The last day in Lisbon was meant to be spent on a boat on the river Tagus, but instead we retraced our steps from the night before, questioning everyone about my missing purse. This is how we ended up at Santa Justa Elevator once again and this time the queue wasn’t so long so we got to ride it to the top.
(the view from the top, as I said before, not very impressive)
I tried to report the purse as missing, out of breath from climbing Lisbons hills I finally found a police station. The only English-speaking police officer there said there is a special police station specifically for tourists. He used my mobile phone to google and show me where it is :D I asked him to stop a taxi and ask the taxi driver to take us there and finally we found it. Unfortunately we had only 15 minutes left before we had to leave to the airport, so after all the rushing around I couldn’t even report the loss.
*Travellers tip: Try not to lose anything valuable whilst in Lisbon, but if it happens, then know that there is a special tourists police station at Praça dos Restauradores, in the Palácio Foz building, 1200-187 Lisboa, telephone number: (+351) 213421623. Apparently there are loads of pickpockets in Lisbon, especially on the public transport and around the biggest attractions (as normal).
Molly had to navigate the taxi driver to our hotel in his own city, luckily we got to know Lisbon very well whilst running around to look for my purse.
We also had an “adventure” on the Lisbon metro when it broke down in a tunnel and we were stuck inside for about half an hour. But I am not gonna bore you with this story, watch a funny video I took on the metro on our way to the airport instead ———>
It is a short 30 minute journey from Sintra to Lisbon. We stopped to see the magnificent Jeronimos Monastery, built in thanks to the Virgin Mary for Vasco de Gama’s successful voyage to India. If you are into churches and architecture you should definitely visit the monastery, but plan at least half a day for it, as it is massive.
*Travellers tip: if you are tempted to buy an ice-cream in front of the monastery, the white one isn’t a vanilla flavour, it is lemon!
Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, it is
situated at the mouth of the Tagus River and it is spread across steep hillsides. It felt like I was in a city built for giants, everything seemed huge, roads were wide, it felt spacious and empty. Lisbon is also the city of countless traffic lights, there was nearly no traffic on the roads and the number of traffic lights we thought was absurd.
We parked in the city centre and quickly jumped on a pretty bright-yellow old-fashioned tram to go to the top of Lisbon.
The tram was stuffed with tourists, the journey wasn’t as exciting and picturesque as I expected. I loved to see the electric Tuk Tuk’s taking tourists on tours and would love to go on one next time I visit.
*Travellers tip: use the public transport when in Lisbon. A daily travel card costs 6 Euros and is valid for 24 hours starting at the moment you firstly use it and can be used for all sorts of transport including boats. Prices for individual trips: bus 1.8€, tram - 2.85€, metro - 1.40€, train Lisbon-Cascais (or Sintra) - 2.15€.
We got lost several times whilst trying to return the rented car but Molly is a hell of a driver and I am a hell of a navigator. At about 4pm we successfully gave the car back feeling lucky not to be charged for the scratch on the bumper.
The sun was hot and the walk was long. Two hours later we found the guest house
Palacio Vila Flor we were staying in for the night and I finally had a frosty ice-cold bottle of portugese beer in my hand. The girls Katia and Susanna at Palacio Vila Flor were so nice to book us a table at a fado club in Alfama neighbourhood and arrange a vegetarian dinner for me.
We then took the metro (empty just like the streets of Lisbon) and went to see Santa Justa Elevator. This was the biggest mistake I made on this holiday because I got my purse stolen, which had inside all my money and documents.
Santa Justa is a lift that connects the lower streets of the Baixa with the higher Largo do Carmo. It is just an old vertical lift with a little platform on the top from where you can see the roofs of Baixa, the historical part of Lisbon.
Whilst queueing for the Elevator my gut was telling me I shouldn’t be doing this, I was in such a bad mood. At 9pm the elevator broke (or something like this) so we gave up and took a taxi to the fado club.
We returned to Santa Justa the following day (which I will tell you about in my next blog post) to find out it was no special view and definitely does not deserve 1-2 hours queueing.
*Travellers tip: You can easily access Santa Justa Lift from the upper level (from Largo do Carmo) where you can enter without queueing at all!
On the way to the fado club in the taxi I discovered my purse was missing. I ordered my omlette at the club on a downer.
Now let me tell you about the fado music. Fado is the soul of Portugal.
Passionate voices of fado singers soar in the night of the old taverns in the Alfama neighborhood of Lisbon. Soulful and haunting, fado (meaning “fate” in Portuguese) fado songs are often about love and loss. The singer is called “fadista” and is often a woman dressed in black, singing with great drama, accompanied by a Portuguese guitar player and a classical guitarist.
We spent the night in Viela do Fado, a small fado pub that gives you a sense of intimacy. The experience for me was unforgettable and deeply moved me, but unfortunately did not impress especially Molly, who was worn out by climbing the hills of Lisbon and nearly fell asleep on the table.
In conclusion I must say that if I was born in Portugal I no doubt would have become a fado singer. I am planning to learn a fado song and perform it at home to some lucky people ;-) after a few bottles of wine!
Molly spotted an interesting picture of a beautiful gothic building in a magazine in the hotel, so we googled it and found it was located very close to our hotel. And voila we headed to Quinta da Regaleira, another diamond in Sintra’s treasure chest.
The palace is only 100 years old and there were lucky people living there just 30 years ago! It was built by the millionaire
António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro who would be my uncle if life was fair.
The property consists of a romantic palace and chapel, a luxurious park with lakes, grottoes, beautiful trees, benches and fountains. А keen photographer could spend days and nights taking pictures of this place. I obviously went and forgot my camera in the hotel. As the English say, I could forget my head if it wasn’t screwed on. VIVA smart phones!
My top favourite spot in the whole palace, a dream for a secret garden with mystical tree and stone benches —–>
Look at this tower through the curved branches of the tree and the flowers of the exotic magnolia. It look like the castle where the sleeping beauty slept her hundred-year sleep. —>
*Traveller tip: Quinta da Regaleira opens at 10am (pretty much like everything in Portugal), there are large groups of tourists which form a long queue very quickly, so worth going half an hour before the opening times.
Molly was extremely busy organising the delivery of 3 bottles of washing up liquid for her job back home she lost interest in photographing me, so here is a selfie. —>
Oooops, I meant to post this —->
If you have a romantic soul you will love this magical place.
From Cascais and Praia do Guincho we took off to Cabo da Roca, the most westerly point of mainland Europe. Up until the 14th century it was thought to be the very edge of the world.
There is a lighthouse, coffee shop and gift shop but nothing much else. The biggest attraction for me there was the shop where you can buy a post card and stamp it with a special stamp, confirming you have been there. Apparently the gift shop offers a novelty gift, a personalised and hand written certificate confirming your have visited Cabo da Roca, unfortunatelly I have found this just now whilst writing my blog, otherwise I would have bought it. They should advertise it better and then maybe they’ll get a bit more money to develop the place.
It finally was time to visit Sintra. Sintra was the main reason I chose Portugal for this short Easter break. With its glittering palaces and beautiful gardens located high in the mountains, hidden behind exotic trees and flowers, Sintra is like a place from a fairy tale.
Sintra is a must-do trip and if time is not an issue, has enough allure to keep you there for several days. Sintra is known for its many 19th-century Romantic architectural monuments, which has resulted in its classification as a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site. There are loads of palaces and gardens there and sadly we could only visit the National Palace of Pena for the short time we had in Sintra. I shall definitely return to Sintra one day to see everything.
The Pena Palace is a romantic castle that was construced after an apparition of Virgin Mary, according to the tradition. It looks almost unreal in its bright red and yellow painted walls and towers.
Go during the week if you can as the crowds are masive and photographing tourists pop up around every corner. There are three not very big car parks close to the palace and I would recommend driving to and parking at one of them. You need to be a pretty skilled driver if you want to drive in Sintra. The roads are extremely narrow with wide and deep ditches and hundreds of cars parked along.
When buying your entrance tickets for Pena Palace don’t pay 3 Euro for a shuttle from the gate to the castle. It is a steepy walk up a hill but it is not very long (about 10 minutes) and the shuttle buses are a mockery, I am talking sardines.
*Travellers tip: don’t forget your legs at home when you visit Sintra and Lisbon, you will need them.
After Pena Palace we headed to the hotel I booked in the centre of Sintra for a batteries charge, food and some rest.
Next time I wouldn’t stay in the town centre as most hotels haven’t got a sufficient car park spaces and if you are renting a car it is very likely you end up with a scratched rear bumper as we did. Also check is your breakfast included in the hotel price.
It is very nice to have a walk around the village of Sintra. Тhe narrow cobblestone streets packed with tiny souvenire shops and restaurants are charming. But if you are a vegetarian you’ll have to satisfy your hunger with Italian dishes and wine. Also, don’t assume that you’ll get a pint of beer when you order A beer.
After a beautiful breakfast at the Fortaleza do Guincho’s Michelin starred restaurant —–>
we took a walk to Guincho beach.
It is difficult to describe something so amazing. The warming sunshine, the softness of the sands and the voice of the Atlantic ocean give you the feeling of an enormous happiness growing and exploding in your tummy.
It was the first time I dipped my feet in the Atlantic and even the cold water could not wake me up from this happy dream.
Praia do Guincho (Guincho beach) is located 5 km from the town of Cascais.
The main attraction are the massive waves and constant breeze that are ideal for surfing. I wish I was a prefessional surfer.
(those are surfers in the water, not rocks)
Guincho beach also provided us with a special light perfect for selfies :D so spent about an hour trying Molly’s “beauty face” camera mode.
Whilst taking silly selfies a dog stole our shoes and dragged them into the ocean. Do you know how difficult it is to put on a soaked up trainer? Do you know how painful it is to walk wearing wet trainers? It is v-e-r-y painful.
*Travellers tip: do not leave your shoes unattended when travelling abroad!
I travelled to Lisbon this Easter to meet my friend Molly, who flew from my own home country Bulgaria. It was a first visit to Portugal for both of us and we had only three days to make the most of it.
Although I was expecting a nice sunny weather I was definitely unprepared for the hot, sticky Portugal. At the London airport I was happy to be wearing my trainers, but here I realised I needed flip flops. Don’t complain Eva, I thought, be happy it is April, not August.
Molly and I rented a car to take us to the Lisbon’s coast, but stopped at the pretty Belem Tower for a little wander around and luckily found some drinking water.
*Remember if you visit a hot country to always have a bottle of water with you, unlike Molly and I!
Molly had a treat for me, she had booked a room in a luxury 5 star hotel!
Fortaleza do Guincho was built as a fortress in the 17th century, now renovated as a premium 5 star hotel and Michelin Starred restaurant. The hotel is dramaticaly set leaning over the Atlantic ocean and overlooking the amazing Guincho beach. Have a peak inside our room —–>
What wonderful friends I am blesed with heh!!
Then we witnessed an incredibly beautiful sunset over Guincho beach and it was done, it was absolutely and completely done - I have fallen in love with Portugal <3
