4 Days in Lisbon

We’re home from Portugal, and it’s been fun reflecting on the trip these past few days. I like planning trips that have two different parts, so we headed to Lisbon after the beach portion of our trip.  Although I would have loved to stay at the Pine Cliffs the whole time, we wanted to see some of the sights and experience a bit more Portuguese culture.

We stopped in the town of Albufeira on our travel day, and after walking around, had a late lunch in a cafe with a gorgeous beach view.

The 2 hour drive to Lisbon was so easy, but we had to rush a bit to return our rental car by 7pm.

We arrived to our cottage a bit tired, but were quickly revived by the fresh air and gorgeous views from the hotel terrace.  We stayed at the Torel Palace in a cottage adjacent to the main building (I think they call this the villa).

The bedroom was basic, but we had a great living room with a beautiful picture window. The hotel’s terrace was fabulous and the service and breakfast were wonderful. We had to hike up a hill every day to get back to our hotel, but I loved the peace and quiet of being a bit removed from the heart of the city.

The view over the city was breath-taking.

We tried to leave a lot of down-time for Emerson to run around and I enjoyed the slow pace of this trip versus pre-baby city trips.

The very best part about our hotel was being able to enjoy the terrace and bar during Emerson’s naps.  She was exhausted and slept for 3 hours every afternoon so we just brought the monitor with us and savored the quiet time.

I loved Lisbon!  We did a ton of walking and exploring of different neighborhoods.

The tiles and cobblestones were so neat and gave the city a more historic feel than some other European cities.

The Ergo was a lifesaver with all the steps and hills, but I’m sad to say it’s on the security conveyer belt in the Lisbon airport:(

The waterfront was lovely for walking and is the only flat part of Lisbon.

Emerson loved the trolleys and the funicular we would sometimes take up the hill to our hotel.

We ventured out of the city to the magical town of Sintra (home to many royals back in the day) at the foothills of the mountains.

We opted to skip the fancy palace and went to the Quinta da Regaleira estate because we heard the grounds were great for kids to explore.

It was a great recommendation and Emerson loved seeing cats, climbing the mini castles, going into a cave, and running through the gardens.

From Sintra, we also took the bus town to the beach town of Cascais where we had ice cream, played on the beach, and rode the adorable carousel..

I’d say the other thing we loved in Lisbon was the tuk tuk tour. This was a nice break from walking and provided a quick and easy overview of the city’s history.

But the food, the food was divine. The restaurant scene was so cool, and we had a few incredible meals. Oh, and the red wine was cheap and delicious!!

Our favorites were Taberna Bairro do Avillez, The Decadente, Pistola y Corozon, O Cofre, and the gluten free bakery, Zarzuela!!

Emerson didn’t love all the eating out as much, though, because she turned into a super picky eater in Lisbon.  I’m not sure if she was protesting all the restaurants, or was tired of traveling, but she refused to try anything we ordered the last few days (including staples like pasta, sweet potatoes, and avocado).  We picked up some groceries and she would eat back in our cottage, so who knows?

I’m so thankful we were able to do this trip and feel so lucky that Emerson was a great sleeper the entire time! Not pictured are many tantrums about having to hold our hands or get in the stroller when all she wanted to was run through the streets, throwing food at restaurants, yelling ‘bye’ and sprinting away from us, having to hose her down crying in the shower because there was no bathtub, refusing to wear shoes because she got a blister, and lots of other ‘terrible two’ fits. Even though traveling with Em was more tiring than without her, we had a fabulous time and made so many wonderful memories. It was cool to experience new things from her perspective, especially at a time when her language is developing so quickly. Oh, and one last thing – the Portuguese people were wonderful with kids and we had many waiters making silly faces, picking up milk bottles or paci’s and washing them for us, and just generally making us feel welcome.