Portugal Trip

Our trip to Portugal was a success. We flew Ryan Air again, now that we have become experts on the system. One really cannot beat the inexpensive tickets. As usual, we reserved seats. Many people feel this is a waste, but for us, it eases the stress of traveling with little ones as we are guaranteed a specific seat which is typically near the front of the plane. We also pay the extra 30 Euros to check one piece of luggage. Again a nice stress reliever for us.

We arrived in Porto and took the train to Lisbon. We first hopped on the metro (the station is attached to the airport, which is super convenient). We took the metro to the Camphana stop, then boarded the train to the Oriente station in Lisbon. It is a 3 hour train ride which cost about 44 Euros (round trip). The train is far from luxurious, but it offered a scenic view of Portugal.

We arrived in Lisbon, then ventured on the metro again to find our hotel. We ended up staying at the Holiday Inn, which wasn't our first choice. There was some confusion when booking our initial hotel (Corinthia), so we cancelled that reservation and quickly found our backup. It was a blessing in disguise as Erika booked a great package. In addition to our room, we had a buffet breakfast (fruits, eggs, breads, cheeses, cereal, sausages), and a hop on hop off bus tour (2 lines--Belem & Castle lines) included. It was nice and well worth the price of the room. The hotel room was nothing luxurious, but it was nice.

We took it easy the rest of that day, making our way over to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner.

We were greeted with rain our next day (Sunday). One would expect nothing less as it has become the norm on our travel excursions. I thought I was going to avoid the water logged venture this time, but that was not the case. Thankfully, we  were prepared with umbrellas and extra shoes/socks. We trekked through the rain to catch the hop on hop off bus. Our plan was simply to ride the bus around the city and see the sights. It was great. We sat on the upper deck, which thrilled the kiddos. They had great view, the adults had free wifi ;) We rode the red line (Belem line) until the Tower of Belem where they were offering free admission (Sundays between 10:00 and 2:00). We wandered around, took some beautiful photos overlooking the Rio Tejo and the 25 de April bridge (a huge suspension bridge designed by the same person who designed the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco). We ate lunch at a little cafe on the coast. It was a less than stellar meal, which I soon discovered would be the norm for my time in Portugal.

We boarded the bus again, checking out Jeronimos Monastery, which is the burial site of Vasco de Gama, and the Discoveries Monument. We hopped on the Green line, which brought us to Saint George's Castle. We hopped off and paid our entrance to check out the massive grounds (7.50 Euro).  We climbed a few stairs, wandered as quickly as we could and took in the views. It was beautiful and pretty amazing. Mya kept asking where the Queen was. She is so darn cute. We had to hurry back to board the bus by 4:00, so it was a very brief visit.

The bridge.

Tower of Belem.

Monestary

We decided to return to the hotel, freshen up, and return to the water for dinner that evening. I enjoyed grilled salmon and vegetables. It was a tasty meal though fish is not typically my preference. The girls had scrambled eggs with sausage and they were less than impressed. We ended our evening with a stop at Lisbon's most famous pasteis--Casa Pasteis De Belem for a traditional Portugese pastry--Pasteis de nata. It was delicious.

Best friends.

Concert Hall

Girls in the tower.

Mya was so excited to bring her own suitcase. Both she and Claire did so well pulling it along.

A musician.

streetcar

Claire jamming

Where do we go?

I know!

Mya jamming.

Claire enjoying a pastry.

Ready to go!

Graffiti was everywhere.

Portugese pizza--equivalent to sloppy joe on a crust.

Pockets are awesome!

Beach babes.

This is an "Italian" which is a traditional Portugese dish. It had a ham, steak and cheese in a tortilla like shell with sauce.

Mya collecting sand.

Capturing "the crack" has become a tradition. It seems it follows her everywhere.

Claire was all about finding sea shells.

Treasures

Early the next morning, we returned to the sunshine of Porto. It was beautiful--probably in the mid 50's? We found our hotel, then made our way via city bus to the beach. We enjoyed another less than delightful meal (sloppy joe on pizza?), then played in the sand. It was wonderful. The sunshine on our faces was worth every minute of that journey. We encountered some difficulty navigating the city bus system as we were given the wrong bus numbers at the hotel. Thankfully, we figured it out through trial and error, finding our way to and from the beach.

Mya was worn out from the lack of naps over the course of 3 days, late nights and early mornings. By 6:00 on Monday evening, she crashed. We ended up simply ordering room service.

Most restaurants in Portugal close at 2:00 and reopen at 7:00 pm. These hours present some challenges to traveling with children who need to eat around 5:00. Luckily, fruit was plentiful and we packed snacks. Portugese people are very kind and most speak English. There is a considerable amount of effort needed to coordinate metro stops, etc., but certainly doable. The city bus only cost 1.88 Euro each way, which was very affordable.

All in all our trip was lovely though I am not in a hurry to return. The food was not to my liking. I joked that living in Portugal may be the best diet for me. I'd certainly be skinny :) I also found it difficult to enjoy the historic nature of the city when graffiti was so prominent. Portugal is a blend of old and new. It is definitely worth a visit.