Lisbon - Lisboa | LeDya Notes

Portugal is one among the last western European countries that I just visited.

After living for almost 18 years in Europe finally I went there, please don’t ask why I did not go there earlier. I wish I went there earlier. I have to admit it’s a beautiful country with a character and culture that would easily attract many people to come and visit. The local people that I met are helpful with information to foreigner and in general very friendly, you can say as friendly as the weather. The country is so green, has beautiful beaches, offer good food with reasonable price.

Marquis of Pombal square

Marquis of Pombal Square

The first town that I visited is Lisbon – Lisboa, because our flight brought us to the airport there. Of course Portugal is not just Lisbon, but I will start to share my notes with this city.

From the airport we went straight to our hotel which is located in a very good spot for first time visitor like me. The hotel is located at the side of Marquis of Pombal square, at the high end of Liberdade Avenue. Public transport e.g. busses and metro stop just in the corner, around 3 minutes’ walk from the hotel’s lobby, also if we want to join hop-on hop-off tour it start in front of the hotel at the Eduardo VII Park. It’s a modern type of hotel with good breakfast, friendly staffs, and what else do you expect on your holiday.

The greeny avenue as I mentioned

Pavement along Liberdade avenue with beautiful mosaic ornament

Lisbon is a green city, if you walk along Liberdade Avenue, you will see lots of high trees that make a kind of natural umbrella for the people who walk underneath. The pathway is beautifully decorated with mosaic decoration. Every few steps you will find statue and park bench, people can sit there to enjoy the street crowd or just to take a short rest. Avenue Liberdade is accommodated high-end world branded shop as you can see at the Champ Elysees in Paris.

Walking along the avenue, we end up at the down town center, the main train station is located in between.

Lot of spots that the local friend suggested to visit around Lisbon city, apparently 2 days was not enough to explore all in detail. But I managed to visit almost all the famous spot. Such as the Belem area with the point of interest: Belem Tower, Jeronimo’s monastery, Tagus river, Modern Cultural Center building which is in contrast compare to the old monastery, the discovery statue, St Jorge castle, the Cathedral etc.

If I visit one country I will not missed their special/typical foods and pastry, of course you cannot be missed the pastry shop “Pastei de Belem” in Belem. The queue in front of the shop will give you a sign about the taste. So sorry I only can share the photos of the famous Pastei the nata. It’s a kind of pastry that the local people will eat during their coffee or tea time. Pastei de nata is one of my favorite sweet cakes, far before I knew that its typical Portuguese, not even knew the name in the past. I discover the name from the café’s staff in the office, she said its typical pastry from her home land and she is originally from Portugal. It’s crispy in the side with soft creamy inside, the one in Belem with a cinnamon topping.

in the box ( Shrimp risoles, Codfish risoles, Chicken kroket); on the plate Pastei de Nata

Pastei de Belem - famous Pastry shop

For a seafood lover especially grilled type of food, this place is a must to go. restaurant offer fresh grilled fish, prawn, squid etc, but any kind of foods with fish or seafood are also good. One that I tried and become my favorite is Portuguese Seafood stew, it named "Cataplana de Peixe" by the restaurant that we visited. Here I find the recipe from internet:(http://worldrecipes.expo2015.org/en/recipe-portuguese_seafood_stew_4165.html)

Cataplana de Peixe (Seafood stew)

This notes is the first story among the series of my visit to Portugal, keep on following this blog if you want to know more.

To explore the town sometime you must walk to get the truly local atmosphere, some area not possible to reach by car or public transport. The town has a hilly and steep part with narrow street which make this town so pretty and lots of buildings are colorful.

Public transports are good, choices e.g. bus, tram, metro and taxi. Taxi cost is not that expensive if you compare with other big cities in western Europe. Bus - during rush hours very crowded you hardly can sit, even standing not that easy since most of the streets are still covered by paving-stones instead of smooth asphalt.