Just four nights in Portugal , 3 nights Lisbon and a night in Porto. ( If I had known better, I would have swapped it the other way)
We arrived at noon and got checked into our Airbnb. I really loved this chic property in Bairro Alto. About 20 minutes from the airport (20 Euros by cab). It’s a 20 second walk to the tram 28 stop, so that was greattttt.
Airbnb hosted by Qinyin.
There was a nice little cafe that had great sangrias and a chilled vibe just down the road.
soaking it all in
that’s 4 euros for a jug of sangria, by the way.UNREAL.
tram 28 watching
Aim : to get lost in the streets of Bairro Alto
Since Hard Rock is a must do on Mei Mei ‘s itinery ,that was our first stop .We hadn’t got our bearings right so we hailed a cab . Like all Hard Rocks , this experience was similar.
Hard Rock Lisboa
With that , we wandered down to Commerce Square ( Prace do Comercio) , where we purchased our 10 euro all day pass , that includes the yellow tour bus , metros and the best part,unlimited TRAM 28 rides. In the heat ,we did a quick walk around the square before jumping on the tram 15 that would take us to Belem.
1 st stop – Pasteis de Belem – Clearly it was also on everybody’s MUST DO list, the line was an hour long. So we skipped it.
( we came back at 9 pm , no queue , even managed to get a seat inside )
Officially the tastiest tart , the other was at the Majestic Cafe in Porto. Coated with cinnamon and icing sugar .( I had 5 tarts a day ,no kidding)
Headed towards Jeronimos Monastery. One word .Beautiful.( for some funny reason , I have no photos to show)
While waiting for our sunset cruise ,we needed a place to empty our bladders and stumbled upon Museu Colecao Berardo. Considering I am not arty enough for museums, this one really caught our eyes. Fantastic landscape and a rooftop terrace with a bar and live music. OMGGGGGGGG.It was amazing.
Symmetry appreciation
We had signed up for a sunset tour with Boat me up via Trip Advisor/ Viator. This was my favourite thing in Lisbon. Considering we had so little time, we had a view of Lisbon , practically on the river , outside looking in.Cruise starts off at the Belem Dock at about 7 pm .While we sailed along the Tagus river for about an hour and a half , the crew made us feel very comfortable while narrating a brief history of Lisbon. There are bean bags and space enough for a group of 15 . Our tour had 6 of us on board that day , with free flow water/ beer / wine and some nibbles.We sailed under the 25 th of April Bridge , right up till the views of Alfama , then the boat turns back to catch sunset by Belem Tower. ( Paid RM 141/ person – totally worth it)
Boat me up crew
Belem dock
25th of April Bridge ( same guys behind the San Fran one)
Man-made beach for some frolicking , by Commerce Square. King Jose monument in the background.
Belem tower during sunset
Then off we went on our tram 28 joy ride, uphill towards Alfama before heading back to Bairro Alto. ( take the tram 28 after 9 pm , there will be seats available unlike in the day, where you’re sandwiched beyond belief)
Tired facies on the 28
Random stop for Ginja on our stroll around Bairro Alto.Pretty nice cherry liquor , I must say.
By 2 am , the night got a tad blurry , and we took it as a sign to head back.
