1 DAY
Is there a better feeling than when you travel and explore new cultures and cities?
Honestly, I haven’t been anywhere in about a long time since the pandemic started. For our first destination we chose Lisbon, Portugal, not only to explore the city but also to visit our dear friend whom we had not seen for a very long time. We flew by Rayanair from Bologna for 2 hours and 30 minutes. When we arrived at Humberto Delgado Airport or Portela Airport, the airport in Lisbon. The best way to get to the centre and also the fastest is to download the Bolt app. With the help of the car sharing application, transport is easy to find and in 15 minutes you can reach the centre by car for only 6 euros. If you want to save on transportation and want to spend less, you can get to the centre and the metro, which takes about 50 minutes, but the ticket is 1.50 euros per person. We decided to come with Bolt and it was great for us. With Bolt there are a couple of things to have in mind because they can't go to the places where taxis are parked, so maybe it's better to wait for them on not such a super main street. We arrived at our destination in the Alfama neighbourhood in 15 minutes. Alfama is a beautiful neighbourhood, completely old-fashioned, totally in Lisbon style with lots of small balconies and terraces, you can see the roofs, small streets, intertwined with small cafes and people selling all sorts of things. Our friend Julieta has an apartment just in that neighbourhood near Museo do Fado, the apartment is small and beautiful, I would definitely say that the apartment is in Norwegian style, all in wood, rustic but full of light (rooftop apartment).
There we made a wonderful breakfast overlooking the city and then set off on an adventure. That day was Saturday so we were happy to be able to go to the second-hand market, which was located near our apartment. This event is called Fiera da Ladra.
You can find absolutely everything and most importantly you can bargain for the price. I found beautiful tiles (3 euros) that will serve as a mat for hot food. My friend found super van sneakers for only 7 euros. After that we visited a good part of Alfama and went to Pasteleria San Antonio where I tried my first pastel de nata (their traditional bakery product reminiscent of cream caramel) which costs only 1.15 euros. My partner found calzone in puff pastry with cooked ham and cheese for 1.50 euros 😊
This bakery is located not far from the castle which is beautiful and huge but we didn’t go inside because it was too crowded. Instead, we went for a panoramic view called Miradoro Santa Luzia.
By the way, miradoro means a panoramic view, so this is just one of them. But there are a lot of them in Lisbon!
After that we headed to the centre where we went to see Santa Justa Elevator - an elevator that is about 120 years old and was built by a student of the Eiffel (the construction clearly states that this was his student – it is all in metal).
There is a fee for a lift ride, but we found a way to get to the top on foot and for free. If you come to a street above the elevator called R. Do Carmo - you keep walking up that street and you will find stairs on the right - it looks like a small tunnel. You go through there and continue to follow the stairs and reach Carmo Convento (abandoned convent) and then find the last stairs to climb towards the elevator. The view is beautiful :)
After a great view, we headed to a hidden place, but it is very interestingly called Park Roof Top (Calçada do Combro 58) 😊 We certainly wouldn't have discovered this if it weren't for our Juliet. The entrance to the building looks like the building was abandoned a long time ago, and all that to the top of the building, when we climbed to the top floor, we saw the guard and we entered the bar 😊
The prefora was about 5 PM when we arrived and there were a bunch of people, a real party. We ordered an aperol spritz (Lisbon version) and a beer and managed to sit down and rest a bit. Very nice view and cool place. Simply the whole of that Park Roof looks like some kind of summer place but super fans. Prices are quite high, 10 euros for aperol spritz (which really is not an aperol spritz but is still nice).
After that, we headed home to the apartment to change and get ready for dinner. While our Juliet was doing her things, we had a nice long walk to the apartment. We were ready to bolt to a vegan place called O Gambuzino!
It was all delicious and we enjoyed an hour and a half there, we drank their typical green wine and painted our dishes. After dinner we got a little lost because we were looking for a Miradoro that Juliet once saw, but we didn't find it, so we decided to sit in a bar for a beer and a little home to sleep 😉
DAY 2
We started the day in the Italian way with mocha coffee and a light walk to the castle where we took our breakfast 😊 unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Juliet because she went to a skating park for a few days but we stayed in her beautiful apartment.
When we got down to the strict centre, we took Bolt to Belem Tower. Unfortunately, there was a huge crowd there so we didn’t go inside. But we stayed outside and took pictures of the beautiful tower and the Tagus River.
The White Tower was built between 1515 and 1521, the architect Francesco de Arruda designed it. In the 16th century this tower was used as a prison.
We slowly headed towards the 52 m high monument dedicated to geographical inventors (like Vasco da Gama .), it is beautiful but we did not go inside, since we decided to be more spontaneous that day so we decided to go to the Jerónimos Monastery.
When you come in front of the building there are two ques. The right one is for the entrance to the Church and it is free. But the left one is the entrance to the monastery and costs 10 euros per person. Tickets are purchased 100 m to the left of that que so you have to go back and wait to enter the convent. The monastery is beautiful, a lot of details and is very large. In 1502, King Manuel I ordered the construction of a monastery, which was built in honour of the successful journey of Vasco da Gama who came to India. It took them 100 years to build the monastery and it is a very beautiful example of the late Gothic Portuguese style.
At first the priests of the Order of Jerome lived there, their job was to pray for the king's soul and give spiritual instructions to the sailors. In 1833 the monastery was completely abandoned.
Later, the convent business became the place of eternal residence of the Portuguese royal family. Vasco da Gama and King Manuel are buried in the monastery also with some other famous persons of the time.
We left the beautiful monastery with a heavy heart because it is really full of details and you can admire everything all day: D
After that we went to an exhibition near the monastery in a place called Museo Colecao Berardo Exposicoes. We paid 5 euros per person to this big exibition. And that’s where we discovered some new super artists like Gerard Formanger. His works were very special to us and they stood out with their colour and ideas.
Then we saw some works by standard artists like Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Picasso, Mondrian and a lot of other famous names. I’m just happy we accidentally discovered this museum with a bunch of things we hadn’t seen before.
After the show we were already very hungry so we bolted to the food court called Time out! Food is always on our mind, especially when traveling!
The food court is big and the crowd is huge. But we decided on something atypical, we took Thai food (Pad thai vegan and Bao brisket) and we also tried a typical Lisbon sandwich Pao with vegetables - it was simple and fine.
After dinner we took a walk to see the Lisbon Cathedral of Se.
The word Se literally means the bishop's place. The cathedral is in Gothic style and is actually very simple 😊 After that we walked the romantic streets of Portugal to our small apartment on the top floor of a building in Alfama.
DAY 3
We got up and had coffee on our little romantic balcony in Julia’s apartment but this time without Juliet, just the two of us!
We immediately got ready and prepared for a small trip that took us to the city of Ericeira which is located on the west coast and is about an hour and a half away from Lisbon by bus. We decided to take the metro and go to Campo Grande station. We had 2 lines to change before we got to our destination. And honestly it took us a lot of time but it’s definitely nice to experience something like this as well. As soon as we get to Campo Grande, there are buses nearby so we immediately found our bus to Ericeira. The road was quite long in essence, there was a lot of stops along the road, and we never thought that it would take so long. By car it is about 40 minutes from Lisbon.
After arriving in Ericeir, we set off to explore a bit, it is the most famous place for surfing in Portugal. But unfortunately, the weather wasn’t too great because of the specific microclimate but it certainly did not stop us from going in a bar near the beach and enjoy our toast and 2 mojitos 😉
Afterwards we just walked along the beach, felt the icy ocean and it started to rain lightly. We went back for one macchiato to the same bar but, a piece of advice, describe what kind of coffee you want. Macchiato, for them, is a huge cup of coffee (which doesn't taste like coffee) with a lot of milk.
We stayed in the city for a while and saw beautiful shops with very specific goods, surfboards, etc. A sweet place. Lots of young people surfing!
After a few hours here, we took the bus back to Lisbon, we somehow got there quickly because part of the way the bus used the highway 😊
We took the subway back to our apartment and just changed our clothes and headed to dinner where there was a typical sad music called Fado (typical Portuguese lament) - 2 people were playing and a few of them were singing. It was interesting to see something typical of Lisbon, the food was seafood and it didn’t sit well with me personally. Positive thing is we met two older women who were sitting next to us and we had a very nice chat!
4 DAY
Our last daaaaay of rest and enjoyment in Lisbon. Usually on every trip we use every moment to the maximum to get to see everything and experience the city to the fullest, this last day we totally took the chill approach, good food, and just walking. We remembered that it was still Fiera da Ladra today so we went there once again. I found a beautiful Lisbon tile that I bought for myself so that I have a nice practical memory from here. I paid 5 euros but it will serve as a mat in the house 😉
After that we decided to have a super branch in Augusto Lisbon. People are always waiting in front to sit down to eat there but we were lucky enough that there were only two couples in front of us: D
After about 15 minutes of waiting, we got our table and ordered a toast with avocado and eggs, I still took matcha latte, juice and banana bread and all that for 17 euros.
While Andrea just took toast with avocado and egg plus juice. We totally enjoyed; everything was tasty. Somehow simple but really top. We still had cinnamon water on the table: D
After our super brunch we were ready to move on! We simply indulged in the beauty of the streets and just walked around enjoying ourselves, we were close to the castle which is really big but the crowds in Lisbon are literally everywhere.
We spent the whole day in the city and explored every corner of it. In the end, the day really passed quickly because we had to take the Bolt and go to the airport at 6 pm. Our journey was short but sweet. I can’t wait to get back to the coast of Portugal again and just dedicate ourselves to surfing and yoga. That could be our next trip!
Thank you for reading 😊
Text: Ela Duric English translator: Branislava Maodus
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