Magical Portugal

Our time in Portugal didn’t start exactly how we wanted it to. In May 2023, my mom, sister and I boarded a flight in Malaga, Spain; only to be deboarded because of a mechanical issue. We then waited over four hours to get back on the plane and fly to Lisbon. Unfortunately, we’d missed our first tour scheduled, but once we landed we checked into our apartment and hopped onto the famous Lisbon tram.

The tram for Route 28 stopped not far from our home for the next two nights. We got on in the mid-afternoon and the tram car was packed. We sat down as it took us through the narrow streets of the city, but it ended not long after we got on. At the final stop, everyone has to get off, and if you want to keep riding, you go line up for another tram that will leave shortly. After we rode around for another little while, we decided to get off so we could go up the Elevador de Santa Justa. The line up was insane, but we wanted to see the city from the top of the old elevator, so we decided to wait. Fun fact – you don’t actually have to wait in line to see the city from this viewpoint! We didn’t find that out until after; however, the lookout had steps down where you could just walk out into the streets of Lisbon. I hate elevators, so I could have probably done without, but it was a cool experience nonetheless.

After we viewed the city from above, we decided to keep walking and explore as much of the city that we could, since we missed our first tour. We found another tram that took us up to a viewpoint. Lisbon is full of viewpoints, called miradouros, that are somewhat hangout places, with fountains, gardens, etc. and people will go there to watch the sunsets as well. The one we visited was called Miradouro Sao Pedro de Alcantara.

If you’ve never been to Lisbon, it’s one of the hilliest places I’ve ever walked. We booked an Airbnb that had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and living room. It was pretty roomy and we had lots of space, although we barely spent any time in the apartment. To get from our apartment to the square that we seemed to have to get to all the time (restaurants, bakery, transport, etc.), you had to walk up a hill that had an intense incline; I felt my thighs burning almost instantly. I think in every post I write about Europe, I say to bring good runners because you’ll be doing a ton of walking (trust me, I went the cute route; don’t do it) – but here it’s even more important.

Our driver that picked us up from the airport provided some recommended restaurants and other places of interest. One restaurant was called A Gina, which provided traditional Portuguese food. If you love seafood – you’ll love Portugal! They still had some meat dishes though, which is what we ordered. There were three of us and with ordering two meals, we could have fed at least four people total. After our extremely long travel and exploring day, we were ready to head to bed as we had a full day tour to Sintra the next day!

If you’ve ever heard of Sintra, you’ve probably seen photos of a beautiful, colourful palace; Pena Palace. Sintra is actually the name of the small town less than an hour outside of Lisbon, and there are two palaces that we visited while there. We first stopped in the town where we had some free time to grab a bite to eat or walk around. Our guide told us that the bakery just up the street had amazing pastel de nata. It’s a flaky pastry with a vanilla custard center and you can sprinkle with cinnamon and icing sugar to make it even tastier! We got one of those and a few other treats and we were ready for our big day of exploring.

The first palace we went to was Quinta da Regaleira, and we were able to walk there from the town centre. While walking, our guide was explaining different things and providing information on Sintra, and I was looking around and taking photos (how can you not, it’s so beautiful). While taking photos and taking in the scenery, I was not paying attention to where I was walking and went shin first into a cement bollard. To say that sent a shock through me would be an understatement! I was cut open and a bruise formed instantly, but I kept up with the group – after letting out a couple choice words. Moral of the story; pay attention to where you’re walking! Between that and the uneven paving stones, you can’t afford to be daydreaming too much!

Regaleira, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, opened at 10am and there was already a huge line when we arrived shortly before then. The grounds are absolutely massive, so you aren’t right on top of another tour group, the guides all have different areas that they take you to and explain the history and facts about Regaleira and the grounds. The only place that we did have to wait in line was the Initiation Wells.

Our guide told us that Regaleira has been owned by various people, one of whom was interested in alchemy, Masonry and the Knights Templar. The Initiation Wells are inverted staircases, and we went into the large one. It had 9 levels, which our guide told us different theories; there were nine founders of the Knight’s Templar or it also could be the nine churches of hell from Dante’s Inferno. Each level got darker and wetter, but we were told they were never used as water sources, but instead for ceremonial purposes. After our tour of the grounds, we were given free time to explore the public parts of the actual palace, which was full of beautiful tile and woodwork. In 1997, the Sintra Town Council purchased the property back from a Japanese corporation and began to allow the public to visit Regaleira again.

From here, we ventured to Cabo da Roca, which is the westernmost point of mainland Europe, for a quick photo op and back into the van we went. After this, we went to Cascais, which is a beautiful beach town in the Portuguese Riviera, where the Portuguese royal family and royalty from other countries made homes in, beginning in the 1870s. That reputation seems to continue, as we were told it has one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country, along with the one of the highest costs of living. Can you blame people for wanting to live there, though? Look at it! We had lunch in Cascais, at a popular chicken restaurant (Jardim dos Frangos) as our guide recommended the piripiri chicken and had some free time to explore.

After Cascais, we headed back towards Sintra to visit Pena Palace. The reason we split our time in Sintra was because the workers were striking, but they would only strike during a certain time – so we went to Cascais first to avoid this. Our guide told us that we’d have to decide if we wanted to go into Pena earlier in the day because the lineups are always very long and tickets often sell out. None of us said we wanted to actually go in the Palace, so we had free time in the Park, where we could see the Palace or see the Chalet of the Countess of Edla (made for an Opera singer that ended up with Ferdinand II after his wife died). We were told it was beautiful, but we had to decide between one or the other; the Chalet was on the other side of the Park than the Palace and we wouldn’t have time to visit both.

We decided we’d go with the Palace, since that was the “face” of Sintra in everything we’d seen about it. We had to walk into the Park and find the route to the Palace (we had a map, but maps and I usually aren’t friends, unless you count Google Maps). We ended up finding the Palace and it was absolutely beautiful. It was lucky no one from our group wanted to go inside, because when we actually found it, there were people that were still waiting to go in with their timed ticket from almost an hour before. While the inside may have been cool to see, we were glad we chose not to go that route. We enjoyed our time walking around the gardens and seeing the Palace from the outside. If you’re planning to visit inside, I would recommend buying the earliest ticket you can get, which may not work if you’re on a full day tour like we were. If you’re going on your own, definitely choose an early time. There will still be a line, but it won’t be backed up like it was when we were there (late afternoon). After we returned to Lisbon from Sintra, we found a ravioli restaurant near our apartment, which was absolutely amazing. We wished we had found it sooner!

The next day we were leaving Lisbon and heading to Nazare, but first, we had a private tour in the morning. We had to check out of our Air Bnb and stored our luggage at a laundromat near our apartment. They had different sized lockers and luckily, had some big enough for the large bags we had. Hauling a wheeled suitcase through cobblestone streets in Europe is one of the more humbling and tiring experiences you’ll have! We met our guide at the Miradoura Sao Pedro de Alacantara, which we had visited previously on our own. Once we met our guide, he took us walking through the Barrio Alto neighbourhood, which is the “alternative” neighbourhood is Lisbon. Our guide said that during his party years, people would spill into the street from the bars and there would be blocks full of people, shoulder to shoulder, partying in the street. Sounded like quite the time! He took us to his favourite bakery, Manteigaria, where we had the famous pastel de nata and an espresso (I don’t drink coffee but my mom and sister enjoyed). Once our bellies were full of the famous Portuguese treat, we headed to the Misericordia neighbourhood, on our way to Pink Street. Pink Street was created in 2013, in an attempt to change its negative past. For centuries, sailors would dock nearby and visit the brothels, gambling dens and bars. Now, the vibrant pink paint and multi-color umbrellas hanging above give it a more positive look and feel; although, it’s still full of bars and a hub for Lisbon nightlife.

After our brief photo shoot at Pink Street, we headed towards Praca do Comercio, and our guide explained some of Portugal’s political history to us. A dictatorship ruled the country from 1926 to 1974, and suppressed its citizens and their political freedoms in the longest-lived dictatorship in Western Europe. It was finally overtaken by the Revolução dos Cravos in Lisbon with a military coup on April 25, 1974. Elections were held on the same date in 1975 and a new constitution was drafted, with another election held in 1976, after the constitution was adopted. At this time, Portugal and its citizens had democracy. That is a very short version of what actually happened, but it was surprising to know that a dictatorship ruled not that long ago.

Our next stop was a bar that served Ginja, which is a cherry liqueur. It’s served in a shot glass, but you don’t take it like a shot; it’s a sipping drink. It’s also served with a cherry pit in the glass, which is why you don’t want to shoot it. The other reason you don’t want to shoot it is because it burns bad enough when you sip it! Once our amazing tour was complete, our guide got us a table at a popular restaurant in the Santa Maria Maior neighbourhood, where the owners created local dishes with a twist. Unfortunately, I forget our guide’s name, but he was a well-travelled man who was extremely passionate about Lisbon, which you could tell from the information and stories he shared with us.

The drive from Lisbon to Nazare, a small beach town, was about an hour and a half. We booked an apartment right across the street from Praia da Nazare (Nazare Beach), and after tracking down the keys (again, hauling our wheeled suitcases around in +30 heat over cobblestones) we were able to check in. Nazare is a relatively small town, but it’s famous for having the biggest waves in the world (on the north beach, Praia do Norte). We had a supermarket right behind our apartment, so we grabbed some drinks and headed to Nazare Beach. Our time in Lisbon was so busy, so it was nice to have some relaxation time. After spending all afternoon on the beach, we headed for some sushi and then some Chinese food. You could find all types of food at the restaurants along the beach, which were all a maximum 10-minute walk for us; it was amazing!

The Nazaré Funicular takes you from the beach/lower town to the upper town/Forte de San Miguel Arcanjo, which is where you can see the waves along the North Beach and visit a surf museum. It didn’t seem to be working at the time, but there was a path you could take to get there. It was quite a steep incline in some parts and hot as hell, but we stopped along the way for plenty of photos to take breaks. Inside the surf museum, there were stories and surf boards from some of the surfers that had successfully surfed the biggest waves in the world. We didn’t get a chance to see the big waves as they only occur in the winter and we visited in the summer.

The next morning, we left Nazare on a Flix Bus and headed to Porto. I don’t do well on windy roads and I didn’t know what they’d be like, so I popped a Gravol and slept the entire ride, but the bus ride was just over two hours. We hopped in an Uber from the bus station and headed to our hotel, for the last few nights of our trip. When looking into spots to visit, I found that Porto had “the most beautiful McDonald’s in the world”, so obviously we went there for lunch. It was full of stain glass windows and chandeliers, and you can see for yourself how lovely it is. It also had an outside seating area, which we took advantage of. After our McD’s fix, we checked out the Sao Bento bus station, which was decorated with blue and white ceramic tiles, similar to the blue and white Delftware, developed in The Netherlands. We didn’t have any tours scheduled for the day, so we wandered around the city. The Dom Luis I Bridge takes you over the Douro River, and you can cross via public transport or walk across, which is what we did. We ended up at a sardine store, which are not for me, but they are a staple of Portuguese cuisine. My grandpa loves them, so we got some to take back for him.

Our final stop of the day was Livraria Lello, one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world (Porto seems to be full of the most beautiful things in the world!) and it’s said to have inspired the library from the Harry Potter movies. You have to buy tickets to enter, but if you buy a book, they take the ticket price off of the book price. I ended up buying a book, Love of Perdition, which was written by a Portuguese man in two weeks after he was imprisoned for having sex with a married woman. The prison he was in was located in front of Livraria Lello, so it’s a popular book to purchase at this bookstore.

We enjoyed our included breakfast at our hotel before heading out to our tuk tuk tour around Porto. The tour was about 45 minutes to an hour, and also included a ticket to a river cruise and Port tasting. After the cruise, we had lunch along the river where we tried a famous Portuguese sandwich, Francesinha, which was created in Porto, so we had to try it in Porto! It’s made with layers of toasted bread and assorted meats such as roast, steak, wet-cured ham, linguiça, or chipolata and melted cheese with tomato-and-beer sauce, served with french fries. It was a massive portion and it was delicious.

Next up was the Port tasting. Now, I’m not really a fan of wine, especially not red, but I couldn’t not try Port while in Porto. We arrived at Burmester for our guided winery tour. The location is amazing; it overlooks the Douro River and sits at the bottom portion of the Dom Luis Bridge. They reviewed the Port making process and showed us the types of tools that were used when they originally began making the wine, almost 300 years ago. We were with about 20 or so other people, and at the end of the winery tour, we were able to taste two types of Port; a red and a white. I wasn’t able to finish mine as I wasn’t a massive fan, but my mom and sister finished theirs. Once we completed the winery tour, we took the cable car from the river area to the top of the Luis Dom Bridge, to avoid walking up again! I think the views and saving our feet and thighs from another uphill walk was worth it.

We had a late flight out of Porto the next day back to Barcelona so we could fly back to Calgary, so we decided to check out the Jardins do Palacio de Cristal, which are free to visit. You can walk around the entire gardens, and there are so many beautiful spaces to see; fountains, flowers, water features, views of the river and peacocks! It was mating season so the males were putting their feathers on full display, and we saw females as well as chicks. Every part of the gardens was so beautiful; I even found a lookout spot over the river where I said I wanted to get married at (I was single at the time; dream big I guess, right?) After spending a few hours in the gardens, we were headed to the airport and full of memories from the trip.

If you’re considering Portugal, I would say don’t wait any longer. The weather was great, people were friendly and we found it relatively cheap, compared to other European destinations. Extra points if you like seafood, because you’ll find no shortage there! We enjoyed the mix of large cities and smaller towns, which gave us access to history as well as relaxation time on the beach. I’d love to go back there one day as I don’t think one week was enough and I loved it there.

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