Dawn and Jeff had been hearing about the beauty of Portugal from their Irish friend, Ann for years. They finally got a plan together to meet Ann and her partner, Ru to see for themselves! They flew from Minneapolis to Paris on April 16th where they barely made their connection to Lisbon!
They caught a cab to their rented apartment and found Ann and Ru relaxing at a café on the corner of the block. Hugs all around led to coffee and amazing pastry with custard and a burned top like crème brûlée. Turns out these pastries are available everywhere as a sort of trademark for the area.
They fought jet lag by walking a few blocks to the pier, along the waterway. There was a skyway tram which afforded amazing views of the city. That evening, they celebrated Ru’s 70th Birthday at a restaurant called Fado. The owner gave such individualized attention, it was amazing. There were two menu options – a seafood boil type thing or pork and scallops. There was a charcuterie board waiting upon arrival, then they brought pasta and a seafood. Next came the main dish which was served with a cilantro rice. The wine was kept flowing, then they brought a fruit cup thing and a custard dessert which was amazing too. The name of the place comes from a style of Portuguese music. Diners were entertained by a guy with a classical guitar, one with a “Portuguese” guitar and a woman singer. Then they came out with a chocolate mousse for Ru. It was not dinner but a dining experience. It was 12:30 pm Lisbon time upon returning to the apartment so the tired travelers crashed after being up some 36 hours!
The group packed up, fetched a rental car and headed to the next destination – Porto area. Along the way, one interesting thing noted is all the power towers had dozens of huge stork nests on each tower.
The first stop on the trip was Our Lady of Fatima shrine where three children were said to have seen Mary and other miracles. There is a basilica which was very beautiful and where all three children are buried. There was a huge courtyard that appeared to be larger than St. Peter’s Square. Where normally the square is packed with Pilgrims, this time of year, it was nearly empty.
The condo was near Azurara which was toured by foot. Much walking (18,000 steps) netted a nice bakery for lunch, a sidewalk café for a beer, a street market where a table runner and some place mats were purchased. Gelato was perfect on a beautiful 70ish degree day. Many fellow tourists were walking the Camino – Dawn stopped into a chapel with some others to get a stamp in her actual passport since she didn’t have a Camino passport.
The next day started at a marina in Porto to take a boat cruise up the Douro River. It was a small 22’ or so boat piloted by a young man and woman. They explained all about the area as the foursome soaked up the sun and sights along the river and sipped 3 different types of Port wine. It ended up being a private tour! After, they walked along the river and checked out the street vendors who create quite a crowd!
The following day, the group packed up and drove about ½ of the way to Estoril. There was a small city, Figueria da Foz, with a big dike, great beach and a lighthouse at the end of the dike. They walked out to it and watched a ship that was dredging the opening of the harbor which was cool. They enjoyed some gelato and stunning views.
Their last apartment was in Estoril. They happened upon a restaurant that produced one of the best meals of the trip. It was pork loin, marinated in lemon and olive oil and seasoned with salt & pepper then grilled. It sat on a sweet potato puree with mustard and was served with veggies that were like a warm cold slaw – it was out of this world. Back at the apartment the card game, SKYJO was played like most nights as it had been a hit on the trip.
The next day featured a drive to Cascais. They wondered through the streets of shops, down to the beach, checked out boats in the marina and people watched. It was high 70's out and featured the bluest sky ever. Ironically, they found an Irish pub with a balcony like a crow’s nest to sit and have a drink and people watch for a bit before having a lovely dinner in a sidewalk café.
Next up was a visit and tour of the National Palace of Sintra. This is a pre-eighteenth century royal palace. Getting there was interesting. The streets resemble San Fran – windy, very steep and so, SO narrow.
The last full day happened to be Dawn’s birthday. She chose to do a bike tour of Lisbon. They left an hour early to be on the safe-side, but with traffic, it ended up taking over 90 minutes – needless to say, they missed the tour… Sometimes, God has other plans – better plans. While sitting in a sidewalk café near the bike meeting point, the owner of the tour company messaged that he had another guide who could lead the tour. As it turned out, the guide had just the group of four on the tour AND he upgraded them to E-Bikes because he said it would be too hot that time of day. He was fabulous as were the bikes. They stopped at a local market, a place that reminded one of Dallas’ West End, called LX Factory. It was an area that used to be mostly clothing factories that were eventually abandoned. The space had been reinvented and filled with restaurants and shops where mainly locals went. They stopped to try the “Original” custard pastries which were supposed to be a made from a Monk’s recipe. Next, they saw the monastery, the Monument of the Discoveries on the bank of the Tagus River estuary, and a bridge by the same designer as Golden Gate Bridge. It was a lovely 75-degree day with sunshine and a cool breeze.
For dinner, they wandered around, found a small place on a corner, looked at the menu and thought, ‘this looks good’. They went in and were asked if they had a reservation – they didn’t. She said wait a minute, went to check, then came back and told them they were in luck, they had a cancellation. By 8:00, the place was FULL of locals. After a delicious meal that was like a cheesy steak roll up, they brought Dawn a custard with a candle and sang “Happy Birthday”. It was a perfect end to a fabulous birthday.
They say all good things must come to an end… and so it was with this trip. April 25 is a sort of Independence Day for Portugal, so this was a long weekend for most people making people watching so interesting. At the airport, they checked in, had coffee, visited duty free and then got separated in the immigration lines. Dawn hoped to meet and wait with Ann at the gate, but by the time Dawn and Jeff got through, Ann and Ru had already boarded. It was probably just as well as they were thus spared a teary good-bye.
Dawn and Jeff can’t thank Ann and Ru enough for organizing the trip and playing tour guide. Their company was fabulous and memories to last a lifetime were made.