A little break from the Eurotrip posts, beach trip in a few weeks!!! So excited!!! :D

Getting Lost in the City. Literally.

We started our day walking around the Avenida da Liberdade. Known as the 35th most expensive avenue in the world (...according to wikipedia! haha), you can find boutiques of brands such as Louis Vuitton, Todd's and Burberry in the area. 

When I realized that no amount of begging would make my mom buy me anything, we decided to take the Hop On Hop Off tour instead. haha

The starting point of the tour was at Marques do Pombal. It's actually located at the top end of the Avenida de Liberdade.

There's the funny upside down sign. We asked the driver why it was like that and he said he never noticed it before. haha 

We went down at the El Corte Ingles bus stop. El Corte Ingles is a well known Spanish department store chain. :) Heaven. 

We spent such a long time there! And in our hurry to catch the bus because I wanted to see the Praca do Comercio and Praca do Rossio (the 2 great squares that were built after the 1755 great earthquake of Lisbon), we took the wrong bus line and ended up here: 

Fail. haha. 

We didn't make it to the 2 squares because we had to cut our tour short. We were rushing for dinner at Olivier Restaurante for L's dinner. By far the best meal I had during our stay at Lisbon!

I ordered the Linguine with Tiger Prawns. So good.

Free birthday cake for the birthday girl!!! :)

Olivier Restaurante

Olivier Restaurante
Rua do Alecrim, nº 23
1200 - 014 LISBOA
Phone: +351 21 342 29 16
Mobile: + 351 91 257 15 05
E-mail: restaurante@olivier.pt

Belem's Egg Tarts and Portugal's Awesome-ness!

When the day started, I only had one goal in mind: I NEEDED to taste Pasteis de Belem's famous egg tarts! 

There was a line when we got to the pastry shop, all eager to get their hands on those sweet, creamy egg tarts. It is said that the recipe came from nuns from the Monasterio de Jeronimos in the 18th century. The monastery closed in the 1820s and this pastry shop has been selling these egg tarts since 1837.

If you aren't the biggest fan of egg tarts, Pasteis de Belem also offers other pastries, coffee and even pizza. But I swear, these egg tarts are REALLY good. YOU MUST TRY THEM. The Espresso Shots are a must try too! Not as bitter as I thought it would be. A perfect match for the Egg Tarts!

There are a lot of places to visit in this area, and two are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One of which is just a few blocks away from Pasteis de Belem-- Monasterios de los Geronimos de Belem.

Across the Monasterios de los Geronimos de Belem, about 5 minutes away by car is another UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Belem Tower. It looks to me like a miniature castle, but it used to serve as a fortress for Portugal during the Age of Discoveries.

On the same road is the Monument to the Discoveries. It isn’t so obvious from this view, but it resembles a ship and on top are sculptures of explorers, cascaders and the like. 

If you look closely on the ground you would see maps of routes taken by the Portuguese explorers. 

See the Philippines??

Magellan is in there.. somewhere. :) 

A little farther away, but also a good place to visit is the Lisbon Cathedral.

This area is such a nice place to tour by foot. But make sure to wear your most comfy pair of shoes! The roads are uneven and the walk is mostly uphill… and at times downhill. 

Outside the Lisbon Cathedral

I’m not sure what this place is called but the view was too nice and we had to stop to take photos!

We ended the day with a pricey yet filling dinner at Victor Horta.

Romantic Obidos

So during this trip I found the perfect place for my dream wedding (sosyal! good luck, boyfriend!!! haha). Obidos, Portugal! A quaint, medieval town about an hour away from the capital. I completely fell in love with the place!!!

I plan to walk this really long cobbled street in a flowy white dress and gold sandals. hahaha It's perfect because there's a church at the end of the street! Yes, I am serious about this. 

See?! Here's the door to the church. 

The entire street is lined with nice little stores selling clothes and trinkets as well as beautiful little bars and restaurants.


I'm not much of a drinker, but I felt I had to try the sour cherry liqueur that Obidos is known for. It's called Ginja de Obidos. It is poured in a small chocolate cup, which you have to eat afterwards (the best part!!).

  

It was actually good and I especially loved the chocolate cup! I could munch on those all day!

Behind the church is a big, arched, stone opening which leads to the castle. It's really beautiful and it has the most amazing view.

We didn't want to leave, but our tour guide came looking for us because everyone else was already inside the bus. (WOOPS!)

We all wanted to go back to check the shops and eat in the restaurants. However, we were only in Portugal for a few days, and Obidos is still quite far from Lisbon-- especially if you don't have any transportation available. 

Oh well, that just gives us more reason to go back to this country. haha!

Filipinos Chocolate Covered Biscuits

Err... Should we be insulted??? haha :/ It was quite good though!

Fatima, Portugal

Our Lady of Fatima Basilica

Fatima, Portugal. They say it is a place of miracles. This is where Our Lady of Fatima appeared to 3 little shepherds-- Jacinta, Francisco and Luisa-- back in 1917.

Kneeling in front of the Chapel of Apparitions

Every 13th of May, thousands of people visit Fatima for their pilgrimage. This is the said anniversary of the first Marian Apparition. We actually arrived a week before the 13th and there were already so many people.

In another area, there was a group gathered around the crucifix. They started going around in smaller and smaller circles, hands all linked together.

Faith. It is a beautiful thing. It is what keeps us alive. :)