[13D10N - Incentive Trip: Spain & Portugal] 3D2N at Lisbon

Before checking out, we took a photo of the morning view from our room! We woke up early to have our breakfast at the hotel.

We left our Seville hotel after staying for a night. We woke up early to have our breakfast at the hotel before checking out.

It was a wet morning when we boarded the bus to explore the attractions in Seville. After a short bus-ride of 20-minutes, we reached the famous landmark in Seville, The Plaza de España. It is located at the centre of the city of Seville

The entire structure was enormous, which meant a lot of walking and even more photographs. There were towers, tiled alcoves, and stunning bridges, and overall I was greatly impressed by the place.

Seville's Plaza de España is an impressive and unique place in Europe in terms of architecture and design. It symbolises the rich history and culture of Spain. The square is a must-see tourist attraction and represents an important part of the cultural heritage of the city of Seville. It is a must-see for all tourists visiting the city.

Next, we reached the stunning Seville Cathedral. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and a Spanish national monument.

There are many things to see and do inside Seville Cathedral, such as exploring the numerous chapels, climbing to the top of the Giralda tower for breathtaking views of the city, and visiting the tomb of Christopher Columbus.

The Seville Cathedral is the final resting place of Christopher Columbus, one of the most famous explorers in history.

If you’re visiting Seville Cathedral, make sure to climb the Giralda Tower, and this was what we did! The Giralda Tower is the most iconic feature of the Seville Cathedral, and at 97 meters (318 feet) tall, it’s the tallest tower in Spain. The panoramic views from the top were incredible, and you can see for miles over the city.

However, be warned, the climb isn’t a walk in the park. It has no steps/stairs just 35 ramps with varying inclined steepness, so it is definitely a bit of a workout.

That said, it’s definitely worth the effort, the views over the city were magnificent!

The local tour guide booked a few tables for all of us at Restaurante Mateos for our self-paid lunch. This restaurant was walking distance from the Seville Cathedral.

We started with drinks, and as usual Baby did his own research on what was unique in Seville. Hence, instead of getting the usual Sangria that we've been having throughout our stay in Spain, we ordered VINO DE NARANJA (Orange Wine) instead! We loved the orange wine, as it was sweet, so Spanish, and so delicious. What a great aperitif! It’s something you need to try when you’re in Seville.

We also ordered the Spanish Spinach & Chickpeas (Espinacas con Garbanzos), as this traditional dish is popular in Seville, Spain. It is served in all the local tapas bars.

After our self-paid lunch, we walked around the most desirable area of Seville, - Barrio Santa Cruz, which is also known as the medieval Jewish Quarter and is actually the real heart of Seville. It was a typical Spanish old town with a maze of winding cobbled streets and picturesque squares. It's a great place to find local tapas bars, as Tapas-hopping is the primary social event in Seville’s oldest quarter – Barrio Santa Cruz.

The old Jewish quarter’s narrow streets had many shops selling souvenirs, handicrafts, and ceramics. We picked up some souvenirs from Seville before heading back to our bus to continue our journey to Portugal. To conclude my thoughts for Seville, it's a popular European city to visit, and it is well placed to easily tour around!

After approximately 4.5 hours of being on the road, we finally arrived at Lisbon, Portugal. The bus brought us to our dinner place before bringing us to our hotel. We were treated to a 3-course Piri Piri Portuguese dinner set which was part of the package tour. The dinner place was Restaurante Piri Piri.

The dinner set started off with Vegetable Soup which tasted abit like pumpkin soup, followed by a large portion of Salad.

The star of the night - Piri Piri Chicken with free-flow of rice. 

We ended our meal with some Portuguese Egg Tarts!

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We headed back to our hotel after our dinner and checked into Marriott Hotel Lisbon. It was almost 830pm after we had settled down our belongings in the hotel

However, we felt that it was still quite early and we certainly did not want to waste any time. Baby did some checking and discovered a shopping mall that brightened up my eyes, as there was a Primark at the premises!  The mall closes at midnight and is called the Colombo Shopping Centre. It only required 2 subway stops to reach. To reach the subway station, we needed to walk about 10-15mins from the hotel.

Upon reaching Lananjeiras station, we purchased our tickets. I love the beautiful tiles that were used on the walls in each different station.

We took many random photos at the station platform area. Their trains were clean and efficient, but most importantly the stations lines were easy to navigate.

I was happy that we took the public transport in Portugal. These are one of the normal routines we do when we are on holiday.

We had a hearty shopping time at the shopping mall. It was quite big with many shops. We left around 11pm and took the train back to our hotel to do our packing with our massive loots that we purchased from Primark and Continente (supermarket in Portugal).

Our room stay was inclusive of breakfast, and we headed down to the café to enjoy a breakfast buffet.

After our breakfast, we boarded the bus, and our city tour began with the charming Portuguese town - Sintra.

We visited Palacio Nacional de Sintra (Sintra National Palace). The entrance of this palace was not part of the tour, so we didn’t go in but we only took photos outside against the building. I think I will ear-mark this place, as if I do come back to Lisbon again, I would like to visit the palace.

We picked up some Pâtés (sardine & salmon spread) during our visit to Sintra Portugal.

We purchased 2 Portuguese egg tarts from Pastel del Nata. We really enjoyed the Portuguese staple.

We thereafter walked around the Sintra Local Market - I felt that it was like stepping back in time. There were many narrow, steep, cobblestoned streets with many shops and restaurants. The shops were mainly selling handcrafted and manufactured items, and somewhat kitschy ‘souvenir’ merchandise, but overall the items were interesting and  were unique to these shops.

We picked up some artwork of Sintra from Toranja - an art store in Sintra. We loved the fun artworks of Portugal that were offered in the shop. We felt that it was a great art shop, as it was getting harder and harder to find unique locally made souvenirs besides the usual magnets and mugs and what-not.

We left Sintra, and headed over to the next attraction - Cabo da Roca which was about 30-45 minutes bus ride away.

Views from roads along the Atlantic Coast

As we got off the bus, we headed towards the edge of the cliff, where everyone else was. The views of the ocean smashing against the rocks was one to behold.

I decided to take tons of photos that would as a keepsake and proof that I’ve been to the most western point of Europe!

We headed back into Cascais for lunch(, specifically the Cascais main market of Mercado da Vila.

The local tour guide made a reservation for lunch at Marisco na Praça for our self-paid lunch. It is a large covered market in Cascais that sells a variety of fresh produce and classical handicrafts. A great place to explore local products.

We loved the Fresh Oysters, as they tasted really fresh and delicious!

Portugese Seafood Rice hit all the right notes with us. It's a bit like our Teochew Porridge back home, but not as liquid in form, as the grains of the rice still had a decent bite to them. Do not miss it when you are in Portugal!

The freshest produce and seafood that Portugal offered came with a price tag. The lunch damage was significant, but since we were on holiday, we decided to ease up on expenditure!

On the way to our next stop, our bus passed through a tunnel which was full of colorful tiles and murals. It was quite pretty and was simply the best underpass I have ever seen. ‘Amazing’ is the only word to describe the sight!

We continued our tour to Jerónimos Monastery, and it is an UNESCO world heritage that is a must-visit when you’re in Lisbon. The entrance of the Jerónimos Monastery was not part of the tour, so we didn’t go in but only took photos outside against the building. I have also ear-marked this place for a potential future visit if I ever make a re-visit to Portugal!

We were surprised by the local tour guide, as he got us the Pastéis de Belém (Famous Portugal's Custard Tart) from Antiga Confeitaria de Belém Pastéis de Belém. We got to taste a fresh, warm one out of the oven! It tasted so good, but too bad we could only have one tart each. While on the bus leaving for Belem Tower, we passed by the shop and were shocked to see that the long queue that was actually snaking outside was for these takeaway tarts!

Another attraction without entrance was the Belem Tower. We took many photos outside against the building. Again i have to reiterate that I would like to visit it if I ever made a re-visit to Portugal again, as I read that no Lisbon is complete without some photos of the interior of the iconic Belem Tower.

A visit to the Padrão dos Descobrimento (Monument to the Discoveries) ended up being one of my favourite sights in Lisbon. The entrance of the exhibition was not part of the tour, what a shame!

This monument takes the shape of the prow of a caraval (ship of early explorers), and is carved in limestone.

We took many random photos against the monument. 

The bus dropped us off at Rossio Square - Lisbon’s City Centre for a self-tour! We were given the option of returning to the drop off point for taking the bus at 8pm to return to the hotel or having more time to explore on our own but to make our own way back.

We did some shopping at the Square since this was the last night in Portugal. We needed as much time as we could take to explore more in Lisbon as well as to enjoy more of the local cuisine in Lisbon.

We walked to our dinner place after we did our shopping, as we had made a dinner reservation at 6pm at a Traditional Portugese Restaurant called Gambrinus. This restaurant is one of the most famous restaurants in Lisbon

The Steamed Clams with Garlic were terrific, and I think I can finish this dish all by myself.

I also ordered more traditional Portuguese food - Pork with chestnuts with a side of Potatoes and Spinach. Unfortunately, I felt that it was not good at all. As I later read up, it should have some sauce on it, and the pork was just too dry, the spinach was cold, and the potatoes were just average.

Overall, traditional Portuguese food is incredible, but this restaurant didn’t really nail it down for me. Sadly, it was the priciest place we ate in Lisbon!

After our meal, we took the train to Colombo Shopping Centre again, which only required 6-7 subway stops to reach. We were there the night before, but since was the last night in Lisbon, we decided to do more shopping at the mall. After a hearty time, we left around 11pm and took the train back to our hotel to do our packing with our loots throughout the whole day. I was happy that we were able to be given quality time to do our favorite things during this guided tour.

Lisbon has a really special place in our heart, and what I loved most about the city is its old-style charm and the amazing monuments left behind by the past.

Stay tuned for my next blogpost, as we explored more of Portugal by heading to Fatima for a visit  before departing Portugal, to return to another city of Spain - Salamanca.