Hola todos,
Wednesday (Day 10)
This was Kaitlynn's last morning—she went back a day earlier than the rest of us. We woke up early to send her off with a breakfast espresso, but the place right underneath our Airbnb was closed and didn't open until 9AM! For my American standards, that seems so ridiculous for a coffee and pastry shop. Where do the early birds get their caffeine? But no matter, we ended up walking one block to another local coffee place that was good. We sipped our espresso and helped her catch her bus.
Palácio Nacional e Jardins de Queluz (Queluz National Palace)
Lisboa Card savings: 1.85€ bus, 1.85€ metro, 1.5€ entrance
Then, the rest of us decided to go out and explore yet another palace in the area. It was a bit further to get to—we had to take both a bus and a train to get there. But it wasn't complicated. There was also a bit of a walk to the Palace from the metro stop, but we arrived at the Palace just a few minutes after it opened. There was no line, thankfully!
We got access to the palace and the gardens. It is a very large complex, so there was a lot to walk through a see. This palace was essentially a rural "retreat" for the royals, so it was a lot less ornate than the other palaces we've seen. But, it is still beautiful.
The throne room/receiving room (left) and the ballroom (right). And this was the more casual property!
There was more of a focus on the decorations of each room, as opposed to the architecture, and there were a ton of wall frescoes and other paintings. The rooms and paintings have been beautifully preserved and gave tourists a great idea of the layout of the home. The views are all of the palace gardens... so picturesque!
We also explored the gardens, which are expansive. There were a lot of fountains and hedges, kind of like a maze. There were also two full sets of gardens-- one internal, smaller set, and one external, larger set. We also saw horses in the royal stables! We got to pet them. We didn't ask to, but we weren't told not to... fortunately, no international incident ensued.
The lighting isn't great on this pic, but this is a sample of the exterior architecture. It is actually the church across the street from the Palace, but they look the same.
As we left Queluz to go back into Lisbon, it was around lunchtime. However, no restaurants or cafes in the area took credit card! They were all cash only. So we had to wait until we got back into a more touristy area to find a place that accepted card.
Praia da Rainha (or, Tina finds another beach)
Lisboa Card savings: 1.85€ metro, 1.85€ bus, 2.25€ metro to, 2.25€ metro back
We grabbed a quick lunch and then headed out to Praia da Rainha, one of the more popular beaches near Lisbon. It is about a 30-40 minute train ride out of the city, but extremely accessible. There are also a lot of other beaches that we passed on the train.
The water was cold, even in August, (Atlantic); the sun was hot (but we had some sunscreen!); and the shops in the area were really cute. We laid out our towels and literally all fell asleep. We were so tired from traveling and just "go-ing" so much over the past week and a half.
After a few hours of beach time, we headed back into Lisbon to clean up and then grab dinner. We ended up going to the same place we ate last night—the service was good, the food was local, and the location was close! We also, of course, stopped for gelato at a place near our Airbnb. What would our final night in Europe be without gelato?!
Thursday (Day 11)
We packed up and left the Airbnb this morning. We were definitely sad, but I, for one, was ready for a bit of stability and the comfort of home. We grabbed a final espresso and pastry at the café on the corner. ($2.50 for a savory pastry, a sweet pastry, and a coffee! I won't get over the sticker shock—or the reverse I faced when landing back in the States.) Then, we caught our bus to head over to the airport. (Lisboa Card savings: 1.85€ bus).
But, of course, nothing ever goes quite as planned—the buses we had to take were running a bit late, and while I like to act like I am okay cutting airport timing tight, I'm not. At all. So I was pretty stressed getting to the airport, especially since we had to go through a bunch of lines (check in/ticketing, security, and passports), and were unfamiliar with the huge airport's layout. Fortunately, the lines were short for every checkpoint we had to go through and no friendships were permanently ruined.
We boarded and immediately felt like queens. Pillows! Blankets! Headsets! On our seats and for free! We got a carry-on item! (Em and Jo needed the duffle bag they had Kaitlynn bring out when we met up with her—they had lots of souvenirs to pack up.) We got a hot meal, a snack, and beverage service no fewer than 3 times! Compared to our last two flights, we were living in luxury.
It was a direct flight, so we took off and landed without any issues.
This trip was so fun, and I strongly recommend you put both Iceland and Portugal on your travel lists. Both countries are so different and have such great histories, cultures, and general *vibes* for travelers to learn of and learn from.
Lisboa Card savings: 65.4€
The card is well worth it! Again, the cost for the 72-hour/3-day pass was about $45. We didn't have to take as much time getting in line and paying for tickets at various places or waiting to load a metro card. We also felt freedom to travel a bit more because we didn't have to worry about spending more money with an additional train, bus, or metro trip.
Step Tracker: 210,693 steps total (per person!)
Besos (and until next trip!),
Tina the ExploraDora
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