I arrived in Lisbon, Portugal on Thursday 6/28. Carolina, Mimi and Papa decided to come the day before so they could enjoy an extra day in Lisbon. Mimi picked a really cool hotel near the airport and near the Aquarium to tour around the day before I arrived.

They looked around the Aquarium and Expo area, they went on the “Teleferico” where they got an awesome view of the city, and was great fun to Carolina.

And then of course they ate some nice Seafood, because really it’s the best thing to do when you are here near the ocean!

The next morning they came to pick me up at the airport after breakfast, and as always I’m met with lots of hugs and kisses – feel so loved!

1st things 1st I had to stop into the bathroom just to laugh at the toilet paper advertising that they have every year, this time I took a pic, because I just had to share! (a tad bit weird?)

We went to the car and to begin our sightseeing around Lisbon. We parked the car and took the trolley, Carolina liked going on the Trolley up the narrow streets (very very narrow cobble-stoned streets) that would lead us close to the castle.

We stopped at the landing where there was a beautiful view

I wanted a lovely espresso, Portugal coffee is beyond delicious and they take their coffee brewing very seriously! a small espresso or “um bica” (as you would order in Lisbon) is more than enough! Carolina had a coca-cola which was a special edition for UEFA Euro2012.

We took some pics and proceeded to walk up to the Castle – San Jorge Castle or Castelo de São Jorge as it’s known in Portuguese. From the landing there is an amazing view of Lisbon, the April 25th Bridge and the Cristo Rei.

I wish I had brought my nice camera, but I guess my iPhone just had to do this time! Here are some photos we took of the Moorish castle.

After all the sightseeing and some shopping it was definitely time to eat some delicious Seafood! We went to a restaurant called Cervejaria Ramiro. They say the best seafood is served here, and I must say it was beyond excellent!

Oysters from the Atlantic – delicious!

After lunch we head over to Troia Peninsula, we went to the Port “Porto de Setúbal“ to catch the Ferry. Carolina was excited as it was the 1st time she’s been on such a big Ferry that could carry cars over. You can’t miss this Ferry it’s radioactive green, I wonder if it glows in the dark! Perfect thing at this port is that they have an ice-cream stand for while you wait. Of course my kiddo wants ice-cream and grandparents are there for spoiling rotten! I had a nice espresso (another one) how else do you think I can survive sight seeing and fun after 23 hrs of traveling. Life is tough huh?

Arriving on Troia Peninsula, it’s like a complex of beach apartments. All very new, and very nice. We stayed at Hotel Aqualuz, our apartment had 2 bedrooms and each balcony had a great view of different sides of the beach.

Of course the 1st thing that we did was go down to enjoy the pool and rest a bit, before we got ready to head out for dinner. We decided to go over to the marina where there were several restaurants. We chose one and since it was a bit breezy and cold we all decided to eat the caldereta de marisco, which is a soupy rice with a lot of seafood. It is a very special, delicious and typical Portuguese Dish. It has clams, mussels, crab claws and legs and shrimp.

The following day was gorgeous although a bit windy and we declared it beach day. Since it was so windy we stayed on the side that wasn’t open sea, actually it reminded me of a lake since you could see land on the other side. The sand was thin and nice, and the water was a beautiful blue that changed hues in different areas letting you know what parts were really deep. Very nice and relaxing since it wasn’t packed.

After spending the whole day at the beach and a little bit at the pool we got ready to head over to the Ferry to take us back to Setubal so we could have dinner in a special place called Novo 10. Food was excellent as everything we’ve eaten here in Portugal where fish and seafood on the beach is at it’s best.

Carolina loved the pick your own lobster tank! and of course loved everything we’ve been eating.

This concludes our weekend of relax in Portugal before heading to Spain, which will be the topic of another post!