4 Days in Lisbon: The Heart of Portugal’s Culture and Coastline

In this episode, we’re sharing everything you need to know to plan the perfect trip to Portugal’s sun-soaked capital Lisbon. You’ll be inspired to wander the historic streets lined with pastel-colored buildings, taste mouthwatering pastries and explore hilltop viewpoints. Lisbon offers a mix of old-world charm and modern energy and this episode will make you fall in love with it.

If you want to take this exact trip, download our 4-day Lisbon Itinerary!

Lisbon Episode Highlights:

How to get to and around Lisbon
Where to stay in Lisbon and the best neighborhoods to check out
Tips for experience Lisbon like a local
Lisboa Card
Lisbon Food Tour

Our top recommended Hotels in Lisbon

Check out our Lisbon Activities & Tours for all activities we recommend and even some that we wanted to do but couldn’t get to, and continue on your trip into the beautiful island of Madeira with even more of our tips and recommendations!

Find a great flight deal to Portugal by signing up for Thrifty Traveler Premium and get flight deals sent straight to your inbox. Use our promo code TSP to get $20 off your first year subscription.

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4 Days in Lisbon Portugal – Episode Transcript

0:35

And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.

Hello fellow travelers.

Hey.

Squaddies.

Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad Podcast.

Today we’re taking you to Lisbon, Portugal, which is the capital city of Portugal.

0:51

We spent three full days here in Lisbon and we are coming here from our time in Madeira.

And let me tell you something, I absolutely fell in love with Lisbon and Portugal in general on this trip.

I really did enjoy my time here.

1:07

Lisbon.

I’ve heard this before and I’ve know it to be true now, especially after having experienced it.

But Lisbon really is a European version of San Francisco, but with much more history that goes with it.

And I cannot wait to go back.

1:25

I enjoyed my time when we were in this part of the world in Europe, when we were in Spain, now Portugal.

So anywhere here on the Iberian Peninsula has really actually become probably my favorite places in Europe that I have actually been.

And I cannot wait to go go back to Lisbon and actually explore more parts of mainland Portugal.

1:43

I had a friend that went to Lisbon recently and when he was posting his videos and pictures of it, I thought that it looked very neutral toned, like it didn’t seem like a very beautiful place.

So I’m I’m interested to hear more from you because you seem to love it so much.

Was it the beauty, the vibes, the energy?

2:01

Like what made you fall so in love with it?

I know we’ll get into it, but give me a little preview.

I would honestly say it’s really all of what you had mentioned.

I can see what you’re saying in terms of it being muted, right.

We learned when we were here that there was a major earthquake in the 1700s.

They had to rebuild all of the old and ancient city.

2:18

So there is a more newer area.

If you want to consider 1700s newer, which I guess in comparison to timeframe of Europe that is very new.

But then it also has the old city area that’s still up in the hilly areas that weren’t really affected by the earthquake or the tsunami that came through.

2:34

You have the cable cars that are running on cobblestone street.

So maybe the color wise, maybe I could see what you’re saying like muted, but it really did just have a lively feel food scene.

Even when we were walking back to our Airbnb at one night, there is a party district St. that we walked on and passed that just looked absolutely bumping.

2:54

So I mean, it’s just the food, the culture, the history.

I really loved it out here.

And again, being from Northern California, loving San Francisco, like I said, this is a European San Francisco.

They even have a bridge that looks like the Golden Gate Bridge to boot because it was designed by the same architectural firm and engineers that designed the Golden Gate Bridge.

3:14

So lots of those vibes coming in here.

Lisbon was built on seven hills overlooking the Tejo River.

That’s how they say it in Portuguese.

In like English, it’s like the Tagus River.

And then Lisbon has a bunch of cobblestone streets, these tile facades.

3:29

So I know you came, he said.

It looks like pretty muted, but in the historic districts you can see a lot of buildings that actually have tile work on the outside that are really, really pretty.

And then there’s a ton of different scenic viewpoints that just have a lot of like panoramic views of the city.

3:47

The River Lisbon has like a rich maritime history.

There’s a lot of good museums in Lisbon, and we’re not typically museum people, but we did go to a few and they were really nice, good markets here.

And their culinary scene is on point.

We talked about eating good in Madeira and we did, but we came to Lisbon and we ate so good here.

4:09

Top notch, top notch.

The price is even cheaper than Madeira because now you’re not on an island and maybe getting that little bit of a markup like for being on the euro.

Really inexpensive and I loved it for good quality food.

All right, So what are some tips for someone visiting Lisbon for the first time?

4:27

Well, a lot of them, if you listen to last week’s episode will be the same.

So just going to kind of brush over it.

Portuguese of course, is the official language, but English is very widely spoken.

Pretty much everywhere you go in Lisbon or any point of interest, somebody will know English and be able to speak it.

4:43

So you don’t really need to worry about that.

But of course, as a courtesy goes, always learn a few key phrases in the native language, this case Portuguese.

In terms of money, they are on the euro.

We used our credit card pretty much the entire time we were here.

4:58

It’s always good to have cash for those one off like miscellaneous things.

And when and if you do pull cash, we said it last week, say it again.

Do not use the Euro net ATMs. They are private ATMs that have high markups.

Pull from a bank ATM, like a legitimate financial institution bank and then reject the conversion rate options that they give you.

5:20

Without going into too much detail, they’re just trying to get a little extra money from you.

If you reject that, you’re going to get a better exchange rate when you’re pulling it out.

So just be sure to do that.

Food and drinks wise they were very affordable and inexpensive.

Cocktail was anywhere from 5 to 8 euros, a meal is like 8 to 15 euros.

5:38

Lots of different good food options in Lisbon.

Stay wise there is a lot of hotels to choose from.

We did choose to get an Airbnb.

We got a 2 bedroom one in the Alfalma district, which is a historic district between the castle and the National Pantheon, and it was right out inside a bus and tram stop.

5:54

We paid about a little over 1000 for the four nights that we were there, but it would have been anywhere from 800 to 1200 for a hotel room for two people.

So we saved money that way since we were with another couple.

And then this tip is different than what we talked about in Madeira.

6:10

We got to Lisbon super early in the morning, like let’s say 7:30 AM.

You know, when you go to a hotel, you can usually just leave your luggage there, but when you’re at an Airbnb, there’s often no place to leave your luggage.

We were like, what are we going to do with our luggage?

6:26

And I had reached out to our host on Airbnb and I asked for her recommendation because I had heard of some luggage storage options.

And she recommended the luggage app and she even gave us a promo code to use for it as well.

It’s a company that will pick your luggage up from the airport and then it will drop it off at the Airbnb and you can select the times so.

6:47

Or even hotel.

If you’re staying at a hotel but it’s curbside service from landing at the airport.

You tell them what flight you’re on, what number, what time it arrives.

They track it, they know they’ll tell you where to meet them outside.

And then of course you can choose your drop off location where they’ll deliver it to you and at what time.

7:04

And it’s a lot like Uber or Lyft.

You can see the driver on the map, so you know if they’re getting close to the airport or your Airbnb.

So if it’s hard to find, like your Airbnb, for example, you at least know like they’re around the corner and then I’ll give you a notification saying like they’re here to pick up your luggage or they’re here to drop off your luggage.

7:21

And we had four large luggages since there was four of us and four backpacks.

And it cost about €50 for all of that to be picked up, stored, and then dropped off.

Worth it if you’re trying to save time and you don’t know what to do with your luggage.

Yeah, because a lot of places too.

7:37

You can drop off the luggage at storage places, but no one’s delivering it to you.

So when you’re done with your day, you got to go get it, then lug it to wherever you’re going.

So I really do recommend utilizing this service here with them.

In terms of transportation, Lisbon is a great city to walk or use the public transit.

7:54

Walking wise, it is hilly.

My dad’s girlfriend had told me how hilly it was, and I mean, of course I believed her.

But when you’re really there, you’re like, Oh yeah, it is a really hilly city.

And the cobblestone streets make it kind of slippery.

So make sure you’re wearing good shoes.

They have great public transit options.

8:10

They have metros, they have trams, they have cable cars, buses, trains, ferries.

So they have all of that in or you can use Bolt or Uber.

They have some good promos for your first ride on the Bolt system as well for the metro.

And for like public transit, you can either pay with contactless payment.

8:29

Just tap your credit card when you get on a bus or the metro.

Or you can buy like day tickets.

It’s like €7.00 if you want just the metros or €10 if you want the metros plus the boats, or €11.00 if you want the metros and the trains that go to like Central and things.

8:48

We didn’t end up utilizing any of one of those ones because we’ll tell you why very shortly.

Here we used something else for our transportation that was included.

But foods to try, you have to try the pastel de Natas.

They are a very famous egg custard tart and there is a history to it.

9:06

It’s not just, oh, they’re popular for whatever reason.

There is a storied history.

So we will explain that probably when we get to the food tour aspect that we did, which I really loved doing a food tour for the first time, loved it.

The faunas, which are Portuguese pork sandwiches, they’re made with thin slices of of marinated pork that’s cooked in a garlicky white wine sauce and then served on a soft bread.

9:29

Of course, being so close to the ocean, they love their seafood.

Some of their staples that they have there are octopus salad and a salted cod, which again, we tried that on the food tour as well and it was really good.

And we’ll explain more about that a little bit later.

9:45

So those are the main foods to try for sure.

And then Jamal had said we would talk about the public transit we use.

So we got the Lisboa card and we’ll link it in the show notes.

The Lisboa card is an all in one pass.

It gives you unlimited access to the city’s public transportation network.

10:03

So all the buses, metros.

Trolleys.

Everything like that plus it gives you either discounted or free entrance into a lot of the museums, monuments and historic sites.

They have a 2448 or 72 hour pass and you can order 1 online and then you can pick up the pass at the airport and some other areas as well.

10:27

We did the 72 hour pass and we definitely got our money’s worth with that.

At first I was like we would at least break even, but with as much public transit that we used, we definitely got our money’s worth here.

And one of the days even in the 72 hours we went to Sentra as a day trip and we didn’t even use the card much that day, but we used it for the castles, cathedrals, museums, the monastery, the train of Sentra.

10:52

So I think if you’re showing, it’s worth it to get.

Squatty’s one other tip I have for you is to download our Lisbon itinerary.

We’ve created it just for you so you can replicate the exact trip that we’re about to go through.

We’ll link it in the show notes, or you can access the Lisbon itinerary and all of our itineraries at shoptravelsquad.com.

11:11

Something else I want to say about the itinerary is I’ve changed it to maximize it.

You know when you do a trip, there are things that come up right?

So like you have your day and things can change, but the itinerary, I really get to refine everything we do and kind of just make it more strategic.

11:31

So that’s something I like sharing with you guys as well.

I made some changes, but they’re all for strategy so you can maximize your experience in Lisbon.

So we flew in, like Brittany said, landed really early.

We landed at 7:25 AM, which means we had a 5:50 AM departure from Madeira.

11:47

Early day, waking up early, getting to the airport and of course having nowhere to go because the air Airbnb is not available till 3:00.

So we knew exactly what we were going to do.

We picked up our Lisboa card from the airport.

We ended up having lugget meet us at the airport to just take our bags off of our hands.

12:06

And then we ended up taking a Bolt, which is their version of Uber.

I like using Bolt more than Uber over there to a main square called Restodores Square.

And from here, you’re clearly in central Lisbon at this point.

And then we just kind of walked around and did a few things.

12:23

Yeah, so we just kind of walked down the street and Jamal was like, oh, let’s get something for breakfast or, you know, grab a coffee.

So we saw a shop called Fabrika de Natha, and they sell the pastel de Nathas, which are those egg custard tarts.

They serve them warm and usually you put cinnamon and powdered sugar on top.

12:42

And then we got a bom, bom coffee, which is coffee condensed milk chocolate.

So good.

So this was a good spot to grab some breakfast and that was the first time I had tried a fresh pastel de Natha.

And I feel like we tried to eat every single one we came across and figure out which was the best kind.

13:03

And I’m going to spoil it for you guys.

We went all over the city.

We’ve tried so many different places.

These were our favorite one we.

Even went to the place where they originally created it and again, we’ll tell you the story of the creation when we get to the food tour because we learned a lot of Portuguese Lisbon and food history on that, which I I really really did love but Fabrica de Natha is actually a chain.

13:22

So you would think how how good can a chain actually be?

But really, really delicious.

And again, this was our favorite one, the quality because we didn’t eat just at this fabric of Danata every time because it’s all over the city.

The quality and consistency between different franchises and restaurants was all on par.

13:42

So really, really good.

But after we got our fabric of Danata and coffee, we decided let’s hit the ground running and start walking.

One thing that Brittany wanted to do was go to the Carmo Covenant Museum.

And so this was once a grand Gothic church and it now stands as an open air museum.

14:03

At least part of it is open air because it’s roofless because at one point again, there was an earthquake in the 1700s, as I had mentioned in 1755, and it really collapsed the roof.

So you have this open area now of the church where you can kind of go in.

14:19

They have some artifacts, but then they have a closed off section as well where you you can see a few things.

So we got this discounted with the Lisboa card and just really popular place to go.

The front of it doesn’t really look like much, but again, it’s such a hilly city when you’re in the low lying areas and looking up the backside of it is really cool to just like even look at architecturally, but just a cool casual museum to walk into.

14:45

But honestly, I will say if you didn’t want to utilize it and go in for the museum, I don’t want to say you’re not missing much, but you’re not missing anything great in there there compared to some of the other ones that we went into.

Our big thing of today was that we were going to do a food tour, so we were just kind of bopping around, seeing what there was in Lisbon and trying to get a feel for the city before our food tour started at 3.

15:08

So from here we actually ended up walking down to the waterfront.

You have to walk through an arch to get down there on the Main Street.

We took pictures in the square and the waterfront looks out to the Ponte 25 Day of Braille Bridge.

Which basically is the bridge of April 25th.

15:23

Yes, and it looks like the Golden Gate because it is created, like Jamal had said, by the same company that built it.

So you feel like you’re in San Francisco now because you’re walking down these hilly areas, you’re walking to a waterfront, you’re looking out at a bridge that looks just like the Golden Gate Bridge.

15:40

But then you can also see across the river, their Cristo Rey statue across the river, which is kind of like their version of Chrysler Redeemer.

So really scenic waterfront.

And then we decided, you know what, we’ll go ahead and walk the waterfront down to a market.

We just wanted just a little snack because we didn’t want to fill up because we had our food tour later, but we just wanted a little snack.

16:02

So we ended up going to a market called Time Out Market, and when I was doing research, it was something that had come up, but an influencer had said she actually didn’t like this market.

She thought it was overrated.

But we loved this market.

We probably went here 4 times during the time we were in Lisbon, no.

16:19

Joke every day I would say we went in there and sometimes multiple times in a day just when we’re passing back through.

It wasn’t like purposely to go out of the way.

But yeah, I mean again.

And that’s why I really love our show.

You said one influencer she didn’t really like it.

I know you weren’t on this trip, Kim, but sometimes three different opinions on something.

16:36

And here Brittany and I are saying like this place fire, if you love food, it’s a really good spot to go into.

So they do have a traditional market to the side where you can get, you know, produce, vegetables, etcetera.

Did they not also have a fish market there too?

16:52

I think a little one, I think they had a small one.

But then you get into this open food hall that’s filled with vendors serving all sorts of different thing where you can get like meats, seafood, you can get Gelato, craft doughnuts of all different types and sorts.

17:08

So they have like any type of food cuisine that you can think of.

They have in the center around the tables.

They had an apparel spritz bar, they have a sangria bar.

And even the other places and food vendors are serving alcohol just as well.

17:23

We went to one seafood place that were serving Caprianas like we had when we were in Brazil, which were delicious.

And of course, Brazil, a former colony of Portugal.

So it has that influence over there too.

And you can get those things.

So I really love this.

No shortage of good food here.

17:39

I will say, though, that I mean, it’s not terribly expensive.

It’s more expensive than you’re going to find in a restaurant in the city probably for your food, but still very reasonably priced.

And everything in there that we ate, and we ate different types of things, all really, really good.

17:55

After the market, we decided to go to a church and make our way back up to where we were meeting for the food tour.

The church is called the Church of Sao Raquel, OK, and it’s Lisbon’s most richly decorated churches.

It has a Baroque Chapel, it has mosaics, it has a gilded altar, and it really just reflects Portugal’s wealth during the age of discovery.

18:19

So it was just a nice quick stop to go in.

I know you can see a tons of churches in Europe.

We saw two while we were in Lisbon and this was one of them.

Yeah, if you see a ton of churches when you’re in Europe and you’re on day 5 or 6 and you’ve seen like 3A day, it gets old, right?

18:34

We didn’t really walk into any churches in Madeira, so this was truly our first one.

And so even though we’ve seen them in Europe, this is our first time seeing it in Portugal and after a while having not seen it.

So it’s always just nice and impressive.

But this is also a good place to go and sit down and relax in a cool place also, right?

18:53

You’re doing a lot of walking.

It’s hilly, so I like it for that aspect and you could just really enjoy looking at the beauty of the church within.

So in Madeira, we talked about the famous drink in Madeira is to get the punch up.

But in Lisbon it’s different, different.

It’s called Gingina.

And so we went to a Gingina, which is a small historic bar selling the Gingina and it is a sweet cherry liqueur made by infusing these berries with alcohol and sugar.

19:19

And they have really small historic bars around the city.

And when I was thinking bar, I’m thinking somewhere where you can sit down, but these bars are literally almost, I mean, bigger than windows, but just like really small shops where all you can do is like fit four to six people in to order with the drink.

19:35

You go outside, you take the shot, you drop off the shot glass and you’re done.

So we got four shots.

We’re like, we haven’t really been in Lisbon unless we take a shot of this.

So you can get it with or without the cherries in it.

The cherries are a little bit tart.

And for four shots, it was only 6 not.

19:56

Too bad.

And of course we went to this one place.

There’s lots of places like this.

This is one of the more popular ones.

The irony is I don’t even know if Melissa was joking or not when she said she really liked these things because I thought they tasted like the port wines that we had when we were in Madeira.

20:12

If you just harken back one week and to that episode.

And they weren’t really a fan of that.

So they had that kind of flavor to me.

So I was really shocked that they said that they liked it.

And this was not the only time that we got it.

We passed another place and like should.

We take a shot and then we would end up getting shots.

I mean, you got to do it really.

20:28

I mean, like I said, you’re up.

They’re just free with alcohol.

I’m not to say that they’re belligerent and out drunk, but you know, it’s just different culture, right?

So we definitely partook in a couple different locations and shots of these.

And again, you got to try it.

I didn’t absolutely love it, but when you’re with a group of people and they want to take it, you take it.

20:46

Then we strolled down a street and found ourselves getting some sangria.

Here we had a little time to kill before our food tour, so we got a white sangria.

It was pretty delicious, but we were just getting ready for our Lisbon food tour.

Food tour was about 3 1/2 hours.

21:03

Our tour guide, her name was Kate.

We loved her.

What I loved about this tour is not only did we get 5 different stops, but we learned about the history of Portugal and Lisbon along the way.

So Lisbon is the capital city, but a lot of people didn’t think originally that Lisbon should be the capital city because it wasn’t part of the original Portugal.

21:24

However, the Portuguese started to move South and conquer land South.

And then because people from Africa, the Moors from Africa were coming up into that region and so they were conquering them.

And then after they would conquer an area, they wanted to re Christianize that area.

21:43

And a lot of the people that were coming up were Muslim, and Muslims don’t eat pork.

And so to prove that they are Christian, the Portuguese would have them eat pork.

And so pork wasn’t even popular until this happened.

Yeah, so it’s not even a staple animal in that region, but it’s a very staple Portuguese cuisine and item because of that.

22:04

So that’s some of the unique stuff that you learn on the food tour just as well.

So I I appreciate it for that.

We ate really good food.

She took us to places that are off the beaten path, more locals that you’re not going to really find on the main promenades that cater to tourists, and you get the history that goes with it.

22:22

So the first stop that she took us was actually right by that main stretch where we ended up just having that sangria.

But she said even though you’re on the main stretch, you’re on the street perpendicular to it.

This is a tiny little shop.

You see that it doesn’t have any signs.

22:38

You go and hear most of these people probably like know very little English.

This is like really a local Tavern, even though it is right here off of the main stretch.

And we ended up having those pork sandwiches, the Buffanas.

And so it’s this marinated pork on a nice bread.

22:55

It has this mustard that goes with it.

We also got a plate of fried chorizo with Perry Perry.

And each place also ended up having a drink that went with it.

So we got our choice, but she would tell us based off of what we’re eating, she thinks this goes best.

And we always went with her recommendation, so we got the beer.

23:13

But she also did tell us on this tour that if you look at the windows, some of them will have actual stickers or signages that will let you know that this is a historic restaurant, culturally significant.

And there are several of them throughout the city.

And this place actually had one of those designations because it’s been serving food since.

23:32

What did she say?

Like the 18 or 1700s?

That Tavern?

Over 100 years.

Yeah, something like that.

So really, really old.

So I thought that was pretty cool.

And the food was just delicious.

I mean, a simple pork sandwich with mustard.

You think, OK, whatever.

But the way it’s marinated, its flavor really, really good.

23:49

And that chorizo loved it.

She said you could tell the local spots because local spots don’t have real menus.

They have their menus written in the window and then they will cross off items as they run out through the day.

So that is exactly what this had and the food was really good.

24:04

We actually ended up coming back here later to get a fried pork sandwich that was really good on a different night.

But from here, we walked to another spot that gave us chicken and beef samosas with a sparkling white wine.

I know, right?

And then she was also telling us like samosas, samosas are Indian.

24:23

Why would we have this year in Portugal?

And it goes back to the history of the country and things that you learned, right?

Of course, since Portugal was very big in maritime exploration during the 14, 1516 hundreds, it opened up a lot of trade routes and Mozambique used to be a Portuguese territory.

24:41

Mozambique is perfectly on the eastern African coast and a nice middle ground between India.

So you had Indians from India who now we’re in Africa and of course samosas are from there.

They take that flare from India but make it localized Mozambique style.

24:59

And then when Mozambique got its independence or lots of other places in Africa that got its independence from Portugal, she said that lots of people have the option to then go to mainland Portugal and Europe because of course, they were born under the Portuguese flag.

A lot of people did.

25:15

So now you have these regions of pockets where you have people who are from Portuguese territories that have their food, their influence.

So we went to this one area, climbing up a hill in the more old historic hilly area.

And these samosas were just absolutely delicious.

25:32

We had that with peri peri sauce with and the peri your Paris sauce is spicy so a nice white wine to cool it down.

Really good mix of just different cuisines but that are uniquely Portuguese because of the history.

From there we went to another local spot that served us an octopus salad and then also a salted cod plate with potatoes.

25:51

We got that paired with either red wine or red sangria.

And then at the end they gave us a shot of the ginjinha.

It was really good.

Kim, I know you don’t eat fish, so for the non fish eaters of the group, they did an avocado salad and we got to try that avocado salad and it was really good.

26:08

And I thought the salted cod was almost going to be like a dehydrated cod that’s like covered in salt, you know, and then you could just peel it.

But it was actually in a potato type situation.

It was cod mixed with shredded potatoes, like a hash brown and then kind of cooked up.

And then of course, it did have the cucumber tomato salad around the side with like oregano.

26:26

You really couldn’t taste the fish.

And I’m not saying that for you, Kim, as if you would like attempt to eat it, but honestly, like if you didn’t know, you would really think like you were eating just some sort of like potato dish because it the COD was buried in there and it was flavored so well that you really couldn’t even taste it.

26:43

I liked it a lot.

And then again, this was in a more classic Portuguese local Tavern where they do the fado music, which we didn’t get to go see a show, but that’s something that they’re very popular for is fado style music where the people go to bars, they sing.

26:58

And we had half the thought to come back here and come to one of those shows and just have a drink, drink and get some food, but we did not.

So keeping it really local with the places that she took us.

Our last two stops, 1 was an overlook with a drink so they offered white wine or lemonade.

27:15

We got the white wine.

Just nice scenic viewpoint looking up over the river and we’re getting closer to sunset time so it’s starting to get a little dusky.

Really nice environment outside.

Weather was perfect and our last stop was for a pastel de natha.

27:31

It was from a restaurant that won first place after the original because the original creators don’t compete, so this was very highly rated.

Melissa and Garrett said that this was their favorite pastel de natha.

It was really good, but for Brittany and I, like we said, we liked it from Fabrica to Natha.

27:47

So you’re going to see these everywhere I’ve mentioned earlier too.

I’ll tell you the history of it when we get to the food tour and why they’re actually really popular.

But lots of places in Europe, as we know, pretty much everywhere had a monarchy at one point.

Portugal did too.

They do not anymore.

28:03

And without go into too much detail of the history on how and why they lost the monarchy, when they were having issues before the eventual collapse or disillusion of the monarchy, lots of people were really upset with how much money the monarchy was giving to the church versus, you know, spending it on the people.

28:22

And so one famous church decided, well, if we’re not getting money anymore because the agreement was that the crown was no longer going to give money to the churches, we need to find a way to make money.

They had extra egg yolks because they would use egg whites to starch the linen and the clothing of all the clergy within the church.

28:40

So like, what are we going to do with these egg yolks?

And they decided, let’s make egg custard tarts.

And they sold it.

And that was a way for them to make money.

They became so popular, people love them.

And now you’re going to find them all over Lisbon and Portugal because of that.

So just some sort of little simple thing.

28:56

Now they become really, really popular.

They are super good.

So I really did enjoy that.

And then again, kind of really going into a lot of detail on the food tour, just because the food was delicious, but really impressed with how much knowledge you really learn about a culture too through its food.

29:14

And we really did on this food tour and I really appreciated that aspect and loved it a lot.

And that was one of the reasons why we wanted to do a food tour on the first day because we would be able to like an overview of the city, learn about the food, learn about the history and kind of have some groundwork to to go from.

29:30

By this time, we had been moving up a hill.

And so she had told us she recommended it for us to go to a viewpoint was called Mira Duro de Santa Louisa is a really great beautiful lookout point.

It’s tiled.

There is like a cover over.

It looks out to the river.

29:47

It is crowded during sunset hours.

But one of our squatty said this is where she had her wedding photos taken.

So it is a very beautiful spot.

But then we were tired from being up in the morning.

We made our way back to the Airbnb.

We didn’t need dinner because we’re so full from the food tour and we just went to bed for the night, ready for the next day, Thursday.

30:07

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30:25

You can open it up wider to have more options.

You can get $20 off your first year subscription with our code TSP.

Just go to thriftytraveller.com/premium or click the link in the show notes.

So Thursday morning, we had woken up.

We had, of course, several things on our itinerary to do, exploring Lisbon, seeing more sights.

30:45

The first thing that we wanted to do was go to Castillo de Sao Jorge, which is basically the Saint George Castle.

And we actually saw this, of course, our first day in Lisbon.

It’s just this towering castle, fortified walls that you could see at one of the tightest hills in Lisbon.

31:01

And it’s a medieval fortress.

And it offers both a window into Portugal’s history and past and also gives you some of the best views, panoramic, that you’re going to see of the city.

So originally this was built by the Moors, which is the name given to the Muslim people that were coming from Africa through the short stretch over the Mediterranean and taking over parts of Spain, Portugal, etcetera.

31:26

And so again, built in the mid 11th century, it was later taken back by Christian forces.

Brittany gave a little bit of a history on that, of course, of how they retook over the area.

Yeah.

And obviously then it served as a royal residence and a key defensive strongholds for the city.

31:45

So you can do an audio tour following on your phone with AQR code, and it goes really, really in depth.

We did that for the first maybe like 30 minutes, listening to kind of the spots where it would go to and you get a good amount of the history there.

As the tour goes on, we felt less of a need to really like listen to everything, but the views you get from the top are really, really cool.

32:06

We visited first thing in the morning and it was free with our Lizboa cards.

Yes, I do recommend going first thing in the morning, but when we left the crowds and the line were crazy.

But this allows you to walk through the castle, climb the walls, look out through the towers.

32:23

It’s really nice, beautiful.

Worth doing for sure.

From there we walk down to the Lisbon Cathedral.

This is called the Say de Lisboa.

It dates back to the 12th century.

It’s the oldest in the city, and it’s so the most important church here.

It has a blend of different architecture like Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque.

32:42

So you’ll see all of these different architectural styles.

And if you’re into architecture, you’ll really love this church.

And it wasn’t free with the Lisboa card, but it was discounted.

So then afterwards we went to the main stretch and walkway, which is the Rua Augusta.

So basically the Augusta St. which is their main promenade area that they have.

33:02

And this street leads to that main arch that Brittany was talking about very famous for.

The city has a waterfront Plaza or square.

And this was actually rebuilt after the earthquake.

So when they redesigned the city, they kind of made the new area that was destroyed into a grid pattern.

33:18

And this it was the area that welcomed in ships and everything.

So they made it really grand with a grand square, grand archway to enter into the the street.

But along the street, Brittany really wanted to go to a place that was told to her called Pop Bar.

And the reason why she wanted to go as they sell ice cream.

33:35

But beyond the ice cream, it’s a glass floor bottom and you can actually see ruins that are in there below.

So you go on for your ice cream and then you see the ruins below that they built on top.

We didn’t do this when we went to Rome, but I know a lot of people know there’s a McDonald’s in Rome kind of far outside the city center, but where you can see like real human skeletal remains and ruins down below.

33:58

And they have a glass bottom.

So if you’re familiar with that, this is kind of the same thing here in Lisbon with the glass bottom and seeing the ruins just in the middle of the city in a modern shop.

It’s.

Not ice groups, it’s ice cream bars dipped in like chocolate or other toppings.

And it was actually really good.

34:13

We got was it a hazelnut 1?

We got a hazelnut 1.

Yep.

Yeah, it was really delicious.

So then from here you you can see the arch leading out to the water.

That is one of the activities to do.

You can actually go up the arch onto the rooftop there and overlook the city and the water.

34:29

So we did do that from the top.

It’s really cool because now you’ve walked a lot of Lisbon and you’re starting to recognize landmarks.

So we could see the Carmel Convent museum we had been to the day before.

We can see other churches, we can see the waterfront.

34:44

So you get like a good perspective of the city from up here, of the river views below.

And it was free with the Lisboa card.

And then after all of that, we kind of worked ourselves up a little bit of an appetite and desire for drinks.

So we’re like, you know what, we all love the time Out market.

35:01

Let’s go back to time out, just get a little bit of a snack, some cocktails, etcetera.

So when we were there the day before, I mean, obviously Brittany and I loved it too, but Garrett and Melissa loved it.

They ended up getting food from a place, but more particularly love the cocktails which were the Capriana’s, which are those Brazilian million cocktails from one of them.

35:20

So like, let’s go back and get that and get some drinks.

So we went back over there just to get some drinks before we ended up going to lunch at a place called Lupita Pizzeria.

I feel like this is becoming quite the drinking trip.

Drinking and food eating, this is the perfect concoction for it.

35:37

And this is maybe why I love Lisbon a lot.

I keep telling you and our listeners, this is my new travel style.

I fell in love.

I mean, I just really enjoyed it a lot.

And how are you supposed to go wrong when you have drinks that are 3-4 dollars or I should say EUR?

I mean, how are you not supposed to have it?

35:53

But those cabrionos were like 6 euros.

Well, yes, they were simply because like I said, there’s a little bit of a markup in the timeout market, but still nothing grotesque and you know, outrageous.

But afterwards, right by timeout market very close is Lupita Pizzeria.

36:09

And like I was saying, Garrett brought this to our attention because I believe it was a Co worker of his or somebody who knows said this is like one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had in my life.

It’s really good.

I ate here 4 times when I was in Lisbon.

So we’re like all right, well, we definitely have to try it.

36:25

So when we got there, there was a little bit of a wait.

They put her name up on the board and you can watch where you’re at on the list because they write your name on a chalkboard, so to speak.

That’s on the front door.

And so not too long of a wait, but very small shop in terms of like their seating capacity.

36:42

But we got four different pizzas, shared it and it was just absolutely delicious.

I mean, am I going to say like some of the best pizza I’ve ever eat in my life?

I don’t know if I will go that far, but I will go as far as to say really, really good pizza.

36:59

If you’d like pizza, worth a visit and a stop.

Yeah, they’re thin slice, so they’re easy to eat.

And the one you get, it’s like a little bit bigger than a personal size.

But we ordered four different pizzas and there was not one slice left.

We ate all of the pizza on the table and everyone loved each flavor.

37:18

So we were, we’re all happy with what we got.

It’s really delicious.

And it was Melissa and Garrett’s like only request for the trip.

I always ask them like, hey, what do you want to do when we’re in Madeira or Lisbon?

And then they’re like, oh, we want to go to Lupita’s.

So that was their one request.

We fit it in for them.

37:34

Then we were on the quest of getting the best pastel de nathas for in the city.

So we went to the Chiado district and we went to another place called Menti Garia and it’s another pastry shop.

Another chain as well.

Yes, another chain and you can actually watch them make the custard tarts.

37:53

They have like a glass window and they just have like a production line, someone cutting and slicing the crust, someone placing it in the pans, someone filling the pans, someone putting them in the oven.

And just like this whole process, we got to watch that and eat some of the pasteles.

38:09

Not thus.

They were really good, but not our favorite ones.

Yeah, really good, not favorite like Brittany just said.

What I really liked about this though is of course you could see the production line, but there was no place to sit.

It’s literally a standing bar with the glass.

And so you’re standing in front of the production line, but of course you’re sectioned off.

38:28

So standing bar style.

But here I was able to get a coffee with it too.

So I’m enjoying my coffee with my pastry.

You know, I love coffee.

So just All in all, just a nice casual little stop here to try a different pastel than at the.

Because we had our Lisboa cards and we kind of finished what we wanted to do with the day early, I asked Melissa, Hey, is there anything else on the list that, like, really piques her interest?

38:50

And she was wanting to go to the National Tile Museum, so we decided to go there.

This is housed in a former convent, and you can see all of the different tiles in ceramic artworks from like the 15th century to modern times.

It was really cool to go into this museum.

39:07

It was covered by the Lisboa Pass and I think it’s worth doing.

Yeah, I really enjoyed it because again, tile is a very integral part of Portuguese history.

You’ll see it on their buildings.

They’re one one of the first cultures to really actually refine it very well to put pictures on it, have the colors and everything stay on it for quite a bit of time before it fades.

39:29

So it’s still very prominent today.

But even if you’re just thinking like, oh, it’s like tile, like even if you just like art, these are pieces of art put together mosaic style.

So for that aspect, I really enjoyed it too.

But again, with the Lisboa card, lots of free museums and activities.

39:46

So when Brittany was saying to Melissa, oh which one piques you of interest, there is a full blown list that you can get that will show you what the Lisboa card is good for and I’m glad she picked this one, I enjoyed it a lot.

We went back to our Airbnb a bit, but then we decided we were going to go out later in the evening and eat some more.

40:03

So we ended up taking Tram 28, which is supposed to be like a thing to do in Lisbon.

And the Tram 28 is like one of the historic cable cars that winds through the city and it goes through a lot of the historic neighborhoods.

So we decided.

40:19

To take it back to the Restadoras Plaza.

And that’s when we went back to get the fried pork sandwich from the restaurant we had gone to during the food tour.

We went back to the Timeout Market.

We got some Gelato there and the ricotta with honey and the caramel Gelato from this market were the best flavors.

40:38

I’m going to save you time.

Don’t look at the other flavors.

Just get those two.

And on our way back to the Airbnb late at night, we walked past Pink St.

It’s known for its nightlife.

It was bumping there there lots of different bars that we walked through and seems like a really fun area.

40:55

This would have been your spot, Kim.

Yeah, yeah.

So like, was there dancing clubs OK.

Clubs, I even saw a hookah bar that was out there or these people that were smoking hookah, so it was like available, but there’s dancing, there’s casual sit down bars, there’s standing room bars.

41:11

So you’ll find all sorts of stuff this stretch right here, just loaded with bars and lots of things to do.

So you would have definitely enjoyed that.

As we were walking through it, Garrett and Melissa were like, kind of, but we had to do stuff the next day.

So Garretts like, oh man, I’m glad you guys kept walking because if you didn’t, I would have stopped.

41:29

And then I was like, oh, you should have said something.

It’s like, no, no, no, I’m actually glad that we didn’t because I would have been really irresponsible if we had stopped and stayed there.

But I just want to say something real quick about Tram 28 that Brittany had mentioned.

Luckily, our Airbnb was kind of in a historic district right by a Tram 28 station, so we used it quite a bit.

41:49

But it’s so popular that I can’t tell you how many times when we were riding it, like literally every corner, you’re going to see somebody taking a photo of it, tourist after tourist after tourist taking a photo.

And you think, oh, well, what’s so great about just a tram?

But it’s really unique with the cobblestone roads beyond that of of course, this was built in a time before cars.

42:09

This goes through like not through the whole stretch, but in certain areas, like really, really narrow alleyways to the point where if you’re a pedestrian, the sidewalk is maybe a foot, foot and a half and you need to hug the wall as this trolley is coming through.

So it goes through these narrow paths, narrow corners, they just come out of nowhere.

42:27

So just a really unique experience going from hilly to flat and back up again and doing all this stuff.

So it’s worth a ride and definitely worth checking out.

But for us it was a very easy mode of transport since it was right by our Airbnb.

Hey Squatty, I want to remind you real quick about the resources that we have on our website, travelsquadpodcast.com.

42:48

On there you can find a episode page for every single episode that we’ve ever done.

It has links to all of the experiences and hotels that we stayed in.

All of the tips and advice that we give in the episode is also on that page.

You can search in the search bar, find it real easily.

43:05

We also have a link to our Amazon storefront, so every one of these travel products that we’ve recommended in any of our episodes you can find there.

We have a course on how to start your own podcast.

We have templates for packing and house sitting guides.

So go over there and check it out.

And if you’re looking for a particular resource, just reach out and let us know and maybe we can make it for you.

43:27

So on Friday, we’re really not going to talk too much about what we did on Friday because we did a day trip to Sentra and we’re going to have a mini episode on our day trip to Sentra and it’s actually just going to be released on Friday, so stay tuned for that.

The one thing that we did do in Lisbon on Friday was we did go to a Benfica football game, which is soccer.

43:48

It was our first professional soccer game.

You like the way Bernie said that football just keeping it real regional.

Football.

Not soccer, football.

And you know, funny story because like Garrett really, really wanted to go and he got these tickets and he wasn’t sure if they were going to be scam tickets or not.

44:05

So he wanted to go to the stadium early.

So we end up going to the stadium early.

There’s a ton of good food and drink options outside, but Garrett didn’t want to focus on that.

He wanted to get into the game to make sure the tickets work.

But once you get in, you can’t go out.

So we end up going into the stadium like almost two hours early and find out inside there’s no alcohol in the stadium.

44:26

Food options are really limited but still had a good time.

The crowd goes wild when the home team scores.

Like going to a professional soccer game for the first time and I’m not super into sports or anything like that, but it was definitely a fun experience.

44:44

Really fun experience.

Definitely.

People take their soccer very seriously.

We were sitting in a section, well, not our section, but we were right by a section that’s designated for the opposing team.

So this is how serious people take soccer like over in Europe or even internationally, right?

45:00

They actually had netting and clear glass walls so people can’t throw stuff onto the field and get rowdy.

And I think that’s a reason why they don’t sell alcohol inside.

They only sell non alcoholic beer because they don’t want people getting too wild.

45:15

But just real quick on why Garrett was worried about those tickets.

He bought them off a StubHub and then he accidentally didn’t buy the ones that are like the instant receive.

It was like, oh, we’ll get it to you like a few hours before the event, right?

And he usually doesn’t buy those, but he’s talking to the guy to make sure that he’s going to get them.

45:34

The person who he bought them from, He’s like, yeah, yeah, I’m going to send them.

He sends them like screenshot images of them, not the actual like PDF file of the ticket or anything, but like he took a photo of the ticket and he’s like, this isn’t going to work.

So he starts calling StubHub.

Even the guy at StubHub told them there’s not much I can do until they don’t work.

45:53

But yeah, I don’t even think these are going to work.

So go to the game, test the come out when they don’t, we could get you some tickets if need be, just as like an insurance policy, but like I can’t do anything till you go.

So Garrett’s thought of getting there early was one just to make sure they work, but he didn’t want 60,000 people because that’s how many people fit in the stadium to be filing into the stadium all at once, then the tickets not work and then trying to have to push your way out or looking stupid like you’re going in without valid tickets, etcetera, etcetera.

46:20

So we missed the fan zone outside that had all the good food and drink, but nevertheless vibe experience.

For an international soccer game where you’re there with the home team, it’s really, really wild and fun.

And that was Garrett and Melissa’s last night.

Saturday was the next day.

46:35

Garrett and Melissa actually flew to London where we were going to meet them the next day.

And we will have an episode on London.

But Jamal and I spent Saturday in Lisbon and this was one of my favorite days because we really ate some good food this day and just had more of a leisure chill day on on this day.

46:53

So we started at Fabric.

Are they not the IT was our last opportunity to get it.

It was our favorite place where they had the pastel de Natas.

We got a ham and cheese quiche, which was 10 out of 10.

You should have seen Jamal’s face when he ate this because his face was just like, Oh my God, this is so good.

47:09

So we got that the pastel de Natas and we got the Bon Bon coffees.

So we did that.

It was right next to the Santa, just a tower which was actually closed, which is like a elevator tower that has really good viewpoints.

But the thing about Lisbon is it’s so hilly.

47:25

There are so many good viewpoints.

This is typically included in the Lisboa card.

What makes this tower unique though, or this elevator unique, is that it was designed by a student of the person that designed the Eiffel Tower, and it also connects Lisbon’s lower and upper districts, so you get those panoramic views.

47:45

But we just saw the outside of it.

And then walk by.

Once they’re done with renovations, it’ll be open again.

Yeah.

And so it doesn’t look like the Eiffel Tower, but it definitely has those type of vibes where you can see the rivets, the kind of steel architecture that goes with it and that type of style.

48:02

And so it’s really was built as an elevator.

So it’s in a tower, but then it has a bridge that leads you to the upper portion of Lisbon that’s on a hill.

So it really actually has a functional purpose, but just a cool thing to pass by.

But if you have the Lisboa card, when it’s actually functioning, you can go up and go in and utilize the deck as a viewpoint, but really more functionality.

48:23

It is a true elevator to help people avoid climbing the hill.

From there, we wanted to go to the Geronimos monastery.

This is something I was really looking forward to because it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

It has a lot of like really intricate stone carvings and like this Grand Cloister courtyard area, it’s double storied.

48:43

You get to wander around, take really good pictures here.

And then it’s also attached to a church.

The church itself, you can actually go in separately for free.

So if you weren’t going into the whole monastery, there’s a separate line for that.

We did that at the very end.

But the architecture here is beautiful, and I actually really do like architecture.

49:04

Like that was my favorite part about Lisbon.

That’s some of my favorite parts about wandering the city.

I love Europe for its architecture as well, so if you like architecture, this is a good place for you.

Yeah, this monastery is very Gothic style, so you’re going to get that Gothic style architecture, and really the main thing is just exploring the courtyard.

49:23

They actually have several people that are interned here, one of them being Vasco da Gama, which he was a famous Portuguese explorer.

So I mean, I heard that name growing up just in history class all the time.

So it was really cool to kind of see him there, so to speak, that way, but really cool.

49:40

And again, free with the Lisboa card.

And it’s not far from the waterfront, and it’s right across the street to the Monument to the Discoveries, because Portugal has a lot of maritime history.

So they have this big monchumental sculpture honoring the explorers of Portugal kind of on a ship.

49:58

And it’s this big towering statue.

And it’s right on the river, and you have views of their Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

So we did pop over and do that real quick.

And then right by that they have the Belem Tower, which this is a small little tower.

50:15

It’s very cool architectural style, but it’s just a monument to the Portuguese explorers also kind of like the Monument of discoveries, but this one actually served a functional purpose.

It was truly the disembarkation and embarkation point of explorers coming and leaving from Lisbon.

50:33

So it’s just a tower that people actually used back in the day.

It was closed when we we were there due to renovation.

So you could see part of it, but not all of it.

Honestly, I’m, I’m going to be honest, like if you’re going to do one thing of what we’re talking about today in terms of like the sights to see, I would say it’s the monastery.

50:50

These other things obviously are going to come up as things to do in Lisbon.

But other than the fact that they’re just really monuments and things to look at and not do much else while you’re there, I would say that those potentially could be a pass.

I don’t know, the tower looks really cool because it’s like surrounded by the water.

51:07

There’s gardens around it.

We just didn’t get to see it in its prime and we also didn’t get to go inside of it.

But while we were on our way there, we also got to try the original birthplace of the original custard tart.

So we were like, well, if we have to go to the original, try it for sure.

51:24

They’ve been making these since 1837 and they were served warm, which I can appreciate.

The line was crazy long.

You can either go inside, they have the original counter or they have like a secondary counter.

Jamal and I did try them and we just sat across the the street.

51:40

Jamal’s thought was they were warm, which is nice, but he felt like the warmness brought out the egginess.

So that’s why these weren’t his favorite.

But you have to try the original for sure.

Good crust for sure, but yeah, the other ones that we had were a little bit more sweet and less eggy, so for that aspect.

But yeah, I mean, they were still good nevertheless.

51:56

If that was the first one I tried and didn’t know any better, I would love it.

But you know, I had others so.

We then took the bus to the LX factory.

This area is like an industrial area with trendy shops, art galleries, cafes, bars and people go there for like shopping, dining.

52:13

We walked through it.

We weren’t super impressed with it.

We would rather go to Time Out Market, but we walked through because it was like a thing to do and it was a stop on our way back to the National Pantheon.

So we did go to the National Pantheon as our last activity in Lisbon.

52:30

And this is in the Alphama district.

It has this huge white Dome and it’s the resting place for many of Portugal’s important figures and it has a rooftop terrace.

You can climb up these stairs and you have a views across Lisbon and the river.

52:46

So we just did that quickly.

And this was free with the Lisboa cartoon and really close to our Airbnb.

But I would wager to say the highlight for me of this day was having Portuguese tapas.

You know, tapas are really popular in Spain.

It’s popular here in Portugal too.

53:03

A lot of the same things, but also different and subtle ways, but also enough subtlety to make it unique.

Between Portugal and Spain, we went to a place called Levi Levi.

I did quite a bit of research on best places to go.

This one always came up on lots of different reviews and it did not disappoint.

53:21

This was probably maybe the best meal and food that we had on the entire trip.

It was started off with a caprese salad, which you could say, well, what’s so great about a caprese?

It’s simple, but they just really did it right.

We got these things called the honeymoon, which is like a cheese topped with honey and walnut.

53:39

It was a warm goat cheese topped with the honey and walnuts.

We got the famous toasted sardines, we got the shrimp, we got a bottle of wine.

We got so many different dishes and that whole bottle of wine and I think we ended up for the whole thing.

Everything we got was like only €75 affordable for what we got.

53:57

We were super full, super stuff.

I told the waiter that we had this was the best meal we had in Lisbon.

They were so appreciative and it was the perfect way to end our time in Lisbon.

Sounds delicious.

So it’s the city for sightseeing, eating and drinking.

54:12

Yes, I would say so.

And maybe that’s exactly why I fell in love with it.

So that’s your travel style now, Jamal?

That is my travel style.

Brittany doesn’t listen to me.

She’s like, you know, I catered to you by doing the food tour.

I’m like, that was a caterer doing the food tour.

It was great.

Lisbon was catering to you.

54:30

OK.

No, it was a really good city.

A lot of really good eats here.

And would you say that the amount of time you spent here was perfect or would you have wanted more time?

I think 3 full days here is perfect.

You can use it as a hub like we did to go to Sentra.

54:45

There are also some other coastal areas that you can go to, so you could spend longer in Lisbon but use it as a hub.

But for the city of Lisbon itself, I think 3 days is great.

Yeah, to see the sights, more than enough.

To eat the food, probably not enough.

But if you eat the highlights, then you’re in good shape.

55:02

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55:19

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