The image on the left is me at the Pena Palace in Sintra, Portugal.
Imagine me, flying from the US to Portugal, arriving 12 hrs before anyone else in my party. The flight was excellent. International flying is the way to go. Look at all the food I got, plus a bottle of water. And there was free wine/beer available. Glimpses of royalty:: pinky out.
I had reserved an AirBnb for the first couple of days in Lisbon, but
the host could not give me an early check in because the previous guests had
not checked out. I arrived around 9:15am, and by the time I got through customs
and collected by bag it was 11am. I decided to store my luggage somewhere and
join a walking tour.
Imagine me, flying from the US to Portugal, arriving 12 hrs before anyone else in my party. The flight was excellent. International flying is the way to go. Look at all the food I got, plus a bottle of water. And there was free wine/beer available. Glimpses of royalty:: pinky out.
But this was a little different. I tried to learn Portuguese, but it's actually a tough language. So I tried my best, but in a foreign land without knowing the language made me a little nervous. Luckily, I found a lot of supporting websites that comforted me in their ability to speak English. And I hate being that person, demanding the local to speak my language, but it wasn't too bad, actually. This blog definitely made me feel more comfortable.
Finding the luggage storage
place was . ..Interesting, we shall say. First I had to carry my bags up the
stairs from the train station because there wasn’t an elevator. I later learned
there was an elevator on the other side (arg). I come up to the street level (super paranoid because every trip advisor said to be wary of pickpocketers), everyone is speaking
Portuguese and I can’t decide who to ask to help me. I had the address and I
purposefully picked one near the walking tour starting place (on hindsight, I
should have picked on near the ending location), but the street names can
sometimes be hard to see. They are written on the sides of the buildings, and
for some reason my GPS was not working and I couldn’t find the street I was
looking for. I finally asked one guy who spoke English and proceeded to drag my
50 lb suitcase, plus rolling carryon down the wrong street. I stopped again and
asked a local. She didn’t understand English, but she could understand my
Spanish. She told me to go the opposite way and turn left. Sweaty, but hopeful,
I finally found the place. There’s no greater joy than dropping your bags off
and being free to explore.
I missed the 11am tour, so I
booked the 2:30pm tour and had some time to kill. The metro system was super easy to navigate, so from the airport I caught the Red line to Alameda, then transferred to the Green line to Baixa-Chiado. The tour met by the big statue in the square. I grabbed some Tapas at a
nearby restaurant in Baixa-Chiado, while I waited for the tour to begin. There's a ton of Cod fish in Portugal. I tried it, but still can't get into it. But if you love Cod, this is the place for you!
Being all alone in a new
county, it was nice to be on a tour with other tourists. For 3 hours we walked
around Lisbon (Jaime was an awesome tour guide!) and learned about the history and culture. We walked up a massive
hill so bring your walking shoes for this county. Leave your heels at home,
ladies!!
After the tour, I went about
getting my key to my Airbnb. I definitely recommend doing this in the daytime,
before night falls, as it’s harder to navigate a foreign place in the dark. I
totally got lost in Alfama and my host had to meet me somewhere and traverse
the tricky path back to the place. I got the key, and then she walked me back
to Baixa-Chiado, since she was fortunately going that way anyway. We took the
flattest path possible, as my eyes were becoming larger and wondering how I was
going to drag all my stuff, by myself, back to the house. We found a good
drop-off location where the cars could go. So, it’s important to note that the
streets are so narrow and some streets are blocked by permit (a physical barrier comes out from the ground), so only certain
cars can get through. For some of the Uber drivers, they couldn’t get to where
I wanted to go, and for some reason people would point to a fork in the road
and tell you to go straight, so there was room for improvement in directions,
so it’s super easy to get lost there. No one wants to be lost dragging a
suitcase, so I was a creature of habit. Once I found a way I knew, I stuck to
that so that I could get back home.
So the next day was spent
recovering from Jet Lag and exploring the city. I loved Baixa-Chiado and knew
it like the back of my hand, by the end of the trip. And if you are free at
night it’s cool to grab a gelato and listen to the street musicians.
Now, if you go a little away
from Chiado you will hit Rossio (the R’s in Portuguese are pronounced like a
hard H) and you will most likely be offered drups. Just say no. Remember 8th
grade health class? Just say no. Seriously, even if that’s your thing, I don’t
think a mysterious plastic baggie from a stranger is a great idea. Drugs are
illegal to sell, but lightly policed since it’s legal to do. Don’t be alarmed,
just something to know. The more you know. . .
I didn’t have any issues with
pickpocketers, but I was glad I was aware of them. I used a cross-body bag and
never kept valuables in my tiny female pockets (argg, I get so annoyed at how
small female pockets are, but that rant will be in a separate post).
We did a separate tour of
Alfama with [Ricardo] Dias and that was very interesting too. You have to try
the Ginja while you are in Portugal, it’s a drink they are known for.
Personally, it taste like cough syrup to me, so not a fan, but when in Rome ..
.. at least taste it. You can get it for about 1 Euro.
We got rained on during our
tour and of course this was the one time I didn’t have a Poncho. I ended up
buying an umbrella, but now I have a small travel umbrella, so I’ll take the
win.
The food was great; seafood was awesome. There’s a
place called the Time Out Market which has everything. Grab a table and everyone can get whatever
food they want. They also have music playing in the background. Everywhere you
go you can get Tapas (small plates) so it’s a great way to try things.
TripAdvisor is used pretty heavily there, so check it out for amazing
restaurants. And if it says make a reservation, make a reservation, because
they have no problem turning you away even if there are empty tables. We never
felt rushed, even being there past closing, and the wait staff and owners were
always very friendly. My favorite waiter was Telmo, who always tried to play me
with my Portuguese, but I know I was his favorite customer.
For the soda-drinkers: they
will try to pass 7-up for Sprite, like they do Siera Mist in The States. Be
prepared. Enjoy your Sprites before you get to Portugal, they are a dime a
dozen, but Coke is pretty easy to find. I even had a Fanta, but it was more
lemony.
And for the Brown people:
everyone will swear you are from Angola. There are a couple of countries in
Africa that speak Portuguese: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique,
São Tomé and Príncipe, and Equatorial Guinea. I didn’t take offense, I take the
compliment that they understood my Portuguese. Take the win!
You would think that while I
was out of the country I could avoid talking about one person in particular
living in DC, but nope, he somehow managed to come up in jokes during the tours
when explorers talked about making Portugal great again. Fortunately, we were
on the same side of beliefs, so I didn’t have any trouble, but remember to stay
away from controversial topics in foreign lands; especially if you are
outnumbered.
There are plenty of places
you can venture to from Lisbon on a day trip. We visited Sintra to see some of
the unique castles and also went to Cascais and saw the most Western point in
Europe.
One of our last nights in
Lisbon, we checked out the area of Barrio Alto. This is like New Orleans during Mardi Gras. It is absolutely packed. I was pleasantly surprised. People were mixing their own business and not too sloppy. Of course you had the overpartiers falling over, but they stayed in their lane and their friends helped them it. Tons of people in the small narrow
streets, with tons of clubs near by eachother. You are allowed to drink outside
so people easily pay for their beverages and chat outside. Hundreds of people
and music bouncing from club to club. The scene is a little young, but it’s
nice to be out and about and meeting people. When the clubs close at 2am (ish,
everything is ish here) people walk to the Pink Street, which is open much
later.
We checked out a club called B.Leza which had live African music the
night we were there. So, you pay a cover 10Euros
and get a ticket, which is actually a voucher. So then you can get your 10Euros
worth at the bar. It was a bit confusing and written in Portuguese, but luckily
our group figured it out! Great memories. We turned it
early compared to everyone else, but it was like 4am!
The next day we took the train to Porto,
Portugal, which is a short flight or a 3.5 hr train ride from Lisbon. Porto is
very different from Lisbon. It’s more of a business city, wider streets, more
modern. Porto is known for their wine, so while you are there, it’s a good
thing to do a wine tasting or go on a wine tour. I believe Taylor’s and Croft
offer a free tour and tasting. Everywhere you turn you can see a church or tower. The architecture is phenomenal.
Ignoring that, it as nice to relax on the river and see the sights. It's an hour ride, and in perfect weather, a perfect activity to do with your travel partner/group.
My favorite place in Porto
was the Livraria Lello bookstore. It was absolutely amazing!!! The architecture was super
cool and we learned that J.K. Rowling was inspired there while writing Harry
Potter. (She lived in Porto for a while as an English teacher). The bookstore is just so different from anything else I had seen. With your entry voucher, you can use it towards the purchase of a book. 
There are several beaches “nearby” with the closest being Matesinhos. It’s not the best beach, any local will tell you, but since it was so cold we weren’t going in anyway, so it was nice to touch the Atlantic and visit for a while.
Porto was nice, but my heart
belongs to Lisboa. We took the train back to Lisbon and flew out from there.
Dinner and roaming the streets of Baixa-Chiado one last time.
I had an amazing time in
Portugal, and would definitely recommend it. I think it’s an “under the radar”
country, when we talk about Europe. Everyone always talks about Paris and
Madrid, but it’s definitely a place to go.
I was so very thankful that
most people spoke English, but they also knew at least 3 other languages. I’m
eternally grateful for Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Davidson for teaching me Spanish,
but I definitely see value in more continued lessons. Regardless of what country you go to, I think
it’s the polite thing to attempt to learn a few phrases in their language. People
that did not speak English were happy to speak to me in Spanish (it was almost
like a challenge for them) and I was glad I had that in my back pocket.
***A couple of years ago I posted
general tips for traveling through Europe. You can read those here .
***I used 'we' a lot. Hopefully you have deduced I was not alone. My blog, my stories, muhahahahahha. Just kidding, I try to respect everyone's privacy. The other group mates also had an excellent time.
***I used 'we' a lot. Hopefully you have deduced I was not alone. My blog, my stories, muhahahahahha. Just kidding, I try to respect everyone's privacy. The other group mates also had an excellent time.
