Our first trip during the May vacations was to
Lisbon. This was a "make-up" trip as we had planned to go earlier in the year but Paige wasn't feeling well and we canceled.
We had a wonderful apartment in the heart of the old city that was a great base for our stay. In fact, we loved it so much that we all wished that we could transport it back to Paris with us.
Our first day we explored the
Alfama district with its winding, hilly streets and climbed up to the castle that sits above the town. The castle grounds were interesting, with shady trees giving it a much more livable feel than most castles. After exploring a bit and enjoying the views, we went back down into Alfama for dinner. There, we got to enjoy the local custom of
Fado, a capella singing with songs often about the hardships of sea life, while we partook in the local specialties, including the Portuguese "green wine".
The next day we took a train to
Sintra for a day trip. Sintra is a beautiful little town that lies about 30 minutes to the west of Lisbon. A Moorish castle and a palace look down over it from the hills next to the town.
While we would have liked to explore the castle and the palace we had limited time so instead focused on another palace,
Quinta da Regaleira, and its amazing grounds. Quinta da Regaleira was built in the early 1900s and includes a palace, a lovely chapel, fountains, a lake, wells, and tunnels spread across about 10 acres (4 hectares). As it sits on a hill, there are paths you can take from one area up to the next with viewpoints, terraces, and towers. We enjoyed exploring grottoes and tunnels that would take you from one area to another. It was such a magical place and you could fantasize about hosting a huge party there with people hanging out in different areas and kids running around having a great time. It would also be a perfect venue for the world's most challenging game of hide-and-seek.
Our last days in Lisbon we explored the
Belém area which was the historical launching point for the Portuguese explorers. There we visited the waterfront, walking to the
Belém Tower, and enjoyed warm
Pastel de Nata, a well-known egg tart pastry that was first created in Belém.
We also visited a flea market in Alfama where the kids were successful in burning some of their trip spending money.
We found Lisbon to be quite affordable. We stayed in a wonderful apartment,
Madalena Hermitage, which has an unheard-of 9.7 rating on Booking.com (good places are usually between 8.0 and 8.5 and really good places between 8.6 and 9.2 -- you don't see much above that -- and never at this price range). When we visited the local grocery store to stock up on breakfast supplies and snacks, the prices were often a third or half of what they would be in Paris.
