LISBOA 6/22-6/25
We were literally running on fumes as we left Madrid (and Jackson and Nikki) for Portugal. We were back on planes after weeks of trains, and we know us + airports don’t bode well. But everything went smoothly since we decided to be on the safe side and taxi to the airport! We landed in Lisbon early in the morning with a time change and only 3 hours of sleep. We didn’t even go out and still only 3 hours. Man. It’s rough.
Anyway, easy flight and we land and take the metro to the Airbnb. Once out of the metro we find out that Lisbon is steep! There are cable cars to get people around like SF (someone from Lisbon went to SF and brought back the idea), but boy we are burning a ton of calories walking up these hills. Oh also there is literally a Golden Gate Bridge. We are not kidding. It was the same architect and built like 3 years later, so yeah, it's SF. But much warmer! Our Airbnb was in the Bairro Alto District (the nightlife area) in a single room with a common bathroom and shared couch space. No AC :( fail. We dropped off our things and headed out with a free city map for breakfast. We found a place close by and finally had eggs served at breakfast! Woo no pastries! After filling up, we headed towards the water to get transportation to Belem, where we would see the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, the Torre de Belem, and the Padrao dos Descobrimentos, in that order. Along our walk in search of transportation, we found a huge jumbotron, food trucks, and bars set up for the World Cup in the Plaça de Comércio next to the port. We made sure to take note of game times so we could come back to watch.
We then boarded the metro to Belem. We started exploring the monastery’s large church that we could enter for free. Another church in Europe...groundbreaking. Then we had to wait in a long line though to get tickets for the monastery (where we also got tickets for the tower). The inside courtyard was beautiful and there was a cool historical exhibit called "A Place in a Time" with a timeline comparing major world events with the history of the monastery and the history of Portugal from 1425 to 2002. Very interesting. After leaving the monastery, we stopped at Pasteis de Belem (thanks @Faith for the rec!) for “egg tarts” better known as Pasteis de Nata. They are a local treat and very good, but different than what'd you expect. Grace expected a quiche but it's more like a dough bowl with custard filling, and charred a bit on top.
We then walked a bit to the Tower of Belem to wait in another line even though we had our tickets. For some reason, they wanted all of the 120 people in to leave before they let in more people. We don’t understand this system since people were leaving in waves. We made it in eventually and climbed the 93 steps for a view of the port and of Belem. The tower was originally a defense system and has a huge maritime focus. Afterward, we left Belem passing by the Padrao dos Descobrimentos statue/tower.
Back in Lisboa, we walked back to the Airbnb for our much needed nap! After two hours, we were ready to get back into the world. We were hungry since we skipped lunch and went to a food hall called Time Out (Thanks @Mariana for the rec!). It was very similar to the food market we went to in Amsterdam. We ordered burgers and watched the World Cup game while drinking Super Bock, a type of Portugal beer. At half-time, we headed to the Plaça we saw earlier to watch the game with the crowd. Here, we tried Portugal's other beer, Sagres. Both beers are plain light lagers. At the square, many were cheering for Switzerland. It was really fun to watch in with everyone! After Switzerland won, everyone was cheering. It was a great atmosphere! Yay watching soccer can be fun!
SINTRA 6/23
After getting a better night of sleep, we left the Airbnb for our day trip to Sintra (UNESCO site) (thanks @Anna and @Melissa for the rec)! Stepping out of the front door, we were greeted by tons of plastic beer cups littering the street. What happened here? Apparently we slept through tons of fun. We planned to find out more that night. We continued down the street watching street cleaners and trashmen working away on the early Saturday morning. We planned to go to the healthy breakfast place down the block but it wasn't open yet. Healthy breakfast quickly converted to donuts and chocolate croissants. We then boarded the train to Sintra! This is the first time our Eurail passes were accepted for a short train, woo! We had a helpful travel guide we planned on following: http://www.sintra-portugal.com/guides/Sintra-day-trip-from-Lisbon.html.
We got off the train in Sintra and hopped on the bus to the city center. (Side note: the link we used should be updated to say that the 434 bus costs €6.90.) On the bus, we met another American traveler- Jeff from Seattle. He has been spending some time in Europe and we shared stories, with him telling us what to do in Ireland and us telling him where to go in Sicily. Once on the bus, we decided to immediately go to the Pena Palace because it gets crowded fast and is the most beautiful and picturesque. We were able to walk right in with our prepaid tickets (pro tip: get tickets online, even day of!). We walked, instead of taking the tram, to the top of the palace. It really is not far, so it was much better than waiting in line. The palace was beautifully painted with red on some parts, yellow on others, and blue and white tile on others (tile to keep it cold in the summer). The tile is of Moorish style and came from the Arabian culture, and the influence continued after the Christian reconquest. We had taken a hiatus from Instagram photoshoots, but we were back at it in this location. We were at the palace right when it opened, so there were barely any people around. We got to really enjoy the beauty! We also paid to walk inside the palace. It has a courtyard in the middle lined with tiles. The palace was originally a monastery that was built in 1503. It was purchased by Ferdinand II in 1838 and converted into the palace between 1842 and 1857. In 1910, the palace was converted into a museum, and it became a UNESCO heritage site in 1995. Beautiful!
There were also amazing views because you are high above the city. We could see the Castillo de los Mouros (a Moorish castle) in the distance. It was a stronghold by the Moors to watch the ocean and the fertile land, as well as to watch out for the Christians in the North. The Moors were eventually overthrown by the Christian crusaders. The castle was left and became ruins. It was put back together in 1910 (at the same time as the restoration of the palace).
After seeing all of the palace, we took the bus to the city center. The National Palace of Sintra is located here. It was built a thousand years ago during Muslim control of the Iberian Peninsula. It belonged to the Portuguese Crown in 1147 when King Afonso (the first king of Portugal) conquered Lisbon. There is a lot of Moorish influence in the Palace- open-air internal patios, arched windows, and decorated geometric tiled surfaces. We walked through every room in the palace and most had a theme- the swan room (wooden panels with swans on them on the ceiling), the magpie room (painted birds on the ceiling), the galley room (sea vessels on the ceilings), etc. There is a beautiful room called the Blazons Hall with very intricate woodwork on the ceiling. It also is juxtaposed with the blue tile on the walls that we have seen everywhere else. As we walked throughout the palace, we came to the prison room of King Afonso. His brother ordered him to be held here for nine years. We always get reminders like these that we need to read up on the history. :) Also to note, the palace is known for its two coned towering chimneys from the kitchen. They are so interesting to look at and make the palace stand out.
After the palace, we walked around the city center looking for lunch. We were told to get almond pastries (thanks @Melissa for the rec!), so we made sure to do that before we’d forget. We went to Casa Piriquita. Afterward, we got lunch at Tasco do Xico and had delicious sandwiches with either beefsteak or cod fish (cod fish is the most popular in Portugal, even though they have to import it from Norway!). At the end of the meal, we were given cherry liquor called Ginjinha. It just takes like cold medicine. Because we need multiple courses every meal, we headed straight to gelato/pastries.
We then made our way (10min walk) to Quinta da Regaleira (thanks again @Melissa!). The mansion and grounds are amazing. We walked through the grounds first. It was starting to get hot in our stripped pants as we searched for the famous Initiation Well. We got a little lost even though the people at the front said to follow the signs. We ended up with a group of 5 all searching for the well. We finally found it and realized that we had actually passed it before (oops). If you ever go, it looks like a pile of mold covered rocks with people on top of them. That is the start of the well which has a winding staircase going down to the bottom; it's really cool that you can walk through the well! Check out a video online of it. At the bottom there are caves each leading somewhere else on the grounds: to a waterfall, to stepping stones, or to “tennis courts” (they didn’t look like tennis courts, just an open flat terrace). We explored all of the dark caves, grateful for the cool shade from the sun. After the caves we went into the mansion and then headed back to Sintra to catch the bus back to the station. This was an amazing day trip and a must-do if you visit Lisbon!
Back in LISBON
Btw, we thought we'd share some true travel facts so you truly understand our trip: our feet smell so bad. Grace has Teva’s and Emily has Allbirds. You should google it and see that everyone has issues with the smell, not just us! Google recommends soaking them in chemicals we do not have. So every day, after walking around for awhile, we come home and have to immediately take our shoes off and put them on the balcony. We then have to go to the shower and wash our feet. Every. Single. Time. Usually twice a day.
Anyway, after changing and showering from our day trip to Sintra, we headed over to Park Rooftop (thanks @Mariana!). This place does not exist on google or apple maps because it literally is the top floor of a parking garage (get it, "park" rooftop bar??). BUT maps.me does have a location for it so if you want to go, download the app. We get to the parking garage and blindly walk up the stairs to the top floor hoping to find a bar. We do! It was crowded and playing good music with lots of bars to order from. We order a pitcher of Sangria even though we did not have a place to sit. This time it was white wine sangria with fresh strawberries and oranges. It costs us €27... But honestly it was the best sangria we have had. We ate the fruit out of it like a fruit cocktail so it was also like an appetizer, right?? We found seats inside a covered area but of course wanted to be out under the sky. Grace went to look for a spot, while Emily stayed back at the current spot. If Grace hadn't come back in 3 minutes, Emily would go to her. We don't have data so we have to do things "old school." Luckily Grace found a spot and Emily received the signal! We had found a bench in the crowd and people-watched as the sun was setting. Too bad this rooftop bar did not have a tv so we could watch the World Cup game. Also new observation: everyone is wearing beaded sunglasses neck straps (croakies). It's a new fad, so buy one now so you can be cool and ahead of the crowd!
After finishing our sangria, we decided to watch the sunset from a park above the Gloria Elevator. Since we are staying in the nearby area, we were already at the top of the elevator. We were following our map to a big park and passed by a smaller lookout point with stands for drinks and food for the game. There was a tiny screen showing the World Cup and lots of people there. Little did we know, this is what we were looking for. Because we hadn't realized this, we grabbed some sangria and a plate of meat and cheese to take with us to this other park. We kept walking and tried to enter the park through a parking lot. This was not the entrance. Since it was clear we were missing the sunset, we finished our drinks and ate our food in a pretty empty gravel parking lot. Yes, this is the life of glamorous travel. As we walked back, we realize the first smaller park was the lookout point, and we could have just stayed there. Oops. Makes for a good story though.
As we headed back, we saw the nightlife beginning in our neighborhood. We decided to sleep for a few hours and check it out around 2am. At 2am we took a stroll around the area, seeing people drinking in the streets since the bars are so short and tiny. The streets are pretty filled with people. We did a quick walk and then headed back for some more sleep!
The next morning we slept in and then went to a healthy breakfast spot at the end of our street for food (avocado toast and parfait). We then headed across the city to S. Jorge's Castle to start our free walking tour with Discover Walks. It was just us and another couple as we toured the Alfama neighborhood. It is one of the oldest since it was built to protect the castle from invasion at the port (so small streets with no grid) and it mostly survived the 1755 earthquake which led most of the city to collapse and burn from candles and then get more destroyed by a tsunami. The guide showed us the tradition of the area and told us about the month of June, which is a celebration month, so no wonder there is so much decor up. Households build booths to sell food and drinks on the street and people party the entire month. There is also a parade on June 12 where each neighborhood competes in floats and dance. Alfama is the 4-time reigning champ and the most winningest neighborhood. After the tour, we went to "the" place to have the freshest fish in Alfama. It's called Pateo 13. We both had cod fish.
The tour ended at the bottom of the hill by the river/bay, so we had to hike back up the hill to get back to the castle to see it. Once inside the castle, we got brilliant views of the city and got to walk along the tops of the castle walls. In the distance, we could see the Santa Maria do Carmo church ruins from the 1755 earthquake. We later tried to go inside them but it's closed on Sundays. After our day touring Lisbon, we got one more Pastel de Nata and more gelato of course.
Later we headed back to the square to watch the 7pm game between Poland and Colombia. We love being here for the Cup. It was and citing ame watching Colombia score 3 goals. After the game, we went back to the Time Out Market. We wanted a lot of good food options since we were over the cod fish that is everywhere. We headed to bed after our late dinner.
We woke up to have one more walk along the river and had pastries and fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast before getting ready for our train to Porto. Unfortunately, the 12:09 pm train was full and the next train wasn't until 3:39 pm, so we went and sat at a mall by the station finishing up this post. Not what we expected for the day but at least this mall was nice with an outdoor terrace and a view of the river. After walking through the mall, we saw a movie theater playing Ocean's 8 at 1:30! We thought we have to sit here anyway so might as well see a movie! We saw most of it but couldn't stay for the last 10 minutes because of our train :( there was also an intermission in the middle of the movie, which was weird. But anyway, we're now on the train to Porto!
Our trip is sadly winding down, but make sure to keep checking back for the next few posts!
To be continued,
Emily & Grace
We were literally running on fumes as we left Madrid (and Jackson and Nikki) for Portugal. We were back on planes after weeks of trains, and we know us + airports don’t bode well. But everything went smoothly since we decided to be on the safe side and taxi to the airport! We landed in Lisbon early in the morning with a time change and only 3 hours of sleep. We didn’t even go out and still only 3 hours. Man. It’s rough.
Anyway, easy flight and we land and take the metro to the Airbnb. Once out of the metro we find out that Lisbon is steep! There are cable cars to get people around like SF (someone from Lisbon went to SF and brought back the idea), but boy we are burning a ton of calories walking up these hills. Oh also there is literally a Golden Gate Bridge. We are not kidding. It was the same architect and built like 3 years later, so yeah, it's SF. But much warmer! Our Airbnb was in the Bairro Alto District (the nightlife area) in a single room with a common bathroom and shared couch space. No AC :( fail. We dropped off our things and headed out with a free city map for breakfast. We found a place close by and finally had eggs served at breakfast! Woo no pastries! After filling up, we headed towards the water to get transportation to Belem, where we would see the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos, the Torre de Belem, and the Padrao dos Descobrimentos, in that order. Along our walk in search of transportation, we found a huge jumbotron, food trucks, and bars set up for the World Cup in the Plaça de Comércio next to the port. We made sure to take note of game times so we could come back to watch.
We then boarded the metro to Belem. We started exploring the monastery’s large church that we could enter for free. Another church in Europe...groundbreaking. Then we had to wait in a long line though to get tickets for the monastery (where we also got tickets for the tower). The inside courtyard was beautiful and there was a cool historical exhibit called "A Place in a Time" with a timeline comparing major world events with the history of the monastery and the history of Portugal from 1425 to 2002. Very interesting. After leaving the monastery, we stopped at Pasteis de Belem (thanks @Faith for the rec!) for “egg tarts” better known as Pasteis de Nata. They are a local treat and very good, but different than what'd you expect. Grace expected a quiche but it's more like a dough bowl with custard filling, and charred a bit on top.
We then walked a bit to the Tower of Belem to wait in another line even though we had our tickets. For some reason, they wanted all of the 120 people in to leave before they let in more people. We don’t understand this system since people were leaving in waves. We made it in eventually and climbed the 93 steps for a view of the port and of Belem. The tower was originally a defense system and has a huge maritime focus. Afterward, we left Belem passing by the Padrao dos Descobrimentos statue/tower.
Back in Lisboa, we walked back to the Airbnb for our much needed nap! After two hours, we were ready to get back into the world. We were hungry since we skipped lunch and went to a food hall called Time Out (Thanks @Mariana for the rec!). It was very similar to the food market we went to in Amsterdam. We ordered burgers and watched the World Cup game while drinking Super Bock, a type of Portugal beer. At half-time, we headed to the Plaça we saw earlier to watch the game with the crowd. Here, we tried Portugal's other beer, Sagres. Both beers are plain light lagers. At the square, many were cheering for Switzerland. It was really fun to watch in with everyone! After Switzerland won, everyone was cheering. It was a great atmosphere! Yay watching soccer can be fun!
SINTRA 6/23
After getting a better night of sleep, we left the Airbnb for our day trip to Sintra (UNESCO site) (thanks @Anna and @Melissa for the rec)! Stepping out of the front door, we were greeted by tons of plastic beer cups littering the street. What happened here? Apparently we slept through tons of fun. We planned to find out more that night. We continued down the street watching street cleaners and trashmen working away on the early Saturday morning. We planned to go to the healthy breakfast place down the block but it wasn't open yet. Healthy breakfast quickly converted to donuts and chocolate croissants. We then boarded the train to Sintra! This is the first time our Eurail passes were accepted for a short train, woo! We had a helpful travel guide we planned on following: http://www.sintra-portugal.com/guides/Sintra-day-trip-from-Lisbon.html.
We got off the train in Sintra and hopped on the bus to the city center. (Side note: the link we used should be updated to say that the 434 bus costs €6.90.) On the bus, we met another American traveler- Jeff from Seattle. He has been spending some time in Europe and we shared stories, with him telling us what to do in Ireland and us telling him where to go in Sicily. Once on the bus, we decided to immediately go to the Pena Palace because it gets crowded fast and is the most beautiful and picturesque. We were able to walk right in with our prepaid tickets (pro tip: get tickets online, even day of!). We walked, instead of taking the tram, to the top of the palace. It really is not far, so it was much better than waiting in line. The palace was beautifully painted with red on some parts, yellow on others, and blue and white tile on others (tile to keep it cold in the summer). The tile is of Moorish style and came from the Arabian culture, and the influence continued after the Christian reconquest. We had taken a hiatus from Instagram photoshoots, but we were back at it in this location. We were at the palace right when it opened, so there were barely any people around. We got to really enjoy the beauty! We also paid to walk inside the palace. It has a courtyard in the middle lined with tiles. The palace was originally a monastery that was built in 1503. It was purchased by Ferdinand II in 1838 and converted into the palace between 1842 and 1857. In 1910, the palace was converted into a museum, and it became a UNESCO heritage site in 1995. Beautiful!
There were also amazing views because you are high above the city. We could see the Castillo de los Mouros (a Moorish castle) in the distance. It was a stronghold by the Moors to watch the ocean and the fertile land, as well as to watch out for the Christians in the North. The Moors were eventually overthrown by the Christian crusaders. The castle was left and became ruins. It was put back together in 1910 (at the same time as the restoration of the palace).
After seeing all of the palace, we took the bus to the city center. The National Palace of Sintra is located here. It was built a thousand years ago during Muslim control of the Iberian Peninsula. It belonged to the Portuguese Crown in 1147 when King Afonso (the first king of Portugal) conquered Lisbon. There is a lot of Moorish influence in the Palace- open-air internal patios, arched windows, and decorated geometric tiled surfaces. We walked through every room in the palace and most had a theme- the swan room (wooden panels with swans on them on the ceiling), the magpie room (painted birds on the ceiling), the galley room (sea vessels on the ceilings), etc. There is a beautiful room called the Blazons Hall with very intricate woodwork on the ceiling. It also is juxtaposed with the blue tile on the walls that we have seen everywhere else. As we walked throughout the palace, we came to the prison room of King Afonso. His brother ordered him to be held here for nine years. We always get reminders like these that we need to read up on the history. :) Also to note, the palace is known for its two coned towering chimneys from the kitchen. They are so interesting to look at and make the palace stand out.
The white peaks in the background are the famous chimneys
After the palace, we walked around the city center looking for lunch. We were told to get almond pastries (thanks @Melissa for the rec!), so we made sure to do that before we’d forget. We went to Casa Piriquita. Afterward, we got lunch at Tasco do Xico and had delicious sandwiches with either beefsteak or cod fish (cod fish is the most popular in Portugal, even though they have to import it from Norway!). At the end of the meal, we were given cherry liquor called Ginjinha. It just takes like cold medicine. Because we need multiple courses every meal, we headed straight to gelato/pastries.
We then made our way (10min walk) to Quinta da Regaleira (thanks again @Melissa!). The mansion and grounds are amazing. We walked through the grounds first. It was starting to get hot in our stripped pants as we searched for the famous Initiation Well. We got a little lost even though the people at the front said to follow the signs. We ended up with a group of 5 all searching for the well. We finally found it and realized that we had actually passed it before (oops). If you ever go, it looks like a pile of mold covered rocks with people on top of them. That is the start of the well which has a winding staircase going down to the bottom; it's really cool that you can walk through the well! Check out a video online of it. At the bottom there are caves each leading somewhere else on the grounds: to a waterfall, to stepping stones, or to “tennis courts” (they didn’t look like tennis courts, just an open flat terrace). We explored all of the dark caves, grateful for the cool shade from the sun. After the caves we went into the mansion and then headed back to Sintra to catch the bus back to the station. This was an amazing day trip and a must-do if you visit Lisbon!
The stepping stones near a cave in the well. The green is water!
Walking down the well
Back in LISBON
Btw, we thought we'd share some true travel facts so you truly understand our trip: our feet smell so bad. Grace has Teva’s and Emily has Allbirds. You should google it and see that everyone has issues with the smell, not just us! Google recommends soaking them in chemicals we do not have. So every day, after walking around for awhile, we come home and have to immediately take our shoes off and put them on the balcony. We then have to go to the shower and wash our feet. Every. Single. Time. Usually twice a day.
Anyway, after changing and showering from our day trip to Sintra, we headed over to Park Rooftop (thanks @Mariana!). This place does not exist on google or apple maps because it literally is the top floor of a parking garage (get it, "park" rooftop bar??). BUT maps.me does have a location for it so if you want to go, download the app. We get to the parking garage and blindly walk up the stairs to the top floor hoping to find a bar. We do! It was crowded and playing good music with lots of bars to order from. We order a pitcher of Sangria even though we did not have a place to sit. This time it was white wine sangria with fresh strawberries and oranges. It costs us €27... But honestly it was the best sangria we have had. We ate the fruit out of it like a fruit cocktail so it was also like an appetizer, right?? We found seats inside a covered area but of course wanted to be out under the sky. Grace went to look for a spot, while Emily stayed back at the current spot. If Grace hadn't come back in 3 minutes, Emily would go to her. We don't have data so we have to do things "old school." Luckily Grace found a spot and Emily received the signal! We had found a bench in the crowd and people-watched as the sun was setting. Too bad this rooftop bar did not have a tv so we could watch the World Cup game. Also new observation: everyone is wearing beaded sunglasses neck straps (croakies). It's a new fad, so buy one now so you can be cool and ahead of the crowd!
After finishing our sangria, we decided to watch the sunset from a park above the Gloria Elevator. Since we are staying in the nearby area, we were already at the top of the elevator. We were following our map to a big park and passed by a smaller lookout point with stands for drinks and food for the game. There was a tiny screen showing the World Cup and lots of people there. Little did we know, this is what we were looking for. Because we hadn't realized this, we grabbed some sangria and a plate of meat and cheese to take with us to this other park. We kept walking and tried to enter the park through a parking lot. This was not the entrance. Since it was clear we were missing the sunset, we finished our drinks and ate our food in a pretty empty gravel parking lot. Yes, this is the life of glamorous travel. As we walked back, we realize the first smaller park was the lookout point, and we could have just stayed there. Oops. Makes for a good story though.
As we headed back, we saw the nightlife beginning in our neighborhood. We decided to sleep for a few hours and check it out around 2am. At 2am we took a stroll around the area, seeing people drinking in the streets since the bars are so short and tiny. The streets are pretty filled with people. We did a quick walk and then headed back for some more sleep!
The next morning we slept in and then went to a healthy breakfast spot at the end of our street for food (avocado toast and parfait). We then headed across the city to S. Jorge's Castle to start our free walking tour with Discover Walks. It was just us and another couple as we toured the Alfama neighborhood. It is one of the oldest since it was built to protect the castle from invasion at the port (so small streets with no grid) and it mostly survived the 1755 earthquake which led most of the city to collapse and burn from candles and then get more destroyed by a tsunami. The guide showed us the tradition of the area and told us about the month of June, which is a celebration month, so no wonder there is so much decor up. Households build booths to sell food and drinks on the street and people party the entire month. There is also a parade on June 12 where each neighborhood competes in floats and dance. Alfama is the 4-time reigning champ and the most winningest neighborhood. After the tour, we went to "the" place to have the freshest fish in Alfama. It's called Pateo 13. We both had cod fish.
View of Alfama, the old city. The dome you see is their Pantheon where many famous people are buried. In fact, Ronaldo might be buried there (in a very long time).
The steeps hills! And you can also see the decorations up for the month of June.
The tour ended at the bottom of the hill by the river/bay, so we had to hike back up the hill to get back to the castle to see it. Once inside the castle, we got brilliant views of the city and got to walk along the tops of the castle walls. In the distance, we could see the Santa Maria do Carmo church ruins from the 1755 earthquake. We later tried to go inside them but it's closed on Sundays. After our day touring Lisbon, we got one more Pastel de Nata and more gelato of course.
Later we headed back to the square to watch the 7pm game between Poland and Colombia. We love being here for the Cup. It was and citing ame watching Colombia score 3 goals. After the game, we went back to the Time Out Market. We wanted a lot of good food options since we were over the cod fish that is everywhere. We headed to bed after our late dinner.
We woke up to have one more walk along the river and had pastries and fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast before getting ready for our train to Porto. Unfortunately, the 12:09 pm train was full and the next train wasn't until 3:39 pm, so we went and sat at a mall by the station finishing up this post. Not what we expected for the day but at least this mall was nice with an outdoor terrace and a view of the river. After walking through the mall, we saw a movie theater playing Ocean's 8 at 1:30! We thought we have to sit here anyway so might as well see a movie! We saw most of it but couldn't stay for the last 10 minutes because of our train :( there was also an intermission in the middle of the movie, which was weird. But anyway, we're now on the train to Porto!
Our trip is sadly winding down, but make sure to keep checking back for the next few posts!
To be continued,
Emily & Grace
Loved the post and history lesson 👩
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