Travel Blog: Lisbon, Portugal

Trust me when I say I was soooo excited to pull out my passport and pack my bags for a vacation this year. Ever since Covid broke out and canceled our Amsterdam in April 2020 (I'm still not over it) our travel plans for other destinations were all put on indefinite hold. As Covid waned we waited patiently for the safety recommendations and travel advisories to line up with our comfort level to travel again. Finally, after what feels like decades, we booked a trip to Portugal for our anniversary. We visited Lisbon, Madeira island, and Porto while we were there and the trip was well worth it. It was so nice to stretch our legs and get out of here for a bit.

There are so many photos and I really tried to trim it down but I think I'll break this into a three part post so I can focus on each place separately. Today we'll start off at the beginning...Lisbon!

We finished packing, got my brother all set up for dog-sitting duties, and then headed to the airport. We may have realized our international ATM cards had expired during covid so we had a last minute panic about how to get cash in Portugal but we had some remaining euros from Italy and figured we could make that stretch and use our cards as much as possible. It ended up being fine and we only spent about 4 euros in cash during the trip. I can't believe people used to use travelers checks or bring giant wads of cash with them on vacation!

We always make sure to hit the airport lounge before we fly. It helps fill our bellies for the evening flight and the food is infinitely better than the in-service offerings -- though to be honest I generally find the airplane food pretty tasty all things considered!

My favorite part of flying is keeping an eye on how far a distance we are going!

When we arrived we wanted to explore the city and do some light sightseeing. We were tired from the flight but knew we needed to stay awake to avoid jet lag. We walked the very hilly streets -- I get why they describe it as a mini San Francisco or the City of 7 Hills -- and took in the views from the Castelo de S. Jorge.

After taking in the views, we walked over to the Santa Justa Lift, which is an old wrought iron elevator designed by one of the students of Gustav Eiffel. Can you see the inspiration and resemblance to the Eiffel Tower?

The lift connects the lower and upper towns and right near the exit there was a super cute and very popular fishcake place. We saw so many of these Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhaus around Portugal and wanted to try it. They only serve codfish cakes, which is codfish fritter with or without cheese (you choose) and port wine. It was pretty tasty but I did not know how much the Portuguese loved cod until after this trip.

Give me outdoor cafe seating any time! Why is it that food always tastes better al fresco?

That evening we stopped by a Fado show (yes we paid for a fado show -- I know, I know) and the "Pink Street", which had really fun and colorful umbrellas strung above it.

Side note: I wore a black maxi dress I bought off Amazon for the Fado show and I absolutely loved my choice.

While in Lisbon we also visited the Jeronimos Monastery and Belem Tower. 

Belem Tower was also pretty neat because it was a fortification tower used for explorers leaving/returning to Portugal. Sometimes royalty would attend to see the explorers off. 

If only the floors could tell the stories of the people who walked there or the seats could whisper who sat there before us! That's the sort of history I am all ears to listen to! 16th century stories? Yes please!

I was getting hangry after our visit to the tower so we went to try another well-known Portuguese favorite among tourists (and locals alike from what I could gather)...Pasteis de Belem. We ordered a half dozen pastel de nata, which are famous custard tarts and are supposed to be the best in the city. The Pasteis de Belem sells over 20,000 per day!

It was the perfect treat -- the outer shell is flaky and crunchy but the custard is warm, oozy, and gooey. A very delicious combination but very sweet! My sweet tooth was singing and yes we ate every single one.

To close out our time in Lisbon we also made sure to see the monument to the explorers, stop by the carriage museum (we were nearby), and the tile museum.

We also spent a bit of time walking around the square in front of our hotel. I just love people watching when we're on vacation. I find myself wondering what everyone's story is. Are they travelers like me? Are they busy students on their way to school? Maybe working professionals just trying to beat the rush hour commute on the trolleys. Who knows.

Next time I'll share everything we did in Madeira island. But until then...let me know what you think.

Have you ever been to Portugal?

What is your favorite new food that you have tried on vacation?

Did you have any travel plans that were canceled by Covid?