Well we are back from our whirlwind trip to Portugal and I am suffering from severe post-vacation depression…we absolutely fell in love with Portugal and can’t wait to return to visit all the things we missed due to our short stay.

By way of background, we (DH and I) are 35 and 29, respectively, and although I have been to Europe several times this was only DH’s second trip to Europe (we went to Paris in 2002). I began planning this trip back in May when we secured our time off from work and, I will tell you now, DH had absolutely zero input in the planning. It’s just not his thing (and I love it) so it works out pretty well. Although him not even knowing where we were going other than “Portugal” was sort of annoying. It’s a lot of pressure to plan a big trip like this, including all activities, sightseeing, hotels, etc. and hoping everything will be fun for the both of us. Fortunately he is laid-back (can’t you tell?) and it all worked out except for a few minor bumps in the road.

I spent hours on this website perusing the Lisbon thread and other trip reports, and I bought the Fodors, Frommers and Rough Guide books. Of the three, I thought Frommers was the worst. I hardly even looked at it while we were there. I also bought the Pimsleur Continental Portuguese CD’s and attempted to learn Portuguese while driving to and from work for about 3 weeks before we left. I thought the Pimsleur method really worked for me. Unfortunately being semi-fluent in Spanish only goes so far as the pronunciation is so totally different…but it did help a lot with reading as many of the words are similar in Portuguese and Spanish. However, nearly everyone we met spoke English, at least the basics, so I was able to communicate in English and some broken Portuguese. Lucky for DH I was with him, as he is brilliant but has some kind of mental impediment when it comes to learning languages. By the end of the week all he could say was obrigado and even that was tough . But, he did do all the driving so I can’t complain (well, I’ll complain a little bit…)

We used Continental FF miles to pay for one ticket and paid full fare for the other ticket. We flew from Newark to Lisbon, the 8:25 pm flight on Saturday, August 26th. We arrived at the airport 2.5 hours before the flight. Thankfully my BIL offered to drive us to the airport so we saved $100 for a car service from Long Island to Newark. He was also watching our little maltipoo for the week and it was hard to leave her! I think she had just as much fun on her “vacation” as we did though 

I had checked in online prior to leaving for the airport so we got on the short line to just give them our bags. Even though it was posted all over the counter, windows and the line that the line was for people who already had boarding passes, we saw no less than 20 people ahead of us get sent back to the main (long) line to check in. When we boarded we were thrilled to see that the flight was just over half full, so once we took off I went across the aisle and we both promptly fell asleep, each with a three seat row to ourselves. Of course the Xanax helped, but I was so glad we were able to sleep comfortably for the majority of the flight.

We landed on time at about 8:00 am, Portugal time. We got our luggage and as we were exiting the baggage claim we saw a man holding a sign with our name on it. We had reserved our rental car from Easyautos.com, a British company that DH had actually found on the internet and it had gotten good reviews. I thought it was a consolidator but it turns out they have their own vehicles…I guess they just don’t have an office at the airport because he told us they have a location in Lisbon proper. We filled out the paperwork, paid the 7€ daily excess waiver and walked outside. To our surprise, the car was sitting right there at the curb, ready for us. It was a new Renault Megane wagon, very clean, with less than 2000 km on it. It was a manual transmission diesel engine. All told it took us about 10 minutes from the time we left baggage claim to when we drove off in the car. My only small complaint was that the car only had a half tank of gas in it, and although we were only responsible to return it with the same amount, it was slightly annoying. I didn’t know then that we were going to get fantastic gas mileage and could have gone all the way to the Algarve without filling up but that’s neither here nor there.

So, off we went to Cascais. I had printed out directions from the airport to our hotel on Viamichelin, plus I had maps. It took us about 30 minutes to get into Cascais as there was no traffic on a Sunday morning. We got slightly lost once we got into Cascais as the hotel is down a really narrow side street – the hotel directions said to turn at the BBVA, which we did, not realizing that there were about 6 different BBVA’s on the street so we had to get back on the road and keep going. We finally arrived at the Hotel Albatroz a little before 9:30.

I will continue this post later and am going to try to post our pictures on Ofoto or one of those sites. Hope you all find this interesting!! I am enjoying reliving it -

Interesting indeed carolyn! I have never been to Portugal but have many friends that have (from the US and from Italy) and they all rave about Portugal. And when I was young I had friends whose parents were from Portugal, all such beautiful and kind people.

UHM, so DH did at least take care of the car rental..that is good, lol! I have always been the traveller planner to so I understand your comments. I can hardly wait for some more of your report.

Hey Carolyn! I am reading your report with great interest as Portugal is one of my favorite destinations!

I have to say (and please don't take this the wrong way...!)....you have go on for 7 long paragraphs and we are just at arrival day getting to the hotel. Please more on impressions about Portugal in 5,000 words or less?

Looking forward to hearing more. It's been many years since I was in Portugal, but I had quite a few trips there and it was one of my favorite European destinations. Curious to hear where you went!

Carolynf,
Thanks for the cocise report. I am planning an arrival in Lisbon using my Continental FF miles as well. From Lisbon I am taking Maribel's suggestion to drive N. to Coimbra then to Salamanca, Burgos to San Sebastian, Barritz and fly back from Toulouse. I am anxious for your next post.

Yea, Carolyn. You made it home. And it sounds as if you had a great time.

Keep posting, please.

Ok, I am back - LoveItaly, he didn't actually take care of the car rental, he just found the website and I took care of the rest - that was his contribution LOL. I'm sorry Viajero but I have a tendency to be long winded and I notice that many people leave out details of the preparations for a trip (although packing seems to be a hot topic for discussion lol) and I thought maybe someone would find it helpful.

Anyway, we arrived at the Hotel Albatroz in Cascais. The hotel is absolutely beautiful, it doesn't look like much from the front where you pull the car up but once you go inside you can see why its one of the top rated hotels in Cascais. We checked in but of course our room wasn't ready since it was so early. So, we were shown to a changing room where we put on our suits and they held our luggage while we went to have something to eat and sit by the pool.

The hotel is made up of two buildings, one large main building (where our room was) and another smaller villa-type building. There is a small pool with lounge chairs and then another smaller pool in front of the villa building. But, the best part by far was the view - the hotel is built into a cliff about 20 feet above the ocean so the view from the breakfast area and the two pool areas is spectacular. On the other side of the hotel you overlook Conceicao Beach which was packed with people. The hotel also offers two computers with internet access free of charge.

We were early enough to have the buffet breakfast which was nice with fresh fruit, juice, pastries, eggs, bacon, yogurt, etc. We sat outside overlooking the water. And, my first cup of Portuguese cafe com leite was everthing I had hoped for - delicious!

We laid by the pool for a few hours, the hotel had waiters passing bottles of water and raspberry sorbet. It was hot but not a cloud in the sky. We were given our room around 1 pm, which was on the first floor with a gate so we could walk right out onto the pool deck and we had that incredible view from our little patio. There was also an extremely comfortable sun lounger thing built into the terrace, big enough for two people, which we promptly fell asleep on as we were both exhausted from the sun and the traveling.

Our room had a king size bed and a big bathroom. Everything was really clean and nice but I think I was expecting a little more luxury considering the price of the hotel.

After a nap, we showered and decided to explore Cascais. The hotel is centrally located, right on Rua Federico Arouca so we headed down the street just exploring all the shops and people watching. We also enjoyed the kids with little chihuahuas singing along while they played the accordian We walked to the marina area and took some pictures. Everything was amazingly beautiful, from the tile on all the buildings to the cobblestone streets. We finally felt relaxed and like we had "arrived" in Portugal.

Cascais was quieter than I had expected though, I guess because it was Sunday night. We were also surprised how cold it got at night and I was glad I had a sweater with me. I had read some good reviews of the Beira Mar restaurant and we were anxious to try some seafood so once we found it, we sat down for dinner. Although it was really windy at that point we opted to sit outside. It was fairly busy inside the restaurant but we were the only ones crazy enough to sit outside! Our waiter was excellent.

We had a couvert of olives and bread, and then we had salad, grilled sole, grilled stone bass, potatoes and sauteed green beans. Everything was more delicious than I had imagined and this was a perfect "first meal" in Portugal. We also shared a delicious chocolate cake for dessert. The meal, along with two vodkas, a beer and a bottle of wine came to 106 Euros.

After we finished dinner and chatted with our waiter a little while longer, we walked over to John Bull for a few more drinks. We sat outside and people watched, soaking in the atmosphere. Around midnight the music at the place next door started really pumping and I felt like I was at home listening to the radio! Every song was American. I also noticed that there were a lot of British tourists there. We finally called it a night around 1:15 and headed back to the Albatroz.

On Monday, we woke up at 9:30 and had the breakfast buffet. I had planned a drive for this day so we called for our car, which they park in an underground lot directly across the street from the hotel, which is convenient. We drove to Boca do Inferno first, which was about 5 minutes from the hotel. We parked on the side of the road there and walked over to see the water. Of course, it was quiet but I could imagine the waves crashing through on a stormy day. We bought some waters as it was already starting to get hot, and after some more pictures we got back in the car to head to Cabo da Roca.

DH really enjoyed the drive to Cabo da Roca, he said it reminded him of the Pacific Coast highway in California, with the twisty roads heading up into the mountains. When we arrived at Cabo da Roca we were disappointed that it was pretty foggy and overcast so there wasn't much to see other than the lighthouse. It was also freezing and very windy and to DH's delight the wind blew a woman's skirt up who was walking right in front of us. That made his day LOL.

After that we drove back down and stopped at Guincho Beach which was one of the most spectacular beaches we had ever seen. It was hot again (we couldn't believe the difference in temperature from just 10 minutes up at Cabo da Roca) so we stopped at Terraco do Guicho and sat at a table and had a few beers. We didn't eat but they had sandwiches and other treats for sale which looked really good. DH couldn't believe the beers were only 2 Euros and he would have stayed there all day if I didn't drag him away But we walked down to the water, which was surprisingly chilly, took a few pictures and headed back to Cascais.

We were hungry at that point so we stopped at Golfinho? Restaurant which is also an internet cafe. I had the roast chicken with french fries and rice and DH had roasted cod with potatoes and salad. My chicken was a little dry and DH's cod was really oily (which he paid for later) but it was OK and fast. The meal along with two sodas was 19,50 Euros.

To work off that meal we walked along the beach from our hotel all the way past Estoril. We walked about an hour and fifteen minutes total and passed countless beach bars. We regretted eating in town and not along the beach. DH was really fascinated by the stairs cut into the rock all along the beach, creating platforms for kids to jump off of into the water. There were a lot of people everywhere, all different ages and races. It was really interesting to see a typical beach day for local Portuguese people. Very different from Jones Beach in New York and a million times better, IMO!!

We walked back to the hotel and showered, napped and headed to dinner at the restaurant at the hotel. This was a little more stuffy than I had hoped and the only meal that we ate inside, including breakfast, for the remainder of our trip. We had an amuse bouche of asparagus wrapped in some kind of pastry, bread and olives. I had grilled prawns for an appetizer followed by beef filet. DH had mascarpone stuffed spinach which he loved, followed by grilled bream. This meal was just OK for the price but we had a great bottle of vinho verde, which we finished out on the terrace overlooking the water. Given the choice I would not eat at the hotel restaurant again but we were feeling lazy at this point. We turned in early as we were planning to leave right after breakfast to head to Lagos.

I'll take a break now and pick up with the trip to Lagos later. I'm also going to post my pictures tonight after I get home from work. Thanks for all who are reading this, sorry if it's boring!

Yes Sher we are back and had the most amazing time. You will not regret the apartment...it was perfect.

I am enjoying your report and am looking forward to your Lisbon report. We leave in 25 days for Lisbon and are also staying in Paulo's apartment for eight nights. I am glad to hear such good feedback about it.

You are bringing back many memories, thanks! Cascais is a beautiful area, much more so than I anticipated. Looking forward to reading more about your trip!

Judi. Isn't it a shame. We are just missing each other.
We could really have a LDC meeting then, couldn't we?

Yes, Sherry, I'm sorry we will be there at different times but if we were there at the same time we would have to arm wrestle over the apartment.

I will leave you a note if there is a guest book in the apartment.

There is a guest book in the apartment - i am posting my photos on the kodak gallery right now. Will post a link when I'm done -

Hi carolyn, well, at least he found the car rental website, LOL.

I love your style of writing carolyn. Anyone can read a guide book but it is the interesting tidbits that makes most trip reports on Fodors so interesting to read. Plus it gives people that are going to the same place lots of good information..the type of food, the impressions of various places visited, OH and your husband loving breezy weather when a lovely lady is wearing a skirt, lol!
Precious.

Sher and Judi, wishing both of you wonderful times, it certainly sounds like you both will have fantastic trips!

Ok, my pictures are finally posted. Here is the link, please let me know if it doesn't work -
http://tinyurl.com/rwkmm

Hi Carolyn. I enjoyed your photos. We will have to spend time in Cascais next trip.

Thanks for showing the apartment and the views from the window. You picked nice hotels as well.

I liked the food shots, too.

Welcome home Carolynf.

I am really enjoying your trip report. My son and I just got done looking at your photos, and you would almost think that we were there together as some of the pictures are exact to mine;
right down to the one looking through the small opening from Castelo St Jorge and into town.

AAAhhh! If only I were still there! Instead, I am re-living it through you.

I must admit, that once I got back, with work and all, I eventually bailed out on the last portion of my trip report. I never even posted the photos, but can now just enjoy everyone elses.

Can't wait to hear more....

So, we woke up Tuesday morning around 9:30, grabbed breakfast at the hotel and headed off for Lagos around 10:30. I had printed out directions from Viamichelin before we left and we had no trouble getting out of Cascais and back on the A5 to get to the main freeway south. We really enjoyed driving over the Ponte 25 de Abril bridge but after that it was a whole lot of nothing, just hills and trees but we enjoyed it nonetheless. We stopped twice at gas stations to use the restroom (well that was my fault, I was not having a good gastrointestinal morning, sorry TMI). We also stopped for diesel, and after a few minutes of scratching our heads DH finally went inside to ask which was the right pump. For those interested, we paid 1.039/liter. DH is always interested in gas prices, maybe it’s a guy thing.

When we got to the Algarve, we were shocked at how built up the coastline was. It looked like Miami! But anyway, we found our hotel, the Tivoli Lagos, with no problem. There was no one outside the hotel to help with our bags or the car or anything. So we just went inside and tried to talked to the extremely unhelpful, b$tchy woman at the front desk, who advised us that although it was 2pm, our room would not be ready for another hour. So, we parked the car - the hotel does not have valet service, we had to drive down the road, park the car in a dirt lot and walk back up to the hotel. Did I mention that it was HOT in Lagos at this point?

Anyway, we decided to get something to eat at the pool bar. We sat down and waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, the waiter came over to us and we ordered drinks, a cold meat platter and french fries. After finishing our meal and asking several times, our french fries came. The waiter was a total mess. At 3:00, we went back down to the front desk to deal with attitude lady again. We then waited 35 minutes for the bellman (the only one in the whole hotel) to get our bags and show us to our room. Man was I pissed. I was hot, tired, and annoyed at this point and I just wanted to get to a room. I was so mad that DH and I discussed getting another hotel for the second night but he talked me out of it.

We finally got to our room, which was fine but nothing special. There was no view. And, to get to it, we had to go up two flights, then outside around the pool, down one flight, then back up two more flights of stairs. Fun, right? So, we took a much needed nap and woke up in a better mood.

The one thing the hotel has going for it is its location, it was only a five minute walk to the center of town. Although you do have to walk on the main road in front of the marina and through a gas station. Anyway, we walked around for a long time, just soaking in the atmosphere and enjoying all the little shops and things to see. I was wearing some unfortunate shoes, however and was slightly unprepared for the cobblestones so we went up to the roof terrace at the Bar Vivante. What a great place! They have a bunch of tables, umbrellas and a small bar with waiter service overlooking all the action. After many cocktails we felt decompressed and really started to enjoy Lagos after our bad experience with the hotel. From up there we could see a local family enjoying dinner out on their terrace and hanging up their laundry - it really showed us a slice of life that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

After we left the Bar Vivante, we stopped at the Taberna do Lagos, a great, cavernous place with a really cool vibe. We ordered drinks and the most delicious beef carpaccio (9 Euros). We walked around a little more and then headed back to the hotel around midnight (early for Lagos, I know!) but I don’t think we could have drank anymore

I was really looking forward to ordering some room service when we got back to the hotel but, of course, room service ends at 11 pm so we were too late.

Tomorrow - beaches, beaches, beaches and some new friends.
Then, on to Lisbon!!

Thanks everyone for your words of encouragement...it is intimidating to try to tackle a project like a trip report but knowing that people are enjoying it makes it fun!

Carolynf,
Beautiful pictures. Hope people don't discover the beauty, food and ambiance of Portugal and Spain. God forbid some woman writes a "Tuscan Sun" type book and 8 Jillion tour buses show up!