October 2019 - Page 2 of 2 -

Lagos, Portugal

Posted October 10, 2019

Low Tide

When I first saw the beaches in Lagos, they took my breath away. It was as if someone picked up the magnificent rock formations of Sedona, Arizona, and deposited them in south Portugal where the land meets the sea.

Then, as if the beauty of the gigantic rock formations weren’t enough, Mother Nature carved out cave-like arches and tunnels connecting one small beach to the next.

We checked the tide schedule, so we wouldn’t get stuck on one of the beaches when the tide came in. Some of the passageways were up high on the sand. Others, that close off at high tide, were close to the sea.

Fortunately, low tide was conveniently timed for noon. We started at the first beach by the marina, Praia de Batata, with our REI travel towels, kindles, and sunscreen in hand.

Each beach was its own small cove, each with a slightly different look and feel. I’d say there were five or six beaches over a mile or more.

Praia Dona Ana

We’d heard there were other gorgeous beaches down the coast, and we weren’t disappointed. Praia Dona Ana, about 15 minutes by bus, was heavenly, once I got down the 14 thousand steps (bad knees). For 10 euros we had two lounge chairs and a shade palapa for the entire day.

After a lovely day, it was time to head back to our Airbnb. The bus stop was at the top of the hill, high above the beach. I turned around for one last look at the coast and was treated to the striking view in the late afternoon sun.

Town

Lagos is a charming, picturesque beach town in southern Portugal. And, apparently, word has gotten out. There are lots of tourists milling about, even in the shoulder season.

Lagos is almost picture perfect, with its cobblestone streets that open up into intimate squares, covered in the customary black and white tile patterns. The squares are filled with bright, colorful tiled homes, fountains, flowers and trees, and the occasional talented street performer singing popular songs from home.

Our Airbnb

I was quite excited that our Lagos Airbnb had a washer. After almost two weeks we could give our clothes a “proper” wash. Unfortunately for us, there was no laundry detergent provided at the flat and we could only find large size bottles at the market, which didn’t make sense for a wash or two (and were too big to take with us to the next town). Major letdown. Well, more hand washing was definitely on the agenda.

Wins & Losses

Wins

After a day at Praia Dona Ana, we hopped on the bus. Unfortunately it was going the wrong direction. We did, however, get a good look at the beach further down the coast, for the win!
Ate sensational Mexican food all three nights in town, once at The Green Room, and twice at Beats & Burritos
Found a working toilet at a cafe with only 15 minutes of searching after a water main broke and left us with no water (or toilet or shower) for 12 hours on our second day in town.

Losses

Steve made it back to our Airbnb after a beach day without his high-tech, fast drying, grey compact travel towel. Down one travel towel.
Our Airbnb was super teeny-tiny, had a distinctive mildew smell, and a loud bar across the street, open until 2 am. Hooray for ear plugs.

Sintra, Portugal

Posted October 8, 2019

Arrival in Sintra

Sintra Train Station
S & T in Sintra
Our Hotel

We arrived in Sintra after a 40 minute train ride from Lisbon. Sintra is a resort town in the foothills of Portugal’s Sintra Mountains with two main draws – the Moorish Castle and the Pena Palace, both set high on nearby hilltops above town.

We stayed in a tiny, quaint hotel, the Monte Da Lua Guesthouse, directly across from the train station. We stayed two nights, giving us plenty of time to see the sites.

Look way up on the hill to see the Moorish Castle above the town of Sintra

We had our plan of attack all mapped out. We arrived in the afternoon and the sun was shining brightly and blue filled the sky. Rick Steves (travel writer) recommended visiting the Moorish Castle at sunset for a real treat. With this in mind, we decided to kill some time walking around the town, then head up to the Castle around 5:30 pm and stay through sunset.

Sintra National Palace (two pointed towers) in the distance, as we make our way into town

We set out for the town on the wide cobblestone sidewalks that wind along the road from our hotel to the town center. The hills rose up on all sides of us, full of lush, green trees. We passed manicured, colorful flowerbeds, stunning views, city hall, small restaurants, and hippie craft vendors.

Moorish Castle

As planned, we caught the bus at 5:30 pm, heading deep into the hills towards the Moorish Castle. As we entered the bus, I noticed a few clouds moving in, and I was thinking we were in for a spectacular sunset! The bus climbed higher and higher into the hills, and it got foggier and foggier. At the top, we saw the Moorish Castle entrance and everything was blanketed in thick fog. No sunset for us.

The Moorish Castle ticket-taker was a happy, friendly, good looking man in his mid-30’s, who apologized for the fog. He went on to explain that the fog moves in late in the day, every day, like clockwork. Hmmmm…Rick Steves hadn’t mentioned that.

We made the best of it, at least we had the entire Moorish Castle practically to ourselves. The fog did lend an eerie kind of medieval feel to the whole castle vibe. Standing on the high castle walls, we watched as thick fog rolled through the tree tops and over the castle walls.

Maybe a sunset was overrated after all. The misty fog was ethereal.

Pena Palace

We set our alarms that night for early the next morning to get to the Pena Palace before the tour groups from Lisbon arrived.

Unfortunately, the fog from the previous night was still in full force. As far as I could tell, the throngs of tour groups hadn’t arrived from Lisbon yet, so at least we had that in our favor.

The Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and rightly so. The Palace is a major example of the 19th century Romanticism style of architecture, with deep reds and bright yellow exteriors and a whimsical design throughout.

After a tour of the castle interior, we found a great place to sit and wait out the fog.

We nursed our water bottle, waiting……. ….waiting….
waiting….for more than an hour until the sun started to break through the heavy fog and we could see a bit of blue sky, occasional views of the glorious mountains and town below, and even the Atlantic Ocean in the distance.

The Military Ceremony

After the Pena Palace visit, we headed into town for a second time. Things seemed very different this time. Instead of craft vendors lining the streets, we saw police, and the main road into Sintra was closed.

As we got closer and closer to town, there were more and more police. Approaching the main square, where the National Palace resides, we could hear a band playing.

The policeman I asked told me there was a military ceremony at the square, just ahead, and the Portuguese President was there! I wiggled my way up to the front of the packed crowd of (mostly) tourists and watched for a few minutes. The band played, the military men marched and carried out commands. After a while we’d seen enough and moved on.

Military Ceremony at the National Palace, Sintra

We explored Sintra for about an hour, but needed a break from walking the steep pathways, and perhaps a snack. Typically we make a point to avoid cafe’s in a town’s main square, they are often very overpriced and low-quality. After weighing our options, we finally decided to plunk down dead center across from the square, where the ceremony was still ongoing. By now the crowds watching the ceremony had significantly dwindled to a few die-hard fans.

The President

Military Top Brass Lined up in Front of Us

Suddenly a heavy police presence was moving towards us, and all the military top-brass started lining up along along the cafe edge where we sat eating our overpriced pastel de natas, a Portuguese pastry specialty.

The President of Portugal, flanked on both sides by buff military guards, was about 8 feet away from us. I googled to verify what the President looked like, to be sure it was him. It was. Then the troops paraded down the cobblestone street in front of the President, the military big-wigs, and us, with the band playing in the background, while they all saluted each other. What a cool experience.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa,
Portugal’s President (bald middle)

Wins & Losses

Wins

I had the best shrimp crepes on earth, not rolled, but flat and layered with gooey cheese and rich cream sauce at Rick Steve’s favorite restaurant in town, Restaurante Regional de Sintra
We had sunny weather (in town, that is)
Our hotel had silky smooth, high quality bed sheets
We saw the President and he thanked us for coming to Portugal (ok, that second part didn’t happen)

Losses

We didn’t see a sunset from the Moorish Castle (we didn’t see anything from the Moorish Castle, except fog)
The best shrimp crepes on earth were served in a restaurant that was lit like a surgical room in a hospital. A little bright, one might say
We had to “shimmy” sideways to enter our tiny hotel bathroom, sometimes slightly wedging in the narrow passage between the mauve porcelain sink and the corner of a wall covered in cold tiles.

Lisbon, Portugal

Posted October 6, 2019, Day 12

City of Seven Hills

It’s been a little over a week since we left our home near Seattle, Washington. Our first 4 days, 5 nights were spent in the Mouraria neighborhood in Lisbon, Portugal, in a small one-bedroom Airbnb. Lisbon is known as the city of seven hills, so I knew we’d be climbing lots of hills, and boy, did we. It was a crash course in getting in shape.

Mouraria

And (of course) our Airbnb was at the top of a huge, steep hill in the Mouraria neighborhood. Believe me, the pictures don’t do the hill justice. Nonetheless, we loved our neighborhood. It wasn’t in the most elegant or trendy part of town, but was a very authentic, ethnically diverse neighborhood full of real Portuguese folks living life, and delicious small restaurants. We had amazing Indian dinners three times and one Chinese dinner, all in family run and very reasonably priced restaurants.

Lisbon Sights

In between yummy food we did squeeze in some sightseeing. Our city walks (courtesy of Rick Steves, travel writer) included a walk to the top of yet another huge, steep hill to visit the São Jorge Castle. Our ascent included not only walking, but two public elevators, about 100 meters apart, tucked into the city landscape, that made the walk from downtown up to the castle a little less tiring.

Starting our long descent down the hill, we first visited Largo Santa Luzia square to admire a panoramic view of Lisbon from a small terrace. The red tile rooftops and Tagus river were breathtaking.

View of Lisbon & Tagus River from Santa Luzia Square

Then we went across the street from the Square where we took a trip back in time, touring a mansion turned museum that reflected how the “typical” aristocratic family lived in 15th century Lisbon.

Our walks also took us up the Elevador da Gloria, a Funicular installed in 1885 that takes (mostly) tourists up another very steep hill into the Bairro-Alto neighborhood, for more exploration.

Belem

With only two more days in the Lisbon area we decided to head out on a day trip to the nearby city of Belem. This excursion warranted it’s own post, so, if you’re interested, check out my post “Day Trip to Belem”.

Gulbenkian Museum

We dedicated our final day to a highly regarded museum, the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum. The museum has a vast and varied collection of art spanning 5,000 years of history, including European, Asian, Egyptian, and Islamic art. I’ve been to more than my share of European museums, and I must say this one is really special. The displays are laid out beautifully, the lighting is exquisite, and they had centuries old wool rugs that were astounding. Spending our last day in Lisbon at the Gulbenkian Museum was the icing on the cake called Lisbon.

Tiles Are Everywhere!

Modern Tile at Metro Station
Green Tiled Apartments
Turquoise Tiled Apartments

One final attribute of Lisbon that cannot be overlooked are the tiles (called azulejos). Tiles are everywhere in Portugal. They decorate everything from walls of churches and monasteries, to palaces, ordinary houses, park seats, fountains, shops, and train stations.

Tiled Sidewalks

As we made our way through the city, each street seemed to have it’s own unique black and white tile patterned sidewalk. Above are just a few examples.

Tiled Praca’s

Lisbon’s Praca’s (squares), which seemed to be around every corner, are full of their own unique black and white tiles, majestic statues, towering arches, and flowing fountains.

Wins & Losses

Wins

Learned how to say: please, thank you, and how to order coffee correctly in Portuguese.
Never twisted an ankle on the uneven tile streets
Never got on the Metro going the wrong way
Had gorgeous, sunny weather every day
Figured out how to reload (“zap”) our metro card with $ after only five tries (instructions were in Portuguese)
Loved exploring beautiful Lisbon!

Losses

We had a nice dinner at a “cash-only” restaurant, but had no cash
The bus stop outside our apartment was under construction, so we had to hoof it way down and way up an enormous, steep hill to go anywhere.
We’d just arrived in town and were starving. We ordered from a menu in Portuguese. We thought we ordered a sandwich, but it turned out to be tiny chunks of cod on a rock hard piece of toast. And it cost over 10 euros.