Tag: Lisbon

Walking further along on the tour we stopped at a church in the heart of downtown Lisbon, Igreja de Sao Domingos. The start of this church began in 1241. The columns, tall ceilings, and ornate carvings are all symbols of the original medieval architecture. It survived two earthquakes, one in 1531 and then the Great Earthquake of 1755. Both earthquakes altered how the church looked. After being rebuilt to its full glory it suffered a devastating fire in 1959. After the fire, the church was a gutted shell – with charred beams and burnt debris everywhere. All the treasures, relics,…

When visiting a city like Lisbon, with so much history, it is important to try and learn as much as possible. I found the Lisbon Walker tour company (www.lisbonwalker.com) that offered a tour called Revelation that spent three hours exploring all of Lisbon. We met our tour guide Jose first thing in the morning. He has been doing tours with the company since 2005. He was fantastic. Our tour started at Praca do Comercio. This area faces the harbor and is one of the largest plazas in Lisbon. Just 40 years ago this plaza was used as a parking lot.…

It is important to start the day off with a great breakfast. That is exactly what we did at Fabrica da Nata. It was an amazing place. It smelled wonderful when you walked in. They were making the pastel de nata’s right in front of everyone. They were making ham and cheese one while we were there but we did not get to try them since they were not ready yet. They offered great breakfast prices. We each got a ham and Swiss croissant or baguette, a café latte, and a pastel de nata and the total came to under…

The one thing about Lisbon that you will notice right away is there are pastry shops on every corner. The Portuguese definitely have a sweet tooth.  We stopped at Pastelaria Ferrari because this café had their pastries on display in the windows and they looked so delicious. We got a table and started off by ordering cappuccinos. These were freshly made with beautiful foam swirls on top with a sprinkling of cinnamon. The pastry that caught our attention was the famous Pastel de Nata. These are a custard cream tart that can be found all over the city and everyone…

It was time for lunch on our first day in Lisbon. We received a wonderful suggestion from a staff member at the Turim Hotel. Ribadouro is a seafood restaurant that is a short walk from the hotel. As soon as we walked in the door, we noticed all of the fresh seafood, whether it was in the fish tanks or the shellfish that was on ice just waiting for us to order. We were seated right away and took a look at the drink menu. I ordered a Mojito. It was freshly made and not overly sweet. They blended rum,…

Getting from the Lisbon airport to our hotel was very easy. Signs were all in English which made it easy for navigation. We were able to get a taxi from the airport and it was inexpensive (only 29 Euro for 3 people and luggage) and only took about 20 minutes to get to our hotel. Our driver was extremely friendly. As we were driving through the streets, he was pointing out a bunch of sights as well as giving us pointers on what to visit during our stay. The Turim hotel was very nice. The staff greeted us as soon…

Having never been to Portugal before, we were looking forward to this trip for a long time. To get there we flew American Airlines, and we were able to upgrade to business class. This makes the almost 10-hour flight a little more bearable. What is wonderful about business class is all the food and drinks they give you as soon as you step foot on the plane. We started off with a glass of champagne – Duval-Leroy Brut Reserve. What better way to say, “your vacation has started”. After takeoff, and getting settled in some comfortable seats, we were ready…