A Trip To Central Portugal

I have just returned from my second trip to Portugal, and based myself in Lisbon again. But this time I honestly did not spend much time in this city. I was in Lisbon on my first day and for half of my second day. One thing I noticed is that Lisbon has become sooooo touristy compared to when I went there 5 years ago! It is also a lot more expensive…but there are still some things that will always remain cheaper (coffee, wine, local transport)

Anyway…keep scrolling to hear about my week in Central Portugal.

Lisboa

(Please note: If you are viewing from a mobile device, you can can tap the photo above and swipe right to view more photos)

So all of the above pictures are from the first day of my trip. I wandered around the São Jorge Castle area which is on the highest hill in Lisbon. It was also very hot when I arrived and that made the walk even harder. So instead of going into the castle, I went to Casa Portuguesa do Pastel de Bacalhau where I had a glass of port and a pastel de bacalhau. I didn’t even realise it was possible to get white port wine until this trip. Later in the day, I went to the Mercado de Santa Clara which is next to the Pantheon. It’s better to buy souvenirs from here because you can get cheaper deals on some things. Then I had Sardinhas assadas for dinner and went to hibernate after being awake since 4am.

Lisboa

What is Portugal famous for? pastéis de nata. The taste really does vary depending on where you go. I had the worst one at a bar on the beach, and the best one can be seen in the photo above. Seriously…you need to visit Fábrica da Nata at 8am in the morning for the best ones. They come fresh out of the oven and you can see them being made from scratch. Deliciosa! Also, can you believe that after 2 trips to Lisbon I still haven’t been on the Elevador de Santa Justa? I just snapped a photo of it (above) but the crowds were not appealing. I tend to avoid places that have crowds. But surprisingly “A ginjinha” was not crowded despite being the oldest cherry liquor bar in Lisbon. I decided to get a shot of ginjinha with the cherries inside which was nice.

Fátima

Fátima is quite a sacred city in central Portugal. I was given 2 hours there as part of a tour and honestly did not have much interest in staying long. I went inside the church and then wandered around the shops a little bit. Then it was time to eat some lunch and I chose to eat bitoque.

Nazaré

This is a beautiful beach town! It is known for surfing and also has the highest waves in Europe. The waves in general are very big in Portugal. One of the pictures above shows a local woman drying fish with salt. The beach in Nazaré really does smell like fish because of this (haha) There is also a cable car that takes you from the beach up into the town centre.

Óbidos

Óbidos is a cute walled town in central Portugal. It is basically Portugal’s version of “Civita di Bagnoregio” in Italy. This place was one of the highlights of my trip. I came across some of the friendliest people I have ever met in Portugal. Most of them don’t speak English at all but they will still try their best to help you. Ginjinha actually originates from this area in Portugal, so it was nice to try it traditionally served in a chocolate cup.

Beach days: Carcavelos & Cascais

I spent 3 days on the beach during this trip. It was glorious! soaking up all that sunshine, sipping on caipirinhas, reading a book, and eating seafood. I went once to Cascais which is a popular beach town I’ve visited before on a different trip. I ate some grilled octopus and it was so nice! also…I got into a conversation with some random American guy who was sitting at the table next to me. We were just talking about the differences between Europe and America. Solo travel generates the best conversation with random people. Carcavelos Beach was visited 2 days in a row because the sun was just calling me. I did a lot of reading and sleeping on this beach. Erm…I also got slapped in the face by a wave (and I’m not even exaggerating) The waves in Portugal are vicious!

I hope you enjoyed my little summary of my week in Portugal 🙂 Next time it will either be Porto or Algarve!