Last week me and mine took a little break away to the Portuguese capital; Lisbon. Now before I begin, the last time I went to Portugal, we stayed in a dainty little town called Olhão. Now I’m not dissing the town at all, we did stumble across a little rough area on our first day, and most parts of it were beautiful, the Portuguese culture there was very strong and authentic, but it just wasn’t for us.
This brings me to Lisbon. Again, some parts were quite crooked, like the drug dealers on the streets (our taxi driver told us it was illegal to sell drugs but not to use them), now I wouldn’t have had a problem with them, until our last day when one of them nearly started a fight with my boyfriend after he politely refused his offer, not cool Lisbon!
Our First Day in Lisbon
We ventured out to the Oriente train station where we took a stroll along the seafront… then got lost. We then found a botanic garden, which led us to the Oceanarium; our destination! I mean, I was highly impressed by the otters and the waterfall but the rest of the day was my boyfriend’s day. He is a collector of Tropical fish, an aspiring Marina tank keeper, and me? I just like fluffy things, so I desperately wanted to take the otters home, but I had to behave.
That night we found the Hard Rock Cafe and my childhood tradition of visiting every city’s restaurant has come alive again! So we went there and I had a fiesta burger, which was good, it wasn’t to die for, but it was my first proper burger ever so I’ll give it credit.
A Visit to Sintra
Day 2 we went on my dream adventure to Sintra to visit the Quinta da Regaleira, I have to say the town itself was breathtaking, I wished we were staying longer so we could return but I’ll definitely be going back there again. The world heritage site was built in 1906, you can read more about it here. What was most breathtaking for me was the grounds, the gardens and the secret underground passageways which were near impossible to walk through without a torch, top tip for you there! We discovered the wells that Marzia and Felix mentioned in their Lisbon video, which sadly my excitement wasn’t fulfilled due to the large crowd blocking my view (tourists eh?).
Upon our return, we got ready and went for some hefty dining, hefty as in the overly priced fish at restaurant Nicola. I wouldn’t complain if the waiter didn’t put starters on our table to later charge us 9 euros for them! The food was nice, but not spectacular.
São Jorge Castle
On the last day we were absolutely fried. We had nothing to do so what did we decide to do on the hottest day? Walk up to the very top of Lisbon to explore the São Jorge Castle. My god, I swear this place is like the Moorish version of Buckingham Palace… the place was enormous! The castle walls seemed to lead to more and more. It was never-ending, again the views and the grounds were breathtaking.
That night Aaron found a food market online called Time Out, and 10/10 would recommend it. They have one in London too! We went to the Asian Lab counter and ordered a Chicken Chow Mein. However, we received a Prawn Chow Mein, and let’s just say we didn’t complain! We loved it!
Overall, my trip to Lisbon was incredible and I would 100% go back. It’s definitely a place I will visit again and despite my typical womanly complaints, I loved it!
Anyway, thanks for reading! Here’s the video:
