Portugal

[shegie_285]

I searched but I didn't see a thread na Portugal, hopefully wala pa talaga.

Husband and I are going to Lisbon for a weekend, any recommendations? Places to go, what to eat?  At the moment, my in-laws said go to Belem for their tart meron din bang masarap na tart sa city centre lang mismo ng Lisbon?

Any tips appreciated. Thanks!

[melodymedley]

Sintra! Sintra is a train ride away from Lisbon (less than one hour). Pena National Palace in Sintra is one of the prettiest castles I've seen (nalimutan ko na yung tawag sa architecture nya). There's also the Moorish Castle, so you can spend a day easily in Sintra. Lisbon is nice but I didn't find it particularly charming.

Wrote about my Portugal adventure in my blog. Yun nga lang, 2013 pa yun.
Here's what I did:
Day 1 - arrival. Joined a walking tour that explored Bario Alto and Alfama
Day 2 - Day trip to Sintra. Moorish Castle, Pena Palace and National Palace
Day 3 - Torre de Belem, Monastery de Jeronimo (outside lang), then more of Bario Alto
Day 4 - some shopping then flew out of Lisbon

Nasa Belem talaga yung tart. It is not that far, just one tram ride away.
The specialty of Lisbon is their trout. May masarap naman akong natikman na baked trout. Nice to eat some fish after weeks of meat. But I cannot call their trout super special (baka din siguro I compare it to PH isda and madaming super ok fish dish dito).
BTW, their restaurants DO NOT have free appetizers. May bayad (I paid as high as 5EUR). You have to waive off the appetizer if you don't want to pay.

[shegie_285]

^ thanks sis. I googled Pena National Palace, ang ganda nga. I want to go! Sabihin ko kay hubby.  Pwede naman siguro half day lang kami doon no? 3 days lang talaga kami. We arrive Saturday at 9am then leave Monday at 6.25pm.  One day (either Saturday or Sunday) manonood kami ng football so I guess on this day walk lang around Lisbon.

Oh sa Belem talaga ang tart, i guess we'll go there on Monday na lang dahil bilin ng in-laws tart daw.

Parang nabitin naman pala ako sa 3 days lang. Wala na kaseng holiday si hubby and hindi namin masyado pinlano. Biglaan lang. Tapos we booked pa a nice hotel with pool and sauna, although mura naman din kase.

Thanks for the tip sa appetizer.

I will visit your blog to read about your Portugal adventure.

Edit: Nice blog melodymedley. I read all the posts about Portugal, re: Sintra - I guess kung pupunta kami sa castle lang. Ayaw ko mapagod masyado at im pregnant.

OT: i'm an accountant too but hindi ako ma-budget. hehe. Si hubby ang ma-budget (accountant din).

[melodymedley]

^Thanks sis 

Ay, if you are pregnant, skip the Moorish Castle and focus on Pena na lang. Madaming akyat baba sa Moorish Castle and may parts na "sliperry rocks", I would say, yung steps. Pena Palace is located on top of a mountain but you can take a train naman from the bottom - I walked eh. Half-day would be enough. Say 9-3pm, including the train ride.

Alfama is also a hilly part of the town, so alalay na lang. I found my fave resto there na di ko alam pangalan. hehe.

You can do city tour on the day of your arrival. Then Sintra on Sunday (baka madaming tao lang? Not sure of the crowd on weekends). Then shopping and chill sa hotel on Monday before you leave.

[Papermoon]

Hi! May I know where you applied for a Schengen visa? I read that Portugal has no consular office here in the Philippines. TIA

[chick_pea]

Hmmm...not a lot happening on this Portugal thread which makes me sad because this is one of my favorite country in Europe. I spend most of my time here than any other country in Europe so I will revive this thread lol. If you haven't been to this side of Iberia - you are missing out. Napaka underrated niya. It's one of my top 5 affordable destinations in Europe.
https://thirtysomethingtourist.com/affordable-european-destinations/

[casablanca8]

I love Portugal. A lot cheaper than neighboring countries. And ang gwagwapo ng guys ah! Even the tuk tuk drivers lol

[chick_pea]

My top 4 day trips that you can do from Lisbon:

1. Cascais - Beautiful Portuguese coastal town

2. Sintra - I've never seen so many palaces in one location!

3. Ericeira - The surfing capital of Europe and a nice coastal town. Check out this detailed guide on how to get to Ericeira from Lisbon: https://thirtysomethingtourist.com/ericeira-guide/

4. Mafra- It can be tempting to forgo this one after having your fill of palaces in Sintra, but dont! This is the most important baroque monument in Portugal. It is so worth it to see this lone palace.
Check out this helpful Lisbon to Mafra Guide: https://thirtysomethingtourist.com/lisbon-to-mafra-guide/