Scott and I have been planning a European trip for over two years and we picked Portugal. We had originally planned to go back to Italy and visit the Amalfi Coast or go up to Puglia, but since he had never been to Portugal, we decided to spend 10 days there instead.
When I was a child, I lived in Cascais from the age of four until seven, almost four years. I lived there with my mom. So many people have asked me why and I covered this in one of our recent YouTube Videos. See link here. I was excited to go back and try and retrace some footprints!
The Flights
Our journey started in Miami where we flew to Madrid, Spain on American Airlines. We purchased premium economy tickets for $2500 each. Scott is a million miler, so we try to fly American as much as possible. Business class tickets were over $5000 each, so it wasn’t worth it to me to spend that much. The seats were comfortable, but the minute the guy in front of Scott pushed his seat back, that left all of 6″ between his seat and Scott’s tray. Not easy to get up to use the restroom that’s for sure! The meals were not the best, nor was the service. We flew out at 3pm, yet they treated the flight as if it was 10pm and only offered beverage service twice during the first seven hours. The amenity kit came with a blanket, a pillow, headphones and then a take home kit that came with lip balm, hand lotion, a toothbrush, eye mask and socks.
Then about an hour before we landed in Madrid they came around with “breakfast” which was awful. One interesting note about our flight into Madrid. We actually arrived 45 minutes early (thank God!) at 5:05am. We had to go through customs and the passport control before heading to our gate. That process took us about an hour! On top of that, Madrid’s airport does not have good signage, so it’s difficult to figure out what terminal your flight is at. We finally got to our gate at 6:40am, 5 minutes before we boarded!
We flew on Iberia Air from Madrid to Lisbon which is less than an hour flight. Luckily no one was between us, because the seats were tiny and only had room for two people in a row of three! Another strange note is that when we landed in Lisbon, we did not have to go through any kind of immigration or customs. No paperwork, nothing – we simply walked out! While it was easy to order an Uber, it was confusing as to where to pick it up at – perhaps we were just so tired?
Arriving to Hotel Aurea Museum
Our Uber ride from the airport to the hotel took about 20 minutes. We stayed at the Aurea Museum Hotel a 5-star hotel along the waterfront. Scott and I chose this location as we didn’t want to have to hike up a steep hill every night after dinner to get to our hotel. The room was nice and we had requested a view (we were celebrating my birthday) and unfortunately they gave us the worst view room possible. Oh well. Sadly, for the next 5 days the service was also lacking which was disappointing. More on that later.
Since we arrived at 8am, our room was not yet ready (we found this to be the case at all of our hotels and I think they literally wait until check-in time to give you your keys.) We checked our luggage and then headed off in search of breakfast. Just down street, we stumbled upon Portela where we enjoyed some amazing coffee, a ham and cheese danish and our first pasteis de nata! Pasteis de nata is a mini flakey pie crust (think Phyllo dough) with a custard filling and then torched on top (like a cream brulee’). This particular one was served cold and had a very lemony flavor.
In Search of Lisbon
I often get asked how we planned out our itinerary. Basically I knew the top sites through various websites and travelers and then mapped out what was close to each other. Knowing this would be a short day (by the time we went to breakfast, we had been up 24 hours already), we kept the day’s itinerary short and sweet. See below.
Morning Walking Tour (Alfama/Baixa):
• 10:00 AM – Lisbon Cathedral (Sé)
• 10:45 AM – Walk down to Rua Augusta Arch
• 11:15 AM – Stroll Comércio Square
Lunch & Exploration:
• 12:30 PM – Lunch at Time Out Market
• 1:30 PM – Ride Elevador da Glória
• 2:00–3:30 PM – Miradouro São Pedro de Alcântara + walk down Avenida da Liberdade
• 4:00 PM – Head to Miradouro de Santa Luzia
• 4: 30 PM – Hotel Memmo – rooftop cocktails
• 5:30 PM – Dinner – Pizzeria nearby
One thing to remember about Lisbon is that it is the city of 7 hills and all you will do is climb hills and stairs for days! Yes, you can take a “tuk tuk” or the trolley but we walked every where we went. One thing to remember is to wear very comfortable shoes that can handle cobblestone roads. Our shoes were destroyed after 10 days of walking.
Center of Lisbon
The first place we headed to after checking in, was the Commerical Center. The most central and important square in Lisbon is Praca do Comercio, also known as Commerce Square. This historic and large square overlooks the Tagus River and is considered one of the most beautiful in Europe, featuring the Rua Augusta Arch at its northern end. I was in desperate need of sunglasses and we hoped to find some shops – which we did.
Exploring Lisbon in Search of Miradouros
Scott and I headed straight up hill in search of the Lisbon Cathedral before we headed to our first Miradouro. The photos do not do this cathedral justice.
Miradouros
Miradouros are “viewpoints” and they are all over the city. Some have bars and snack huts and others have only benches. It’s definitely worth checking each one out if you can. There was some graffiti throughout the city but honestly, it did not bother us one bit.
Scott and I walked to a couple of Miradouros on our first day and then grabbed a cocktail at a wine bar to cool off. Keep in mind, when we were in Lisbon, the temperature was about 95 degrees every day.
Wrapping up our First Day
I knew there was a rooftop bar located in Hotel Memmo right above our hotel, so we went in search of it to have another cocktail. The views were beautiful and the service was great! Unfortunately I was just so tired, that I forgot to take more video or photos.
By now it was close to 5:30pm and we had now been up almost 32 hours. We had planned to do a simple pizza dinner and luckily there was a pizzeria just a few blocks away called Romana Pizzeria. The food and service was fantastic!
Our Room at Hotel Aurea Museum
Finally around 6pm, we checked into our hotel. We were celebrating my birthday and I told the hotel that. We selected this hotel not only for it’s location, but because it also had Turkish Baths and a spa. Turns out you have to make reservation to use the Turkish Baths (a small cold pool) and most days reception never answered their phone. We paid $25/pp to use the baths and were only able to get in twice.
There were quite a few other issues and for a 5-star hotel, we were disappointed. One note, their website says they have a bar on site, but it is actually a portable (think of a banquet bar at a wedding) that the front desk operates! While the room was nice, the coffee maker was on the fritz and our view was the worst of all of the rooms who had a balcony.
Here’s our “water view” balcony!
As always, thank you for following our journey. We’re excited to take you along our epic trip over the next few weeks throughout Portugal! Be sure to subscribe to our blog and our channel (see link below) and follow us on social @BoatingJourney #Boatingjourney.
Cheers, Scott and Ally
