couple of dishes and then walked to a cable car, kind of funicular on the same side of the river, right under a bridge.
After the lunch, I took a cable car on the right side of a bridge up to the top. I could walk, but I didn’t want to. From the top I made a quick dessert stop at one of the many bakeries in Porto, then I walked over the bridge directly to Teleferico de Gaia. Each ticket granted a free port tasting at one winery. However, I never went to redeem the ticket.
From the teleferico, I walked straight to Ferreira Winery, which supposedly is one of the oldest ones for Port wines. A tour in English was only in an hour, I used that time to walk around. The area around famous Port wineries looked in a desperate need of recovery. Many buildings looked uninhabited.
The tour itself was like any other tours: a brief history, odes to a founder, and tasting in the end. The tasting area was rather confusing. Long communal tables had pre-set, pre-poured glasses of port. I didn’t like them. Perhaps I had to pick a more expensive tasting package. I sipped just a bit of each and left. I also checked prices in a souvenir/winery store. The prices were higher than in a regular store. I asked if they sell any port that could only be found in this store, they said NO.
The next stop was Taylor’s winery. The tour was self-paced with lots of information boards to read. I appreciated this style more than the previous tour. Tasting area at Taylor’winery was nicer as well with well-dressed servers and tables in a garden. I asked again if there are port wines available only at the winery. A cashier girl said not exactly, but they sell some rare to find outside vintage bottles. From the winery I got an Uber to ride back to the other side of a river.
Puro 4050 was planned for a dinner. Didn’t make it either. I had some work to do, so I headed back to the hotel and worked until it was time to sleep.
In the morning I headed to St. Francis Church to see catacombs. The catacombs were pretty cool. I wanted to take a picture or two, but felt as I would disrespect deceased people buried there.
From the church, I walked down narrow labyrinth stairs to the waterfront to Vieguini bike rental shop. I didn’t realize I had to make a reservation. People entering the shop had reservations and they were given a priority. I had to wait and wait and wait until all were served and someone paid attention to me. Got the bike, which wasn’t so nice. A person who was helping me apologized saying that most of the bikes are reserved. Nevertheless, it was a bike and it was enough to pedal around the city.
The first stop was a tiny organic breakfast place, actually an organic grocery store, somewhere along a bike promenade. I’ve ordered a latte and house-made granola. Both were excellent. Coffee break is always on my itinerary no matter what.
The day was very sunny and somewhat windy. A lighthouse was nice, just like any other lighthouses)). If you like them, then they are all very nice. I’m surprised I cannot find any pictures of the lighthouse. I had to take at least few. But here I am, myself, next to it (just, believe me, I’m next to it).
From the lighthouse, I cycled along the ocean side of the city and then up to Cafeina restaurant for lunch. I didn’t have a reservation, but I was immediately seated anyway. The food was very very good. I surely enjoyed it a lot. A server was a super sweet lady, she made so many recommendations. Usually, I know what I want, but I let her convince me on dish selection and a glass of white wine.
After the delicious lunch I headed to Museum Serralves, which happened to be unexpectedly very small. I thought of spending few hours browsing artwork, but I finished much earlier. A bike ride to the museum was slightly uphill.
The ride back to Vieguini was partially through a nice park. At 4 PM I finished with planned sightseeings and returned to the hotel to work.
Adega Sao Nicalau was supposed to be my spot for a dinner with a stop at Letraria Craft Beer after the dinner. Again, I didn’t make to any of those.
I planned absolutely nothing for that day. Actually, I booked one of the Airbnb experiences for traditional Portuguese painting with port wine tasting. The experience/class was nice. I met a super interesting woman from Belgium. We went to a wine bar after the class and spent the evening talking about everything.
During the day, I walked around Porto.
I took a train/metro to Porto airport where I’ve rented a car. Then I drove to Madrid for one night. It was raining hard, so I didn’t see anything in Madrid.
Walked around the old part of the town having snacks here and there. I never felt hungry. There was always an interesting café or restaurant with people sitting at outside tables.
Spent the day visiting Aquarium, art museum, and other places in a large really nice park in the center. I enjoyed so much walking in the park with so many people doing some kind of sport or leisurely walking with baby carriages.
Walked in the town again, visiting historical places, buildings, churches.
Today I drove to Granada. The drive is 5 hours. I left Valencia after breakfast and arrived Granada closer to sunset (gas, bathroom stops, etc.). Hotel staff recommended to take a bus and go to the old part of the city for a night walk, but I was so tired that didn’t even eat, just took shower and went to bed.
Granada! Wow, wow, wow! I loved it! I parked in a paid parking garage close to a main road and walked from there. The first place to visit was a castle on the top of a hill. Tickets to its main attractions were sold out days ahead, so I grabbed a general access ticket to gardens and premises and walked there.
After the castle I just walked on the streets, visiting an ancient bathhouse. It would be interesting to see that place in operation today: dark and small. I had lunch at one of the numerous restaurants in the town. Some roads were so narrow and steep with only foot access that made me wonder how apartments and houses or even groceries were delivered there. It was definitely a walk.
When I finished with Granada, I continued driving to Seville. Because of late arrival, I didn’t even go to a dinner just went to bed.
Seville! Another beautiful Spanish city. It was so busy with tourists, I didn’t visit major tourist attractions because lines to enter were too long. I just walked around the city admiring parks and architecture. In the evening I went to a flamenco show, and to Arabian bathes after that. Flamenco show was interesting, but few things really threw me off. First, one of the dancers (male) sweated so hard that whenever he was making sharp movements I saw his sweat flying around the room onto the audience. Second, a lady (the leading dancer) was making such unpleasant faces while dancing that made me wonder if she is in pain or that’s the smile expression.
Ancient bath, Aire de Sevilla, has pretty good google reviews. I personally didn’t have a good experience there. It looks as everything was unorganized. Looked like the staff expected you to know everything. No one said where to go, where bathes were, etc. I had to ask a few people to get a general idea of the place. If I remember correctly each booking comes with 15- or 30-minutes massage. I had to wait almost an hour for the message. The funny thing is that they kept telling me that every masseur is busy with clients while 3 to 4 employees were always staying in front of me and chatting this whole time. After the 10th time of me asking again, one of the guys said OK, I’m ready. And I’m thinking WTF, you stood there all this time. Was it a lack of masseurs or lack of desire to work? By the time I returned to a hotel, it was well past midnight.
Woke up late. Without a breakfast, I jumped into the car and drove back to Portugal. I’ve booked a hotel for the next four days at Lagos. On the way from Seville, I stopped at Huelva, Spain. That city has nothing interesting to offer. In 30 minutes after stretching my legs, I was already in the car continuing driving. Then I stopped at Tavira. I almost fell in love with a quiet small town: white stone houses, views from a hill, sparkling blue ocean, and relaxed atmosphere. I had a lunch at one of the hilltop restaurants. I was adviced that the restaurant is experiencing a high volume of visitors, so my order might take a while to be delivered. Actually, it did. First, it was a while until someone even approached me to take an order. I went a couple of times to a bartender/front person asking if they can take my order, but they kept telling me to go back to my seat and wait for a server. Then it took 45 to 60 minutes for food to arrive. Yes, I’ve spent there a lot more time than planned. The good thing is that I had a book with me, so I wasn’t bored waiting for the food. I also wanted to stop at Faro, but due to an unexpected delay with lunch, I didn’t have time for Faro. From Tavira, I drove directly to Lagos.
Lagos is the pretty coastal town with all its white buildings and cobble-stone narrow roads. It was also very very touristy.
Today I signed up with ocean kayaking. An owner of the hotel pushed me to get a trip with one of his friends stating a company I booked with is not the best. However, I stuck to my reservation and surely enjoyed every minute on the water with that group. A guide was a German girl, other people on the tour were all German women. So it was a very girly team. We had fun. Each of them tried to talk to me. The guide girl was awesome. Sometimes we got so close to a cliff that it was scary to see upcoming waves crashing against the cliff. Nevertheless, everything went great. Some boatmen were not so nice, they would speedily circle around us creating additional waves. The color combination, shoreline, and the guide – all together created a happy awe mood. When we started paddling back, the wind started kicking in and it was hard to fight it. I got a sunburn even with 50 SPF sunscreen all over. When we returned to the shore I felt as I want to continue hanging out with these people. I didn’t do anything else that day because I was very tired from paddling.
Back to the car and driving to Sagres, a tiny ocean town, where I rented a bicycle and went on a dirt road ride. Again, the shoreline was breathtaking. Color combination of the insanely deep blue color of the ocean along with bright green grass and colorful flowers all around created a fairytale atmosphere. The day was very windy. At times I had a hard time pedaling because the wind was pushing me back. I got more sunburn regardless of wearing long sleeve and pants and reapplying sunscreen. Perhaps the sunburn just remained from the previous day)) Again, I was exhausted from cycling.
Drive to Lisboa and car rental return. The place I was supposed to return the car was Lisboa Santa Apolónia train station. It was a real hassle. First, I couldn’t find parking. Actually even pre-first, I couldn’t find any signs of Europcar location. Then I couldn’t find parking to go inside the train station and look for the office. After I found parking at some distance, I walked inside the train station only to find out that the office is closed for lunch and will be open in an hour or so. Seriously???????? All right… I can have lunch too. I found a nice clean looking café just across the street from the train station. After lunch I walked back to the station to get information on where to leave the car. They told me to drive to a ferry terminal on the other side of the street and park there. I did. Then I saw a sign for Europcar on a door, which was closed. Walking around buildings and asking where Europcar office is, no one knew. Then I returned to the car to walk back to the train station to see who will take care of the car. That’s when I saw a Europcar employee approaching me to finalize the paperwork for the return.
My Airbnb rental in Lisboa was beyond amazing. I enjoyed every minute staying inside very bright, full of windows apartment with a castle view. The apartment was an only 15-minute walk from the train station, however, the idea of rolling my luggage up super steep roads didn’t appeal to me. I got a taxi that was plentifully available at the train station. It took longer in the taxi then walking because of traffic, pedestrians, trams, and one-way streets. Alexandra, the Airbnb host, promptly met me upon my taxi arrival. I really appreciated that. She was very sweet. I still had a good chunk of daylight left and went for a stroll to explore what’s around. On a parallel street, I found an all-organic, natural little shop run by an Indian boy/guy. He said he recently opened the store. I came only to his store for groceries to get basics like milk for coffee and cookies/bread.
I spent entire day studying for an online chemistry course test that I was taking as a prerequisite for the program I’m currently enrolled into.
Today I took a train to Sintra. Beautiful city. Mansions were scattered around the city hills, some were in despair (sadly). Park and National Palace of Pena – yes, definitely is a fairytale place. I arrived before gates opened to tourists. Yet there was already a line.
From the Palace, I walked to Castelo dos Mouros. The day was foggy and the top of the mountain with old wall and ruins were covered in fog providing a surreal atmosphere of being somewhere else… not in Portugal, not on Earth, not even inside my own imagination.
Then I walked to Quinta da Regaleira. Stunning grounds! That’s all I can say. One of those places that you must see, not read.
Touristy stuff! First, I walked to Castelo de S. Jorge. I decided to skip paid entrance and just look at the castle from my apartment window. Then I spent the day just walking around Lisboa streets. I stumbled upon Mercado da Ribeira that I fell in love with and every day thereafter I went there for lunch. It had so many food stalls.
Awesome place for food.
Today I started the day by walking to Nossa Senhora do Monte Belvedere and exploring that part of Lisboa making my way down to Museu Nacional do Azulejo. The museum of tiles was impressive. I got so many creative ideas by looking at all the tiles.
From the museum, I jumped on a direct bus to Torre de Belem. I didn’t understand what was the fuss about the place. I took a picture or two, had coffee at a nearby café and took a bus back. That place had so many tour buses, so many tourists!
I got off by a Cais do Sodre metro station and head to Mercado da Ribeira again. I loved a self-serve draft beer spot.
Today my plan was to explore the northern part of the city. I took metro to Museu Calouste Gulbenkian and from there walked down turning on different streets and exploring the city. Somewhere in that part I saw a store with local designers’ stuff for sale. I bought few pieces of super natural and pleasantly smelling soaps. I saw few nice things that I liked, but didn’t buy anything else. I finished the day by walking on evening streets in the old part of the city.
The departure day. I will definintely come back to Portugal.