Warm Adventures: Lisbon, Portugal

The only picture of all of the 4 of us

Traveling ain't what it use to be. I do miss the different pace of site seeing when it was just E and I. I feel fortunate that we did get to see quite a bit before we settled down and had kids. And I'm glad we didn't stop traveling once we had kids. When we travelled (PC) we tended to make sure we saw everything we could, packing our days full of site seeing and enjoying leisurely strolls at night. Well that pace is pretty much over now. Traveling with kids involves playgrounds, zoos and early dinners. And honestly I am not complaining, it's just a different perspective, a less selfish one as you tend to go at a snails pace when traveling with kids. You just have to accept you aren't going to get to do or see everything that you wanted to and that someone will get sick. That is fine - it's fun to travel and experience places through their eyes.

Yummy date night meal

We spent a week in Lisbon, Portugal in early April. This was our annual invite from our good friend B and her son A (who Ali thinks hung the moon). Last year we went to Barcelona with them. They like to take a trip during the spring holiday and this time we even invited Erik along. We rented a nice apartment in the Gracas neighborhood of Lisbon. We had great weather just by luck as the week before it literally had rained everyday in Lisbon. The first day we just wandered around and got our bearings although we did end up getting on the famous rickety Tram 28 going the wrong way. And Erik lost his brand new sunglasses. Not sure what it is about us and public transportation - if you recall I lost my beloved pink camera last year while on the bus in Barcelona. That night we ordered delicious takeout.

On Monday Erik needed to do some work so we took the kids to the zoo which they of course loved. It was a really nice zoo, well laid out and shady. Needless to say the kids were all very tired that day, so we got them to bed early and Erik and I enjoyed a delicious dinner out on the town. One of the many perks of traveling with another family - date nights!

The beach

On Tuesday we went to the beach in Estoril. We were told we could walk along the beach to Cascais from there but with 3 kids in tow we plopped down on the beach as soon as we got off the train. We had a great time but honestly it was really warm (23C) and the water a bit too cold to dive in and cool off. The kids of course had a blast and didn't want to leave. That night B and I went out on the town - really we just wandered around our cute neighborhood that was filled with little restaurants and had a nice meal with yummy Sangria. How lucky am I that all date nights involved me.

Wednesday we did some sight seeing around the Belem area. B and I took advantage of having another adult around and ditched the kids with Erik for the afternoon so we could do some euro shopping. Everything is much cheaper outside of Switzerland so we bought the kids (and ourselves) some clothing and shoes. Although I'm pretty sure B had an entire suitcase full of just shoes (and wine) to bring back. That night B and I took the two older kids out to dinner since they napped earlier in the day. It was fun and I think they enjoyed being out after dark.

Thursday we took the kids to the Oceanarium - a really nice aquarium in Lisbon. It is hard to describe it but it was really a cool design with a very large tank in the middle that you walked around and several floors of interactions and exhibits of all kinds. That night Erik and I went on our 2nd dinner date (well sort of). Miles was not feeling well, Luckily we were literally across the street from our apartment at this tiny little place that had delicious seafood and was like #11 on trip advisor. So I kept running back and forth a few times to get him back to sleep and finally gave up having to ditch my handsome date.

Miles was still not feeling well on Friday so we took it easy and just toured around a bit. Erik took off to Sintra. B and I took the kids to a gigantic playground that had several levels. Unfortunately it seemed like every school age kid in the area also had the same idea as it was quite crowded. Not that the kids cared but I didn't like it so much. It was hard to keep track of the kids.

Yummy custard pastries

And just like that our week in Lisbon was over. We had a great time. My favorite things about Lisbon were the delicious (and inexpensive) seafood meals. Bacalhau is a tasty salted cod dish they are known for and we had it so many different ways. B even brought some back in her carry on. I'm pretty sure she is going to try and figure out how to make it. The custard pastries were delicious. And I fell in love with the espresso as it was good and cheap. It is a bit challenging with kids as it is not stroller friendly at all although very kid friendly in general. I can't tell you how many people stopped to pat our kids heads. Not sure if it was just friendliness or the site of the two tow heads. And the kids got along really well. At some point early in the week I think Miles felt left out because A & A were hitting it off so well. He kept coming up to me asking to go home. He wasn't use to having to share his big sister and wanted her all to herself. Quirky kids.

Like I said great time. Another reason we moved here. To experience different cultures and explore Europe. Thanks again for the invite B.