Traveling Through (MOST) of Portugal
I prepared for the long trip from San Francisco to Lisbon which is about an 11 hour flight. Brought some small bananas for the flight :) Flying Tap Portugal was $400 USD round trip. Highly recommend flying this airline. The flight was very long and I got little sleep. I'm very very excited for Portugal. Arrived!! They say Lisbon is very similar to San Francisco . You will find out more later why. As I wait for my train to Porto for 3 hours, I went to the mall next to the train station to look around and get some food.
Energy! The train from Lisbon to Porto is about 4 hours long. Before exploring, I had to get to my hotel to drop off my bags. Now let's explore! Beautiful Now let's go to the water. Make sure you go up to the top of the bridge. You can go even higher! Make sure to try the local Porto food. This is the most popular dish, Francesinha. Also, get the popular beer called Super Bock. I was lucky and was there for when Porto's football team won the championship.
Everyone was celebrating. Walked home in the empty streets at 4am. Get *Pastel De Nata*. This is the most popular pastry in Portugal. It is amazing and I ate one everyday.
This bookstore influenced Harry Potter films. The line was 2 hours long. Still Pretty There is still a lot to see by walking along the water. Now a quick breakfast before heading to the Famous Douro Valley for a Wine Tour When you go, make sure to take a boat ride. The next stop on the trip is Coimbra. You can get there by train. It is a nice little city. It is known for the university.
There is a lot of walking uphill. The next city to visit is Obidos. This is a city that is inside a castle. Obidos is one of my favorite cities in Portugal.
Enjoying some wine and cheese at this shop my friend recommended. Don't be scared to explore and look around the Castle. Eat these everywhere you can. After Obidos, I am going back to Lisbon. Another amazing city in Portugal.
Cod fish balls are a popular food item in Portugal. My new friend. Go to Pink Street. This is where the party is at. Canned fish is very popular in Portugal. Eat it on bread with cheese. So good. Time Out has a good food selection with an amazing atmosphere. Go to LXFACTORY if you have time.
Going to Balem is a quick bus ride from Lisbon. There is a lot of history and sites to see. More castles. The bridge, hills, weather, and trollies in Lisbon resemble San Francisco. The next city on the trip is Cascais. This is a beautiful town on the water an hour away from Lisbon. This was the best book store in the world with tons of gifts and fun items. I wanted Chinese food, but found this chinese-japanese ramen restaurant. This was the best thing I had in Lisbon.
Yum. The next city was Sintra. More castles to come. This is a very important city to go to outside of Lisbon. It about an hour away. Take an Uber to Pena Palace. More time efficient than bus and less expensive than a Taxi. The line was 3 hours long to go into the interior of the Pena Palace castle. Instead, I walked around the parameter of the castle. I would recommend not waiting in the long lines once you are at the castle.
This was the line to go into the interior. After Pena Palace, is is only a short 10 minute walk to the next destination. This was the Quinta da Regaleira. We didn't have time to go in but it looked exciting. Finished the day off with some Indian food in Lisbon. After Lisbon, I went down to Lagos. Lagos is a beach city with lots of hidden beaches. It is located at the very bottom of Portugal. Met some new friends outside of the restaurant. People are friendly here.
It is time to go explore some beaches. Make time to relax. There are a lot of beaches, so pace yourself. There is some great hiking around. There is another small city as you go further along the coast. Back in the main city center of Lagos, there is this Ramen restaurant called Gorilla. The buns they had were fantastic and are sold out fast. Next day, I got burritos with new friends I met at the beach. Fun.
Get a surf lesson and enjoy the water. I ate lots of food to get energy for all the activities. After Lagos, it was time for the last city, Evora.
It is a very quiet city. Time to do some tourist things. :) If you go to Evora, you need to go to the Chapel of Bones. Beautiful city. More great views.
It was time to finish my trip on an amazing meal. Prawn stew.
2022-10-11 12:01
