With a baby on the way and Lou's ankles in danger of swelling to the size of hot air balloons, we sought a relaxing summer break in 2015, so we headed to Portugal for a week in August.
The trip started with a couple of days in Lisbon which is a truly gorgeous city full of colour, mosaics, winding alley ways, sun and sea. Our base was the Hotel Mundial - a medium-sized run of the mill tourist hotel in a fantastic location, right by Rossio metro. Having wandered around the city, we'd recommend staying somewhere around there, Baixa-Chiado, Barro Alto or Cais do Sodre so you're super central and can walk everywhere. The metro too is extremely easy to navigate around town and to get to and from the airport.
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| Lisbon waterfront |
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| The colourful streets of Lisbon |
Aside from exploring the city by meandering around and testing out the incredible baked goods in the plentiful bakeries, we took part in an excellent three-hour walking tour with Sandeman's new Europe. This provided a thorough overview of Portugal and Lisbon, including how the earthquake of 1755 shaped the city and some of the more recent history including its integration into Europe. We also took a short tram ride to Belem just up the coast. There we spent an afternoon walking along the waterfront taking in its famous monument to Portugese explorers and the picturesque watch tower. Belem is also home to the producers of the original Pastel de nata (Portugese custard tart). There's always a queue, but it moves fast, and don't even think about getting one tart to share. In fact, get four. Each.
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| Lou and bump in the Lisbon heat |
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| Belem |
Other food highlights from Lisbon included a couple of visits to the Mercado da Ribeira food market opposite the train station, testing an assortment of tasty treats like roast pork sandwiches and ice cream. And the most memorable meal took place at a tiny place Taberna, at Rua 1 de Dezembro 93. There's not much signage, so it's next door to a buffet place and a restaurant called Leao d'Ouro. The amazing owner Mario, runs the joint with just one chef, serving Portugeuse tapas and wines. So we gorged on a selection of foods like cuttlefish, lamb and bean stew, Dean got through most of the local wine list, and it turned out to be the most enjoyable meal we'd had in a long time.
After two nights in Lisbon we jumped on a train up the coast to Caiscais, our base for the rest of the holiday. The trains run frequently and it takes about 90 minutes. Given this was to be our 'babymoon', we splurged and stayed at the stunning, secluded Onyria Marinha resort. Surrounded by nature, it was the ideal place to relax. So we spent time pool-side, in the spa, and on our balcony debating baby names and playing cards. Dean even got in a golf lesson and a couple of extremely hot midday runs (he was training for an endurance event). Although the sun was hot, the coastal breeze cooled things down a lot so we didn't swim as much as we usually would, apart from short dips and longer ones in the indoor pool. Most evenings we popped in to Caiscais itself to eat, a small town with cobbled streets mostly catering to tourists. We ate twice at the wonderful B&B restaurant, indulging in fresh fish and steaks.
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| The view from our room, Caiscais |
One exceptional highlight was getting the VIP treatment on our EasyJet flight home. Dean’s good mate, Captain ‘Drew’ had arranged to be on the flight deck for our return journey. We were plucked from the queue early by the Captain and taken into the cockpit for a tour and a chance to sit in the pilot's seat. Then back to our seats at the back of the plane, with nary a toasted sandwich in sight. The fancy-pants world of budget travel.
A glorious final holiday without a wee one in tow!
