Category Archives: Breakfast

Lagos, Portugal

Our Portugal itinerary was super packed but everyone who knows me can testify it’s a normal vacationing for me. It was not easy but I was able to squeeze a one night trip to Lagos (Lagos – pronounced La-goosh in Portuguese) in Algarve (the southernmost region of Portugal, known for its amazing beaches). We started our day super early (6:00 am) and took a train from Lisbon Oriente to Lagos.

(Oriente train station)

It was pretty ride and it took us about 3 hours to reach Tunes station where we had to switch trains. We waited for about 30-40 minutes for our next train which was very slow by the way (took another hour or so). Finally we reached our final destination – beautiful Lagos. Be prepared the train station is somewhat small and there were no taxis available nor were we able to locate any Ubers. We dragged our enormous amounts of luggage to the main road and I was lucky enough to spot a taxi. So if you can plan ahead for your pick up I suggest you do that.

We stayed at Aqualuz Suite Hotel and we loved the location as you could walk everywhere and the pool area was nice, the staff was very friendly and accommodating (we checked in early and checked out late without paying extra). But the way it was built it reminded us some sort of maze or labyrinth- let’s just say it took us forever to find exit.

https://www.aqualuzlagos.com/en/hotel-overview.html

After we dropped our luggage we had no time to waste and proceeded to the nearest beach – which happened to be Praia Donna Ana (about 15 minutes walking from our hotel). On the way to the beach we stopped for lunch – I highly recommend the rooftop restaurant at Carvi Beach Hotel. We grabbed table outside and just enjoyed the views. Our server was super nice and we really liked our food.

https://www.facebook.com/CarviAlgarve/

After we had lunch we walked down to the beach – so just to let you know most of the beaches we went had tremendous amounts of stairs. Praia Donna Ana happened to have only 100 steps down and it was very intimate and not too big of a beach. We walked around and snapped some photos. I can’t even describe the beauty of that place – I felt like we stepped into a paradise.

After our visit to the beach we decided to explore the town itself. Lagos is a small city so you can walk pretty much anywhere, just prepare to wear comfortable shoes as some of the roads were either up or down the hills. We made our way through winding streets covered in mosaic to a marina. I wish I had enough time to do some gifts and souvenir shopping because they had market filled with local vendors.

We grabbed a coffee and a glass of wine at the main square, its a little charming square with lots of cafes and the sculpture of the Boy King (Dom Sebastiao) in the middle of it. That evening we had dinner at the restaurant inside of our resort as we all felt the sunburnt and tired (but definitely satisfied).

Next morning my husband and I woke up very early as we planned to have a mini photo shoot on the beach. While our teenager enjoyed his nice sleeping in we were walking down to Praia Donna Ana. What a beautiful and amazing surprise it was when we learned that we were the only ones at the beach. There was not even one foot print on the sand and the entire beach was our playground.

Later that morning all three of us decided to explore another nearby beach. We walked for about 30-40 minutes until we reached Praia do Camilo. This beach is very secluded, if you travel by car there is nice parking lot. We were blown away by the beauty of this beach – we probably stood a good 10-15 minutes on the top of the cliff just eyeing the surroundings. Water looked crystal clear and numerous grottoes made that place look absolutely magical. I should also mention that the entire time both of my men seriously were contemplating to alter the rest of our trip and just stay in Lagos till the end of our vacation.

We heard that Praia do Camilo is one of the best beaches in Lagos for snorkeling (maybe one summer when the waters warm enough we can do that). Ok let’s talk about the access to the beach. I consider myself very physically fit person whose gym routine consists of mandatory 20 minutes stair-master warm up however… these were some extremely challenging-stairs. It definitely was a good morning exercise to go up and down these steps.

Highly suggested place for lunch was the restaurant Camilo, it’s famous for its fresh fish and it’s right off the entrance to the beach. It was a bit early in the morning when we explored so the restaurant was unfortunately closed.

http://restaurantecamilo.pt/en/

That afternoon we decided to grab some snacks, cold drinks and enjoy the beach so we went back to the closest to our resort beach – Praia Donna Ana and had absolutely amazing afternoon.

Things to enjoy in Lagos:

Take a stroll along a coastline of Lagos, there are many paths with absolutely gorgeous views.

Go into old town and enjoy walk through small cobblestone streets. During our walk we stumbled upon The Castle of Lagos, also known as Castelo dos Governadores (The Governors Castle) and Moorish walls that are going back to the 16th century.

Wander through endless shops, restaurants and bars or simply sip some sangrias or wine and people watch. Few interesting facts: alcohol was cheaper then water and servers would bring you some small dishes before you even get a chance to look at the menu and leave them at your table. We learned that they are not free and you will be charged for them so if you are on the budget make sure you tell the server at the beginning you do not want them.

(One of the fun bars in Lagos)

You can wander through many vendor tents at a marketplace near marina and get souvenirs or gifts made by locals.

Walk down to the main beach in the downtown area (Praia da Batata) – it is absolutely beautiful. On your way there is the historic beachfront fortress of Ponta da Bandeira, it was used to guard Lagos by protecting the river from attack.

I cant believe we only stayed one night in this absolutely stunning place but we are coming back!!!! As we drove away from this magical place, we all felt sad. We definitely found our little paradise! If you traveling to Portugal then Lagos is a must-visit!!! I would love to hear your stories.

If you want to fly out from Lagos you have to make your way to Faro airport which is about an hour away by taxi but you can take train or bus as well – airport has plenty connections.

Porto, Portugal

Tips:

Have something to eat or drink along the river. There are so many colorful picturesque houses with balconies. We had coffee and pastries one morning there and just enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere. It is great spot to people watch and you can see boats go up and down the river. Also, it is best place to see the iconic Luis bridge.

We took a boat tour which was in the same area. It was about one hour ride up and down the Douro, you get to see city and learn about 7 bridges of Porto. I believe we paid 15 euros per person – it was rainy day when we did it so I wish it wasn’t so we would enjoy sitting on the deck instead of inside.

Take a ride on a Funicular dos Guindais – it was built in 1891. It takes you from Batalha to Ribeira in just few minutes but its enough time to see beauty of Douro river and Luiz bridge. Tickets are 2.5 euros one way and you purchase them at Funicular. https://en.metrodoporto.pt/pages/436

You should definitely take time to walk across Dom Luis I Bridge. This bridge was completed in 1886 and it consists of the top deck which is reserved for pedestrians and city’s metro and the lower deck for the cars. It comes as no surprise when you learn that the bridge was designed by Gustave Eiffel. We took spectacular walk (get your camera ready because the views are incredible) and we ended up on another side of that bridge -Vila Nova de Gaia. It is a city on the south bank and it famous for its port cellars and where all the port wine tasting takes place. For 100 years that was a place were barrels of wine and port were loaded and unloaded.

As soon as we walked off the bridge we took a cable car ride (Teleférico de Gaia), its pretty quick ride but enough to see port warehouses, and beautiful Ribeira in its folded glory. We bought tickets on site and there was no line, both way ticket was 9 euros. http://www.gaiacablecar.com/Teleferico_UK.html

(View from the cable car)

We learned that if you want to eat good food most of the times you need to make reservations. We were given few recommendations by our local hosts. We picked restaurant Reitoria, the ground floor has cute outside and it serves tapas and second floor where we made our reservation was a steakhouse. We really enjoyed our dinner and wine, Wagyu-Escocia was absolutely delicious and their freshly baked focaccia caseira was yummy http://www.reitoria.pt/
The other highly recommended restaurant was Cantina 32 -it is Portuguese’s cuisine with a modern twist. Unfortunately we were unable to make reservations on time :(. http://www.cantina32.com/
Grab table outside of Mercador cafe for breakfast and you can people watch. This cafe is in the middle of the cute street, Rua das Flores. We enjoyed coffees and homemade pastries. https://www.facebook.com/mercadorcafe/

(The last two photos are from some random wine bar we stumbled upon)

Plan to visit Livraria Lello as it is a must see spot in Porto. It’s the oldest bookshop in the world and if you are a huge Harry Potter fan rumor has it that J.K. Rowling was inspired by it to write the books. I suggest to buy your voucher ahead of time on their website (see below) its 5 euros per person and its totally deductible on the purchase of a book. Prepare to wait in line or you can try to visit library early in the morning during the week. We went on a rainy day and you can only imagine that everyone else had the same plan, we still enjoyed our visit and even caught little performance though it was in Portuguese it was very entertaining. https://www.livrarialello.pt/en-us/products/online-voucher?returnurl=%2fen-us%2fproducts%2f

After your visit Livraria Lello you should walk to A igreja dos Carmelitas Descalços (baroque Portuguese church). We regret not going inside but the entrance is free, I just wish we hadn’t been soaking wet from the rain that day.

Allocate yourself one solid day to just wander around and you would be surprised where you going to end up… we happened to discover the most beautiful sights on our unplanned walk in the town.

I fell in love with Porto, the city of bridges, lots of hills and wonderful wine – it’s definitely a place to visit again on my list. The food is awesome, wine is amazing, the breathtaking views of Ribeira district never gets old and you meet the most friendliest people who treat you as you were a long time friends. Time seems to have stopped when we wandered around the streets full of little details and hidden beauty – till next time Porto.

Armazem was one of the places we stumbled upon and it was just a treasure. It’s a vintage shop with a cutest bar that serves great wine and tasty tapas. Of course we didn’t leave empty handed.

https://www.facebook.com/armazem93/

Lisbon, Portugal

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Portugal was always on the top of my bucket list to visit. This country is no longer Europe’s secret place as more and more people are visiting Portugal every year. It’s still relatively cheap and under traveled if you compare it with the rest of Europe. This blog is about our Spring break trip to Portugal and the memories we made, hopefully I can inspire some of my readers to visit this colorful and beautiful country.

We arrived to sunny but chilly Lisbon at 6:00 am and since we booked our apartment through Airbnb we could not check in earlier than 2:00 pm nor could we drop our luggage there. I did some research prior to our arrival and took advice from our Portuguese hosts and we ended up at The Rossio Railway Station.Train station itself was a very beautiful building that did not look like a train station from the outside. We rented storage lockers inside and off we went to explore Lisbon.

It was very early Easter Saturday morning and while locals were still in bed and tourists didn’t make their way out on the streets yet – it was time for us to start the day. We walked outside of the Rossio station and immediately our eyes caught the sight of the castle on the top of the hill overlooking the entire city. We decided to make our way to the São Jorge Castle. São Jorge Castle is a Moorish castle occupying a commanding hilltop overlooking the historic centre of Lisbon and Tagus River.

At this point we were on our +24 hours of no sleep but either the cup of Portuguese freshly brewed coffee or crispy fresh air or excitement of finally being here kept us going – just a note for future travelers all the roads seems to be up the hill wear comfy shoes. The walk was absolutely beautiful it seemed like we were alone making our way through tiny wiggly narrow streets – I think I stopped million times to take photos of the door knobs, colorful tiles on the walls of the buildings…there was never ending sights… finally we made it to the very top…

Lisbon really impressed me – it was very charming city but totally had that personality edge to it. You have to remember that most of Lisbon was destroyed during the earthquake in 1755 and subsequent fires and tsunami so it has that share of neglect but it somehow makes the city more complete. Lisbon is known for tiled houses, hilltop views, cobblestone streets, vintage trams, and food!

The part of exploring any country or any city is to eat your way around it so Lisbon is not exception. It had everything from sweet Nata pastries to great cod dishes. Lisbon is definitely a food and wine lovers’ paradise. What I noticed is that Lisbon is packed with restaurants and cafes – there should be no problem for you to find a place to dine however try to avoid the overpriced touristy places (we were trapped the first night since we were in the heart of the touristy location)

Here are few suggestions:

Best seafood in Lisboa is definitely at Cervejaria Ramiro (we later learned that Anthony Bourdain visited this place in 2012). Be prepared to wait to get in (we waited for about 45 min or so) but we grabbed a bottle of wine and chatted with people in the waiting area – time flew by.

http://www.cervejariaramiro.pt/?lang=en

We really enjoyed Clube de Fado restaurant that we went specifically to listen fado but were pleasantly surprised with delicious food they served.

https://www.clube-de-fado.com/

Enjoy Time Out Market for lunch – this place will satisfy any person’s taste. All three of us had different dish and we loved it. The other part that I enjoyed about this market is how inviting it is to start conversation with strangers. We loved getting to know the couple sitting next to us (she was from New Zealand and he was from England) we sipped wine while listening to each other’s stories.

https://www.timeoutmarket.com/lisboa/en/

Grab a glass of wine and order appetizer at Topo Chiado with the castle in the background, and Lisbon’s famous Santa Justa Lift on its doorstep.

https://www.facebook.com/topolisboa/

If you feel nostalgic – grab burgers and beer at Hamburgeria A Gina

https://www.facebook.com/Hamburgueria.a.Gina/?utm_source=tripadvisor&utm_medium=referral

The next 3 days flew by so quickly it felt like the blink of an eye. Here are the sights we visited

Sintra – less than an hour away by train, we took the train at Rossio station for 2.5 euros (train goes every hour so you don’t need to buy tickets in advance)

Belém Tower or the Tower of St Vincent

Padrão dos Descobrimentos (walking distance from Belém Tower so plan to visit this sight on the same day)

The Jerónimos Monastery or Hieronymites Monastery (the Monastery is absolutely gorgeous prepare to stay long line unless you get here early in the morning. Also it’s across from Padrão dos Descobrimentos. Tickets are 10 euros and you buy them on site). There is a beautiful church next to the Monastery the entrance is free.

Lisbon Baixa, The Pombaline Lower Town

The Praça do Comércio (I realized we didn’t take many photos there..oooppps)

The 25 de Abril Bridge (a suspension bridge that connects Lisbon to Almada. Lots of times it’s compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco well you be the judge of that. If you not taking taxi and driving yourself prepare to pay toll.)

The Convent of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. I think after traveling around Europe and visiting churches in each town and country you think you’ve seen it all. I actually think this one makes the list of my favorites. It’s located in the center of Lisbon and known as the roofless church. Most of it was destroyed during the earthquake and some parts of it had been restored.

Gare do Oriente orthe Lisbon Oriente Station (This is a train station where we took our 3 hour ride to beautiful Algarve)

The Sanctuary of Christ the King (Easiest way to get there is to catch taxi as you have to cross Ponte 25 de Abril and you can buy tickets on site to take elevator all the way to the top for some beautiful views)