Advertisement
Published: April 26th 2018
Edit Blog Post
The train down from Porto was very comfortable. Halway towards Lisbon it clouded over and by the time we arrived at Oriente station it was raining. We negotiated the metro down to Cais de Sodré where we were able to store our bags while we waited for our friend to finish work. We got there a bit early so we popped over the road and had a quick drink in
Hennesey's, an ex-pat Irish style pub with very expensive beer! The after work buzz was good though, and it's not something we often get the chance to do. Once we met up with Kev, he took us (via the Metro) to a traditional chicken grill restaurant,
Restaurante Primavera. It was cheap and cheerful but an authentic Lisboa experience - just go easy on the fiery
piri pirisauce!
Kev and his wife, Ana, live in Caxias, just a short journey away on the train. They are both incredibly busy so our plan had been to look after ourselves on the Saturday and go to the military museum at Belém. Two things put paid to that idea. First and foremost, it is closed on Saturdays and Sundays, a major flaw in our research!!
Secondly, it tipped it down all morning so we just chilled out in the flat. We had arranged to meet Kev at 2pm and by then the weather had taken a turn for the better. We took a boat over to Cacilhas,
just as we had done four years earlier. We even ended up having a fabulous fish lunch in the same restaurant as then, only we had to eat indoors this time.
Ponto Final was as good as ever and we tried a variety of fresh fish for a very reasonable price.
We walked off lunch climbing up through the streets of Almada to
Cristo Rei, the enormous statue of Jesus which dominates the skyline. It's definitely worth the €5 fee to go up the lift then continue up the narrow stairway to the viewing platform. 360 degree vistas of the whole Lisbon area open up in front you. On our way back down to the boat we stumbled across
Barraria Brew Pub. The sun was shining so we thought it would have been rude not to stop and sample some of their creations. We were not disappointed!
After a quick stop for the best
pastel de nata in the world (!) we then took a bus out
to
Mercado de Campo de Ourique. During the day this is a bustling market but as the working day draws to a close it becomes a haven for food lovers wishing to try some local fayre. Ana met us all there and we feasted on Portuguese tapas, and then some steak sandwiches with the most tender steak we have eaten since we lived in Argentina. It was, of course, washed down with some excellent regional Portuguese wines. Ice cream followed. Well, why wouldn't it? The holiday was over and the next morning Kev and Ana took us to the airport for our return flight to Alicante. We were not ready to leave - surely the sign of a most excellent trip.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.081s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 15; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0472s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb