Unlike my usual obsessed planning alter ego, I didn’t have much planned for the next day in the city. We told ourselves that we’ll just “wing it”, and I think we did a pretty good job. We ate a quick breakfast in bed and then went out to enjoy the sunny day! We bought yet another Pastéis de Nata (as I said, we were obsessed) and walked around one of the largest squares in Portugal, Praça do Comércio. On our way there, we stopped by Elevador de Santa Justa but didn’t join the queue to go inside as it was too long.
We decided to explore the old part of the city called Alfama. We took a stroll through the old streets, which consisted of walking uphill a lot as Lisbon is unbelievably hilly and a lot of cursing under our breath. After a while, we arrived at Miradouro de Portas do Sol, which offered an incredible view of Alfama and made the whole “trek” worth it.
The place was a bit crowded, but we found a place to enjoy our beers and lemonade. I really enjoyed this part of the city, even though it was definitely a touristy place. There were people selling drawings, handmade jewelry and all kinds of nicknacks.
After a couple of hours walking the streets of Lisbon, I convinced Dominik to take pictures of me in Cais do Sodre, an Instagrammable pink street with colourful umbrellas and vibrant nightlife. We also made a quick visit to Time Out Market, but the place was overcrowded and humid, and so we found a place to eat outside. The weather was very nice and warm for March, and we wanted to enjoy it as much as we could.
We found a little marketplace outside and ordered drinks and food. I had plenty of food on my mind that I wanted to try in Portugal, and so I was pleasantly surprised that the market offered almost all of them. We got a Bifana, a pork sandwich, ham and cheese fritters and Pastéis de Bacalhau, a cod fritter. Trying local cuisine is one of my favourite parts of travelling, so we stayed there for a couple of hours eating and drinking cocktails.
We didn’t plan to stay out for long. After another walk and dinner in the evening, we returned to our hotel to recharge and pack our bags. The next day we continued our journey and boarded a flight to Madeira!
