Lisbon, Portugal Day 1

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته and good day!

Continuing from this post.

After we changed our clothes, we walked towards a nearby park since the friend we met at the mosque suggested it.

The park is gorgeous! It's called the Gulbenkian park.

There's a lovely stream...

Loads of ducks...and turtles! Hardly see any turtle in a park.

There's also this black crowned heron.

Poor little guy. He was trying to get a fish, but the ducks kept messing it up.

After the park, we took an Uber to Belem. In Lisbon, we mostly used Uber to go from one place to another since we only have two days to see everything, which is never enough. Uber in Lisbon is super cheap! It takes around 18 minutes to go to the Belem Tower from the park (12.2 km) and it costs just above €12. If you take the train, it takes about 42 minutes, which is a huge difference. The driver was super nice too. He told us the history of Lisbon as we passed some monuments, such as the aqueduto (aquaduct).

As we arrived at the tower, the driver offered us tours that he did. But because we are pressed for time and we wanted to be free to make our own choices as we go, we had to decline.

Next to the Belem Tower is the maritime museum.

This is the Belem Tower. The queue was super long, so we decided not to enter.

This is the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, which is a monument on the northern bank of the Tagus River estuary, in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém, Lisbon.

The monument celebrates the Portuguese Age of Discovery (or Age of Exploration) during the 15th and 16th centuries, which includes Malaysia (or known as Tanah Melayu back then)

Mom...I'm Back in Malaysia!!! 

Part of my country's history.

The Jerónimos Monastery or Hieronymites Monastery, is a former monastery of the Order of Saint Jerome near the Tagus river in the parish of Belém, in the Lisbon Municipality, Portugal.

Another tourist attraction transport around here are the tuktuk, just like the one in Thailand.

They say it's beautiful in the monastery. We didn't enter this one as well as time is limited.

Inside the maritime museum, they are holding the vikings exhibition. Vikings were not part of the Portuguese though. 

The main purpose of going to Belem is this, the patisserie (Pateis de Belem). 

It is the go to place if you want to find the famous Portuguese egg tart (pastel de nata).

This place is so famous, it is packed. They have over 40 seatings, there are two take away queues outside. But the queue moves very quickly,that's how efficient they are. 

The pastel de nata were still hot as they serve them!

Near the monument, there's this guy that makes these crafts from coins. When he saw us, he asked where we were from. When we said Malaysia, he immediately looked around for something, and he took out the 20 cents from Malaysia!! He said that one is his. He can make any shapes that you want for €20-30. 

The last place to visit is the monument of Alfonso de Albuquerque. He's the guy that lead the colonisation in Asia. The guy that made it his mission to combat the spread of Islam in Asia.

After our time in Belem, we get a move on to Cascais, the seafood paradise. 

You definitely need to visit the Hell's mouth (Boca do Inferno).

The ocean is clear green and blue. So beautiful!!!

This is the Palace of Cascais Citadel (Palácio da Cidadela de Cascais). I have no idea who this guy is.

There are stalls selling all kinds of Portuguese product. One of the interesting thing they sell is made out of cork. My bestie bought two purses that are made from cork.

We walked towards the beach.

This was the purpose!! I wanted to swim at an European beach for a very long time.

It was awesome!!!

Another thing I wanted to eat here is this! It is called Percebes in Portuguese. I know they look ugly as hell, but it tastes kind of nice. It's a snail by the way. We ate it raw. It has s little bit of the ocean taste.

O Mastro is the place to get this. The price was decent too. We bought a grilled fish (which include salad and potatoes), the percebes and some chips for €25 total. There's another must eat dish in Portugal. I will tell you in the next post.

We tried catching the sunset to go to the Amoreiras for a 360° panoramic view of Lisbon.

Amoreiras is the tallest point in Lisbon. It only costs €5 to get to the 360° view! Remember to bring thick clothing like a jacket because the wind is so strong. The view was gorgeous!! If you can see the bridge there, that is an identical bridge as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Not only it was made by the same company, they even used the same materials and colour!

Enjoy this time lapse.

Until next time.