10 Weeks in Portugal – Lisbon

Prologue 

On February 28, 2022, my husband Steve and I embarked on our first international trip since the COVID-19 lockdown.  We were beyond excited to get back to Europe!  We have long planned that once or twice a year, we would take a slow travel adventure for 3-6 months at a time.  While we have been to many, many places in Europe and beyond, we could only be away from home/work for 3 weeks or less and have yearned to spend more time, living like a local vs being a tourist.

For those of you who are not familiar, US citizens can only spend 90 days in the Schengen area of Europe and then have to exit for 90 days. So, you can spend 90 out of 180 days in the collective Schengen countries. (you should exit on day 89 to be sure). There are penalties for overstaying your Visa, such as being banned from entering again, so plan carefully.

We decided to spend 10 weeks in Portugal for our first adventure. The remaining two weeks we had available were left open.

It turned out to be easier said than done to stay in one place long enough to live like a local for a travel agent who wants to see everything, so we were tourists, but we were able to take time to relax, explore at an easy pace, work as needed, rest, get to know our neighborhoods very well, and even meet some new friends.  I did take online European Portuguese (not Brazilian!) lessons for several months, but the month before we left was so busy with work and getting ready to go, that I forgot most of it by the time we got there. While we managed to get by without knowing much Portuguese, it would have been very helpful to know at least the fundamentals during our trip.

We covered a lot of ground in those ten weeks, so I will try to break up my Blogs into manageable pieces.

We stayed 2 weeks to a month in 4 different geographic areas of Portugal to use as a home base for exploring the areas within a couple of hours.

Our home bases were

2 weeks           Lisbon

2 weeks           Faro - Algarve

1 month           Caldas de Rainha – Silver Coast

2 weeks           Porto

Lisbon was jam-packed with awesome things to do and see, so I will break it into segments. This one is:

LISBON – DAY 1

We arrived in Lisbon on March 1, 2022, at 7:45 am.  We weren’t the only ones who had decided to travel, there was a HUGE crowd, and a 2-hour wait to get thru immigration! We had to wait until 11 am to drop off our bags at our apartment, so we rested at an airport cafe, then took a cab into town (about 30 Euros). We were pleasantly surprised that we could check in early, so we unpacked a bit and then set out to explore the neighborhood. 

Our apartment was a lucky find. It was a 3rd-floor apartment in a modern building with a lift.  It was furnished nicely and appeared to be newly remodeled. The bathroom was a good size and very nice. The bedroom had a comfortable bed and lots of storage. There was a sectional sofa and a dining room table in the living area, and the large screen TV even had Netflix and many English-speaking TV stations!  The kitchen had everything we could need, except ice cube trays. We were told to buy ice at the store. We had many things we would not see again in Portugal, AC and heat and a clothes washer/drier combo. We even had a dishwasher, but we didn’t use it. We were very comfortable for the two weeks we stayed there.

The location of our apartment was excellent, technically in the neighborhood of Mouraria, on the border of Baxia and Alfama.  We were across the street from the Martim Moniz Square and Metro Station in an area that is known as one of the most multi-cultural areas of Lisbon. It was March 1, but the area was buzzing with activity with what appeared to be locals going about their day. The famous Tram 28 starts on this square, at the foot of the Castelo Sao Jorge. While it has more of a local feel than other more well-known areas of Lisbon, it is literally a block to both Alfama and Baxia, and a few more to Bario Alto/Chiado, Restauradores/ Avenida de la Libertad. We were across the street from the Mundial Hotel, known for scenic vistas from its rooftop bar, a short block from a nice Continente grocery store, and surrounded by bakeries, local restaurants, shops, and food markets. Just around the corner was Figueroa Square with the Rossio Metro station and one block from the Rossio train station. The main pedestrian avenue, Rua Augusta which leads to the famous arches, Arco da Rua Augusta, on the Lisbon waterfront was just a few minutes' walk from our apartment. It might have taken 15 minutes at most to walk to the Tagus River from our apartment.  We also took notice of the huge staircase next to the apartment, leading to the street above.  We understood that was a notice that Lisbon is a very hilly city.

The first order of business was to get our Metro passes, so we headed to the Martim Moniz station.  We had a bit of trouble figuring out what to choose at the machine, but a nice lady who worked there, helped us out and we got our passes and learned how to refill our cards.

By now we were feeling a bit peckish, so decided to get a bite to eat.   

Right next door to our apartment was a Pastelaria (bakery), Nata Fina, so we went there for lunch. We introduced ourselves to the staff since we will probably be regulars. Steve ordered Bacalhou a Bras (accent over a) codfish and shredded potatoes cooked in olive oil with egg, (and salad as garnish) and I went to look at the selection in the shop. Nuno, behind the counter, patiently told me what was in several items that looked "lunch-like". I ordered ham and cheese in a flaky pastry. Peter, our waiter said it was called a Miranda (picnic) so I guess people get those to eat on the go. There were several combinations on offer. The food was really good! I also got a wine (huge portion), Steve got a big beer and we got two Pastel de Nata for dessert (small egg custard tart, famous in Lisbon) total of 20 Euros. We forgot to take pictures of our food.

After lunch, we went to get some groceries and supplies, at the Continente grocery across the street from the square. We wandered around looking at everything, not knowing what exactly we were looking at. LOL. We got some basic supplies for the apartment, some kind of cheese and sandwich meat, some bread, Hellman’s Mayo, (yeah) coffee, etc, then stood in the wine section staring at rows of wine that we had no knowledge of. We decide to buy a variety of types, all under 10 Euro, most under 5 Euro. We could not find ice or ice cube trays.  The total grocery bill was under 30 Euros. (we got the wrong size coffee pods – hint, take one that was provided with you so you can get the right size for your coffee maker).  Stopped by an Asian grocery store a few doors down from the apartment in the other direction and found a bag of ice and bought some paper expresso cups to make ice cubes.

Got home, put away the groceries, and called it a day.  Went to pour a glass of wine and found the wine opener in the apartment had seen its end of days. Luckily, I always pack a wine opener, so we were good to go.

I just have to say, travel sooner than later. Our bodies are not as resilient as they once were.  We were laughing and crying at how tired and achy we were.  But we know from experience that this too shall pass, and we will bounce back after a good night’s rest and some more exercise.

           (Corkscrew is next to what was to become my favorite wine, JP from the Alentejo, 2.99 Euro)