Portugal, Day 3: Sunshine and Waves

recently consumed

vacation: cascais, portugal

tasting notes

I try to find free wi-fi at the Amoreiras mall, but the information desk does not understand. Able to get paid internet at the café and post my blogs, yeah! Today is the first time we take the car out and Tom is having a difficult time figuring out how to start it. Scary turns and small lanes until we get out onto the highway and drive along the coastline… thick walled castles and fishing boats everywhere.

The sunny beaches are disappearing as storm clouds roll in. We climb up skinny streets with white stones, white walls, and oranges on trees.

We pop in for lunch at Dom Pedro as it starts to rain. A Portuguese Jack Black makes fun of us, as I order a half litre wine for lunch… “you know that is more than a glass”. Fries and olives with everything, my cubed pork with cilantro is by far the best.

As we approach the Boca do Inferno we see dark grey sky on the left, blue on the right. Luckily the clouds are moving in our favor and within 5 minutes it is sunny and beautiful. Huge rocks covered in purple and white flowers. We try getting a good picture of Santa Marta lighthouse but no luck, just more stray cats at every turn, and so many high saturation beautiful photos. Palm trees, blue skies and shiny clean cobblestone streets.

Alyssa and I eat ice cream near the beach as seashell wind chimes make music in the background. The tourist area with the wavy side walk is cute but we get easily board of the shops. No food shops, no spices, but a nice wine shop where we get recommendations for wineries to visit. Alyssa finds a boat with a baby doll masthead and we pass a restaurant with mutant sized lobsters.

Exhausted, we rest back at the apartment before going out for the evening. We debated about how far we’d go, but end up in Barrio Alto on foot after looking for a charcutaria for tomorrow’s picnic. Bar Pavilhao Chinez is well worth the adventure. A cross between a curio cabinet and British pub with $4 sandwiches and 72 pages of exotic drinks.

Tom and Alyssa go for the high brow Scotch. I get some drink with a duckie flag, which makes me feel super adult. We sit and chat and end up ready to go at quarter past 11 pm, as the crowds just start to come in.

Tomorrow: A day of climbing mountains in Sintra