Lisbon, Portugal: Part 1

Posted on March 31, 2024  •  18 minutes  • 3742 words

What a feeling to be in Lisbon after 4 long months of winter! I had gone months with only leaving the house with fleece leggings under another pair of pants, except for that one mistake in Edinburgh. I assure you, it gets old! I was going to wear sandals, thin pants or capris, short sleeved shirts while keeping my warm weather clothes stuffed in the suitcase…or so I thought.

We climbed the very steep staircase up to the third level where our apartment was located. Not 3 sets of stairs with returns, no, just one long go. The rise/run would not pass code in the US. We got in and it was about what we expected…cozy, but it would work fine. The kids were so excited about the loft area and the bunk beds, however after sitting on the double bed in what was going to be our room, it was so uncomfortable, Dan and I claimed the 2 bottom bunks. It was also a miniature bed, that Dan wouldn’t have fit anyways. How can you have that bad of a bed (you could feel and hear the springs) and no one leave a review about it? We didn’t stay in the place long, just long enough to check out the view and moult some clothing.

We were so happy heading out, even though everything was closed due to it being Easter. Everything was beautiful and we just wandered with no plan. It had a bit of a San Francisco feel (never mind the fact that they stole the bridge, but more on this later). Lots of ups and downs and then the water would just jump out at you when you came to a street.

Water views and trams!

Surprise, surprise…we found a park.

The park had a small playground and lots of greenery, but the highlight was this tree. Instead of climbing the branches, the kids climbed the gigantic out of the ground roots.

We continued our wandering and marveled at the warmth, the views, and the tiled buildings. A lot of buildings, instead of being painted, were tiled. It gave so much more character to the building and probably kept the building looking better for longer. Sure they will fade, but not as fast as paint…or not as fast as the crappy paint on our Arizona house when we bought it.

Geographic patterns are always a hit with this family.

Streets continued to be empty, apart from a tourist here and there. Nothing creepy about this door knocker at all.

I really wanted a nice dinner and Dan went on the hunt. Options were low, but we figured there had to be some places open. He found a place that had a table, but had a reservation coming in 2hrs later. No problem for us with the kids. We took it and I wasted no time in ordering myself the mango-passion sour and lemonades for the kids. Dan, a true fan of vihno verde, ordered that…and tried to convince me to do a bottle with him. I was a hard ’no’ as I wanted 3 of the cocktails on the menu and still wanted to walk home.

The menu was amazing! We ordered the sea bream (catch of the day), cuttlefish, cod, octopus and prawns. Apart from the cod bing too salty, it did not disappoint! The sea bream was SO delicious and Dan and Ben were devouring the octopus. Max’s favorite was the cuttlefish and Sam’s the prawns.

Besides the fact that the table was marble (so every movement made so much noise) and the kids couldn’t stop dropping silverware, it was just what I wanted. Delicious seafood, cocktails and happy kids. Everyone was happy on the walk home and excited to see our friends the next day. On the stairs, half a block from our place, someone was growing vegetables in containers. We passed them at least once a day and it was so fun to watch them grow a bit by the time we left. I do wonder how many people steal then once the veggies are ripe.

The next morning we were treated with a beautiful view from our front room.

And a look the other way.

The kids and Dan only had boots, so Dan headed out to go look for some, without the craziness of kids in the store. I stayed back to do some school work and then headed out to meet Dan for lunch. Cool stuff everywhere you walked. Not much space, so was pretty happy the tram didn’t come by as we raced up the steps.

It was clear when we entered the touristy area AND it was no longer a holiday. SO many people and so much to see…including an old public elevator that was designed by a student of Alexandre Eiffel and completed in 1902. You can see the resemblance. The line was wrapped around the block and I noted to the kids that unfortunately, we would not be doing that. Cool to look at from below though.

We found Dan, who had successfully purchased a pair of shoes. We started walking together, walked past a place, were hungary and everything looked good in the window, so went in. Dan and all 3 kids got a salmon croissant and I got a veggie one.

We also got some giant sugar bomb thing that was kinda of a funnel cake/croissant/bear claw? I don’t know how to explain it, except delicious. It was not small.

We sat outside, in shorts, eating fish. Things were looking up! And Max found Spiderman. I feel I need to point out I know who it is or Dan will make fun of me. So, yes I know who it is, but Max was adamant and who am I to argue with a 4 year old, considering with things like this I am usually wrong?

Next stop was to get the kids shoes. We found a mall and first got some new pants that we knew we’d need in Finland, as Max and Sam were really skimping it on acceptable pants these days. Also got a 12 pack of socks that fit all kids. Then to the shoe store. Little kids in indoor soccer shoes…doesn’t get much cuter than that. Ben couldn’t find a pair that really fit, but Max and Sam did.

We strolled a bit, thinking we’d head back to our place to chill out a bit. Always a fan of plants in windows, but this felt next level. No pots, just planted in the window sill!

We had no idea when our friends were arriving and had assumed they would recover the first day after landing from a long flight (SFO). I’ve said ‘friends’ enough and maybe they deserve names. Jess and Dave are two of Dan’s really good friends from grad school that live in Santa Cruz now. Dave was the best man at our wedding. They have 2 kids, Maggie and Tom Tom/Tommy.

As we were just about to hang a right and head to our place to drop off stuff, Dan got a text that they were in their place, having tea and asked what we were up to. We were 3 blocks away! We headed that way and hung out in the plaza below their place as to not rush them. What’s the best thing to do, to avoid rushing someone…find a plaza that serves sangria! Note: Kids are in the background by the statue.

They all headed down, including Jess’ parents. So many hugs and then they joined us in finishing the first pitcher and we got another. Eventually we rounded up the kids and took a stroll down to the water. Jess has been here numerous times (her mom’s side of the family is from Lisbon) so we had a built in guide. Such a luxury after 9 months of the responsibility falling on Dan or me every day.

So peaceful being at the water, staring out over the river/bay. We walked along it for a bit as the kids ran around like dogs in a new place. And Dan and I were in heaven seeing and chatting with Jess and Dave.

We made it to a part that had steps down to a small sandy beach. Ben entices others to a rock skipping contest, which turned into Dan and Dave’s famous game of ‘Hit the Rock with the Rock’. I enjoyed walking on the sand (water was freezing), looking for beach glass. We stayed for a bit and it started to sprinkle, so we rounded up and headed to cover…the route taking us through a giant square that was extremely slippery with the wet marble. Not good planning for practicality, but it was pretty. Yes, even with the blue skies it was raining on us.

Rain lasted for all of 9 minutes and probably accumulated 0.0001cm…but it was enough to get us back into the town. We started the search for ice cream, to boost up some lagging kids. It wasn’t hard to find.

The Jess/Dave clan was low on energy and invited us back to their place for down time and dinner; however, with 5 kids, ‘down time’ is an oxymoron. Kids ran around like crazy, Jess napped and Dan, Dave and I hung out until we sent Dan to go get some Peruvian food for dinner. Decent empanadas, but I have REALLY high standards. We then took 3 unwilling kids home.

Assuming a slow start for Jess/Dave clan, I thought today would be a good day to take the historic Tram 28 rids in the morning. I read about the terrible lines and took the online advice to catch the tram at the ’end’…aka the end that isn’t in the touristy area. After walking by lots of delicious looking breakfast places the day before, I really wanted one to try one out. I found a place that was on the route to walk to the ’end’ of Tram 28. We got a table in the small place and Sam set up napkins for all of us.

Fresh squeezed orange juices, cappuccinos, smoothie, acai/granola bowl, salmon toast, avocado toast, breakfast burger…all amazing!

It was all so delicious AND pretty looking. :)

I was hooked and knew we’d be doing this a lot! We wrapped it up, almost licking the bowls and plates, and walked the last 15 minutes to the tram. There was a big cemetary at the stop and Dan wanted to check it out. Me too, actually…it had a bit of a Recoleta feel.

As long as I don’t know someone buried there, I always like walking through cemetaries. I love the history, the peacefulness and the different tombstones and mausoleums with their markings and designs. This one felt a bit like a maze as we just walked without a plan…walking towards areas we wanted to see more of.

Away from the entrance, maybe where older mausoleums were, there were lots that had broken glass panes or doors that were completely open. Ben was getting ideas for his ghost story and I was getting a little creeped out seeing the coffins just 10 feet away. What if there is an earthquake? They didn’t look secure on the upper shelves and Lisbon is in earthquake territory. We looped back around to the front where Dan was with the other kids. They tried to follow around some cats for a bit and then went to get in ’line’ for the tram. There were 3 people ahead of us. Tram pulled up, paid for 3 of us (Sam and Max were young enough to be free) and found seats.

It was fun for the kids, but I think I would have been fine without it. They loved when we got so close to cars (amazing we never hit one) and loved it even more when we went downhill. You’d think we were on a roller coaster listening to them.

The exciting part, the twists and ups/downs, was towards the end and I was ready to get off by the time we got there. Hopped off and felt pretty good about myself for starting at the other end as I saw the really long line to board.

We passed a shoe store right at the end and went in to get shoes for Ben. While we were in the store, we heard from Jess/Dave about meeting them at the castle in a bit. Dan went to find a cafe for a snack/lunch while I stayed with Ben while he tried on a lot of shoes. Finally, he decided on a pair and we headed out to find Dan. Lisbon is very hilly and we seemed to walk straight up stairs or on adorable cobblestone streets to reach him.

Dan picked a 5 star place. I am always skeptical of the legitimacy of these places, but it had enough reviews that it seemed okay. It was! Dan had ordered cappuccinos and sandwiches and had a table. I supplemented with a smoothie and a piece of coconut cake.

Fueled up, we headed up to the castle…more up. Never seems to be a block without a building worth taking a look at. Max really wanted to wear shorts today, but felt it was a little cold when he poked out on our balcony this morning. Crisis averted!

The championship game of ‘fill in the gaps with whatever you have lying around’?

Sam hit his head pretty hard on the side of the castle wall. He claims he was looking right where he was going yet still got hit by the unmovable wall. :)

He was fine 1 minute later when they found the way into the Ministry of Magic.

Jess/Dave clan had to stop for food too, so we had quite a bit of time to explore inside before they got there…which ended up being needed with the rain storm that got us later. There were views in every directions.

The castle had outer walls before you got into the central castle. We tried to stay in this outer area and save the castle for when everyone else got there.

My assumption was this was an old aqueduct or walkway that lost part of it, including the end that was creating the required compression to avoid collapsing. To save it, they put in a giant end cap with rod tieing it back into the building to replace the lost compression.

When I was in Lisbon about 13 years ago, we (my friend Pat and I) visited the castle and I took these two photos. I don’t remember taking them, but it seems quite clear…once an engineer, always an engineer.

Kids are always so interested in the cannons and there were plenty of cannons of all sizes to check out.

And a young me, 13 years ago! Sporting the Argentine jersey as we were on our way back from the World Cup in South Africa and most of my tops were jerseys. :)

Max taking notes his own way…with his own style.

In the courtyard, there were peacocks everywhere and a lot of them they were white in addition to the colors, not black like I had seen before. They were beautiful, but we kept our distance.

When I say they were everywhere, they were! There was a line for the bathroom, but the kids refused to use it as there were peacocks on the wall above and they didn’t want to get pooped on. We finally decided to head into the inner castle walls, crossing a nice bridge. Peacock below…we assumed it was positioning itself for the looming rain.

And for fun, me again!

It was pretty up there on our castle scale. Perched atop a hill, views, bridges, castle walls within the outer walls.

It was pretty open for access and we walked all around…never missing a chance to walk on top the castle walls.

We felt like we kept getting more into the center of the center…like a giant onion that you had to pass layer after layer. Makes sense to ward off the enemy…doesn’t make sense when you are trying to not lose a kid.

Max, never missing a chance to practice his arrow shooting.

And Sam, asking for pictures to be taken of him…and JUST him.

The rain came back. Notice who decided to put on their jackets and who did not! Actively raining, but kids claimed they wouldn’t get wet. Uh huh.

Dave/Jess clan messaged that they were arriving and Ben really wanted to stand over the bridge and pretend to pour hot oil and throw Greek fire at them. Luckily our stock was out and the kids just hid on a wall to surprise them. And then it really started raining. We walked back to the center of the castle and into a lookout tower. Maggie also brought a journal and they would have stayed here drawing forever if we let them. With the rain, they did get quite a while.

Rain wasn’t stopping, so we finally got rain jackets on everyone and did more castle exploring. We saw more peacocks and the kids ran around pointing out more things.

We finally called it and decided to head to a cafe. Dan found one and about 10 minutes later we walked inside the teeny place dripping wet. There were about 8 stools and barely space for those. There was no one else there, good thing, as we filled the place right up. We started ordering hot chocolates for the kids and coffees for adults. The barista was too sweet and as the kids were staring at her making it all, she invited them back to make their own.

A massive hit! Kids were too happy about this and she even showed Ben and Sam how to pour the milk in the cappuccinos to make designs.

Still very wet, we braved the weather again and headed home for a chill night.?????????????

The next morning we packed up a bag for the beach and headed to another breakfast place. Delicious once again. Sam went with a croissant and jam with a side of salmon. Ben got the salmon toast that also came with avocado and eggs. It was huge, so Sam ate half. I did the avocado toast again with sprout things and spices with a smoothie. This brings me SO much happiness.

We found a park by their place, which was also by the train station, and hung out there until they were ready. We had the huge bonus of not dealing with jet lag and were waking up much earlier than them. There were stalls for shopping around the perimeter, but still really limiting any new things that get added to our suitcases…unless necessary.

We hopped on a train that would take us along the coast (shore of the river actually) to Cascais. It was a popular train and we ended up with limited seats. Played some hangman on the floor with the kids, although I call it ‘Guess the word’ game.

We figured grandparents should get the seats, but kids took that as an opportunity to ‘share’.

And then we arrived! Warm sand, sun and we could finally moult off the final layers. It was the perfect beach day and we soaked it all in. Kids went right to work on sand building and running around in and out of the water. It was freezing, but I have learned 2 of my kids rarely feel no cold when it comes to water.

After a bit, I took a walk for some me time. Didn’t need long as just laying on the sand chatting with kids entertaining themselves was working for me too.

It was so refreshing and we all needed this. Kids needed friends and we did too. We hadn’t packed much food, so Jess and I walked to go find some. There was a restaurant right on the beach that seemed pretty easy, so we ordered 2 sides of fries and fruit. It was NOT enough. It was devoured by all and I went back to get 3 more fries. A bit later, we knew the kids were having so much fun and going to get real food was a bad idea. This time Dan and Dave went to get food and came back with all the makings for sandwiches and tons of fruit. Everyone was hungry and now we could stay for a bit longer.

We could see a ferris wheel in the distance, so when we finally wrapped it up, we headed that way. Along the walk, Sam found a wine store. ‘Mom! Take a picture for Daphne!" yelled Sam.

A nice little walk with more decorated cobblestone pathways.

At the ferris wheel, we found out you could buy a single ticket or buy the bucket that fit 6. The allowed Tommy to not count, so the dads took the 5 kids.

We waved to very happy kids as they came around each time. At that point, we had hit our limit…and no meltdowns yet. It had been a great day, a perfect day really, so we found the train station and headed back. Dave/Jess family were beat and headed home, but point us and their parents (and brother also, as he landed the day before) to some good restaurants in the Time Out Market; a massive indoor space that has the best of the best restaurants and chefs from the city.

You could have eaten there 3x a day for a month and still had food to try. Everything looked amazing on peoples trays walking to tables. We found the wall that was local chefs and Ben saw the word hamburger. Sam and Max wanted that too, so we went with that restaurant. I got a local chicken dish and everyone else got hamburgers.

Sangria and beer for the parents. With a beach day and no gelato yet, we found the gelato place and headed that way.

We took our ice creams on the road and ended up with cold kids as the temperature dropped and they were still in swimsuits. We hurried home, but not so fast that we skipped looking at a very interesting building.

And another one with a super open space that opened onto the sidewalk.

Made it home and all slept well. A full day all around. :)

Continued on Part 2: Lisbon