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.
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| Marquis of Pombal square |
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| 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.
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| The greeny avenue as I mentioned |
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| 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.
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| in the box ( Shrimp risoles, Codfish risoles, Chicken kroket); on the plate Pastei de Nata |
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| 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)
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| 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.
For sure you have no chance to sleep in the bus .. hahahaha...:)
Here is some interesting photos that I took during my visit:
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| Rossio Train Station |
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| Belem Tower |
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| Jeronimo Monastery |
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| Discovery monument |
